James Bond. Indiana Jones. Lara Croft. Nathan Drake. Each of these iconic globetrotters was inspired by the one created before them. Now that pattern comes full circle, with IO Interactive's 007 First Light channeling the action movie spirit of Naughty Dog's Uncharted series. But that circle forms a coin, much like the one IOI's other iconic leading man keeps in his pocket, with two distinct sides. Agent 47's DNA runs deep in the developers' new James Bond origin story, to the point that if the charismatic British spy himself sported a barcode on the back of his head, you'd likely scan it and find out he'd been engineered on the same production line. From what I've seen of 007 First Light so far, and from talking to the team at IOI, it's set to be an exciting blend of both Hitman's signature do-it-yourself gameplay and a brand of cinematic spectacle you'd hope for from one of film's most enduring series.
First Light is all about earning that famous number: 007. But before the number, there’s a name: James Bond. And behind that name lies another: Patrick Gibson. Casting for Britain’s most famous spy is always a hot topic, but the 30-year-old Gibson instantly looks and sounds the part, stepping into the shoes of the youngest Bond ever put to screen. At just 26, this version of Ian Fleming’s iconic hero is already confident and charming, but with a dash of brashness – a wrinkle of immaturity that’s not yet been ironed out. This isn’t the experienced, steely Bond that Daniel Craig most recently gave us, but one very much at the start of his career.
“I think first and foremost, this is the story of a young man who steps into a new world,” cinematic and narrative director Martin Emborg tells me. “He steps into this world of shadows and of his future. So it is meeting someone who has a brighter outlook on life, who's more positive, who's a more relatable young man. As the audience, we know a lot more about what he'll have to face in his future, and so we've built up a plot and an adventure that he has to go through that will mature him and take him some of the way towards the guy that we know, the seasoned 007.”
On His Majesty’s Secret Service
First Light is a story made for “the times we live in”, a phrase repeated throughout my visit to the Copenhagen studio by IOI’s CEO and First Light’s game director, Hakan Abrak. Not only is it the first time an official Bond story has had James working in the service of both King and country, but it’s a tale that explores both the positive and negative impacts of modern technology. You’ll learn all about how this benefits his arsenal of gadgets later, but for now, let’s focus on its threat to the world IO has built.
“It's the zeitgeist right now, right?” says Abrak about our attempts to wrangle and understand artificial intelligence. “Thinking about ‘How is that going to impact our lives? How is that going to impact our security?’ AI is certainly a part of the story. The information. What can you trust? And when you're making a game about espionage and working in the shadows, these things [combined with] the technological leaps we are experiencing, there's a lot of material there to work on.”
First Light’s Bond is a young man still finding his feet as an agent.Just as we’re living in a world still getting to grips with the impact of artificial intelligence, First Light’s Bond is a young man still finding his feet as an agent and, indeed, ticking off many firsts of his own. IOI teased that this may well be where we see him sip his first shaken, but not stirred martini, and perhaps even the first time he’s had to take a life. But, as synonymous with alcohol and violence as he is, he’s also famed for the attention he garners from the women in his life. In terms of firsts in that department… Well, IOI confirms that such a lifestyle is well and truly underway.
“I think it would almost be kind of weirdly cool to say, well, this guy is celibate,” Emborg poses. “He is a very charming mid-to-late twenties guy. Obviously, yes, he has experience with the opposite sex, for sure. So he has this easy charm. I'm not sure he's necessarily super aware of it, though. It's not weaponised in the way that it is for an older Bond, who will use this for manipulation or to further his goals. In that way, he's more like a regular bloke.”
Regular blokes don’t tend to disguise themselves as chauffeurs in order to break into chess tournaments taking place at Slovakian chateaus as part of a mission to track down rogue colleagues, though. This is the setup for a very early task that establishes Bond’s mission to bring in the traitorous 009, and follows a tutorial at an MI6 training facility and a prologue mysteriously titled “The Iceland Incident.” This demonstration level, which you can see play out in the most recent State of Play broadcast, shows us the two distinct sides to First Light’s gameplay cadence. In a story of firsts for the agent in training, some aspects, especially in this demo’s opening half, will be familiar to those experienced in IO's masterful World of Assassination.
“He doesn't necessarily walk around with coins and throw them”, Abrak explains. “Bond is a lot more impulsive. It's a much more front-footed experience, so he might just grab something to use for distraction. Bond is more expressive and more charming, so maybe he can whisper something to distract the enemies to a certain place that he wants them to go to.”
When denied entry to the chateau, such a possibility may present itself, as there are a number of different opportunities hidden around for you to uncover. I’m shown an example where Bond sneaks past some guards in order to steal a lighter. He uses it to set some nearby leaves on fire, creating a distraction which relocates a nearby guard, allowing James to clamber up to an open window unseen. Another way, I’m told, would be to simply pickpocket an invitation from a guest.
“There are several different routes to do that”, Abrak continues. “Whether you want to use your gadgetry or fisticuffs, or you want to use stealth or use your instincts and your charm to get to where you want to go. I think this combination of action and some of the elements from Hitman is probably the most complex game we've done.”
Of course, for all of its incredibly intelligent systemic and level design, Hitman has always been very silly. That tone translates directly into Bond. These two series share a love of quippy one-liners and an abundance of comical deaths, albeit with James delivering them with a much more knowing wink, seemingly always playing to an audience, rather than 47's bone-dry wit. And where IO's assassin always goes unseen, Bond can't help but draw attention. Everyone’s glance lingers a couple of seconds longer than standard as he passes. But while the two agents have differing approaches, both provide fuel for comedy. As Bond makes his way through the aforementioned Slovakian chateau, maids mutter about how they’d love to leave a second mint on his pillow, and a smarmy man comments on his appearance, misidentifying him as a famous model. James will occasionally fire back, too, using his tongue to get himself out of precarious situations.
“I think we did that with Agent 47, obviously, but he's the Grim Reaper”, states Emborg. “He doesn't say a lot to some extent. It's refreshing to write someone like Bond after having worked on 47.” This newfound license to pun can also lead to some excruciating (yet, I concede, still funny) moments. When posing as a journalist searching for his lost camera, James utters the line, “Photography can be such a negative experience”. If he weren’t so charming, you’d roll your eyes so hard you’d sever your optic nerve.
He may disarm through charm, and so you can avoid confrontation by bluffing guards.This personable nature also directly feeds into gameplay and how disguises play less of an essential part in 007 First Light compared to Hitman. Bond has no problem walking up to a stranger and declaring who he is so that he may disarm through charm, and so you can avoid confrontation by bluffing guards. This costs Focus, a resource that depletes a yellow meter on the right of the screen. It’s a powerful and costly skill that should be used sparingly, but Focus can be refilled by completing certain tasks, such as containing a violent situation by taking out everyone you’ve accidentally aggravated.
Two other resources, battery and chemicals, can be found on the face of your Omega wristwatch, located at the bottom left of the UI. These power your gadgets, a collection of which James steadily accumulates across the campaign, as well as the compulsory Q-watch itself. The timekeeping device is so much more than just that, though, with a plethora of abilities held in its hands. These include being able to scan the environment for conversations to eavesdrop on (and the corresponding opportunities that unlock from listening to them), as well as being able to remotely hack electronics in order to cause distractions or explosions — it truly takes the watch from Watch Dogs in this regard.
Then there are optional gadgets, of which you can take three into the field with you. These range from standard stealth fare, such as smoke bombs that aid in a quick escape, to much more high-tech tools, like a handy laser that can help you get up to all sorts of mischief. “It can open certain obstacles, but it can also shoot chandeliers down,” explains Abrak. “It can also blind people, it can disarm people. It's a pretty cool gadget.” He also tells me that we “very well may be able to” walk around Q Branch in between missions to inspect the MI6 quartermaster’s latest inventions for ourselves — a fantasy ingrained into every Bond fan’s mind.
Licence to Kill
There’ll be no shortage of flexibility when it comes to the campaign’s open areas, then, with the Hitman pedigree shining through – just with the red tie swapped for a black tie aesthetic. But where front-footed combat has always felt like a fallback in the World of Assassination, here it's presented as a necessity, especially in First Light's more guided encounters. Fast-forward to the end of the demo’s chess infiltration mission, following something presumably much more explosive than a checkmate, and Bond is behind the wheel of a vintage Aston Martin. It’s a moment tailored specifically for that James Bond fantasy and, even without getting to play it myself, I found myself exhilarated by the car chase that follows (even if it does slightly outstay its welcome – it’s a long chase). It may not reach the breathtaking heights found in the non-stop chaos of Uncharted 4’s famed Moroccan jeep scene, but it does thrillingly move us to the chapter’s next big action moment.
Pursuing the runaway 009, James is taken to an airfield housing a fully armed militia. As soon as he steps into the area, he’s given the crucial “Licence to Kill,” which allows him to unholster his firearm and let loose. IO doesn’t want Bond to be able to act like a killing machine in every scenario, so deadly force will only be granted when the situation calls for it. The combat itself looks slick, but packing a punch — symbolic of 007 himself, a blunt force dressed in a sharp suit. He flicks shotguns up with his feet into his hands before unloading the cartridges; charges at enemies like a linebacker, sending them to the floor with a thud; and drills bullets into any nearby gas canisters to engulf as much of the base in flames as possible. It’s an impressive sequence that further showcases a malleability in encounter design, both at deliberate and breakneck speeds.
Bond is more nimble than the relatively stiff Agent 47 ever has been, able to chuck empty rifles at the heads of his enemies and quickly dash between cover in one smooth movement. In a later mission in which Bond is tasked with crashing a Kensington gala, even more creativity is on display, such as pool balls being lobbed from a table and into someone’s skull, and doors being kicked in and cannoning into an unsuspecting guard behind them. This promise of being able to combine James’ raw power, nifty gadgets, and environments full of opportunity looks tremendously exciting.
Back in Slovakia, this experimentation is perhaps best showcased once Bond boards the plane taking off from the aforementioned airfield. After fist-fighting your way across the wing and down into the hull, you’re handed the controls to the plane, allowing you to sharply bank it left or right. This throws enemies inside the aircraft off balance, but also turns the cargo into weapons. Two-tonne crates slam into soldiers, presumably breaking over half of their bones in the process. It’s these one-off mechanics that help build the cinematic whole, making individual action scenes truly feel like big moments. It’s reminiscent of the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare — its globe-trotting nature, of course, owing a debt to Bond — in the way it grants you a distinct way to play for just one level, such as controlling an AC-130 gunship. It’s moments like these that create missions that stick long in the memory.
This stretch of car chase, gunfight, and sky-high stuntwork is breaking new ground for IO. A studio that has typically found joy in the quiet and methodical is having to shift gears considerably, flexing action-adventure muscles that are long rested or, in some instances, not trained at all. Even the slick action of Kane and Lynch was shrouded in a morose cloud, with smiles coming at a premium. Here, the Danish developers have had to flick through the original pulpy fiction to find an altogether more swashbuckling tone. “The [original James Bond] books were definitely kind of the touchstone for us in terms of wanting to do our own thing”, Emborg reveals. “We did not want to synthesize and go, ‘Oh, we are going to cherry-pick this from this and this from this’. It was like, who is this character, and how do we build him up to suit the story that we want to tell?”
This structure of blending the curated with the creative is reminiscent of last year's Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.This structure of blending the curated with the creative is reminiscent of last year's Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, somewhat of an irony considering Steven Spielberg owes much of his archaeologist creation to Bond — the Raiders of the Lost Ark director even wanted to helm a 007 movie before George Lucas pitched “The Adventures of Indiana Smith” to him. Without Indy, there'd be no Tomb Raider and, in turn, no Uncharted. While the team at IO is reluctant to pinpoint specific inspirations outside of the 007 canon, it wouldn't feel a stretch to imagine Nathan Drake being subbed in for the second half of James’ Slovakian sojourn as explosive red barrels and parachuteless free-falls punctuate the sequence.
Hitman’s level design has always been gameplay-informed. The larger narratives were never what drove its many iconic maps. With 007 First Light, IO has had to work a little differently, making sure that stories – both overarching and small-scale – are constantly being woven in and out of Bond’s actions. That necessitated a more collaborative approach from the get-go when it came to designing the content and flow of its missions. “All the levels started in a small group where we had level designers, we had art directors, and we had narrative [staff working together]”, reveals Emborg. “It was really having your big story broken into segments, which neatly fit into obvious levels. What's going on in this level? What are the themes we're dealing with? And having that character-driven approach to not only story, but to level design as well.”
While it's far too early to say if that approach has been a complete success, the signs are very promising. From the glimpses of two missions we’ve seen, there seems to be a suitable mix of both spyplay and action, all of which seems to drive forward a story, and it will be intriguing to see what that balance will end up looking like across the whole of what’s described to me as a “beefy” First Light campaign. That lure of Hitman-like social stealth and Uncharted-scented set pieces is certainly exciting, but most crucially of all, it all feels very distinctly “Bond”.
From Copenhagen with Love
If there was anything above all else that I learned from my day in Denmark, it is that there’s a distinct reverence for the legacy of 007 at IO, and the desire to make the first truly original game in the spy’s canon as authentic, yet fresh, as possible. A decade or so ago, there was a time when a “cinematic game” was thought of as something new and exciting, but now it feels like every single-player AAA venture is steeped in incredibly detailed cutscenes and narratives that elegantly weave in and out of gameplay. Creating something unseen in this genre is getting increasingly harder to achieve. Instead of treading that path, IO is looking to the source – both novels and films – and stamping its own brand of agent action onto it.
The hallmarks are there, from small details like the scar Bond sports on his cheek as described in the books, to louder, much more obvious nods, such as his range of Jaguar and Aston Martin cars. Its world and characters are dripping with sartorial style, dressed in fine tailoring and expensive Omega timepieces. This level of licensing could so easily feel superficial, but these items of luxury are so ingrained in the world of Ian Fleming’s creation that it would feel even more hollow to be without them.
Of course, no Bond story is complete without a villain. Of course, no Bond story is complete without a villain. Very little has been revealed in regards to their identity at this point, or even how many of them we’ll be dealing with. The only clue I’ve seen at this stage is a picture of a mysterious figure wearing an emotionless Eyes Wide Shut-like golden mask. With most of James’ nemesis’ leaning towards the neurotic as opposed to the erotic, I’ll assume this is merely a passing reference, rather than a full-blown Kubrick crossover.
Then there's the 007 sound. First Light is described as a very “music-forward” game by audio director Dominic Vega, and it certainly sounds that way. The score dips in and out in classic Bond fashion, stabbing scenes with sudden strings but also blending them with jazz swing and synthesised beats that reflect both James’ legacy and future. Composed by The Flight, who have had a hand in the soundtracks for Horizon: Forbidden West, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and Alien: Isolation, it appears to be using those classic Barry and Arnold refrains to great effect. Oh, and then there’s the matter of a theme song, which, although not directly confirmed by IO, was very heavily hinted to exist by Abrak and the team. It simply wouldn't be a Bond adventure without one, would it? As for who has performed it? Place your bets now.
If you can’t tell by now, I’m incredibly excited by the prospect of 007 First Light. It’s shaping up to be exactly what I thought and wanted it to be when IO first announced its partnership with the license. The Hitman DNA that I, and so many others, love so much is there — all the way down to mission briefings presented in a very World of Assassination way, just with Moneypenny taking over mic duties from Diana — but with that distinct Bond iconography that’s kept the series so beloved for over seven decades.
While I'm pleased to see elements of Naughty Dog's industry-shaping series seeping in here, I'm even more glad to see that First Light isn't just “Uncharted but Bond”. IO Interactive has given us some of the most compelling, systemically engaging gameplay of the past decade, and to see that there's plenty of Hitman agency here is more than enticing. I’m left very hopeful, and while we remain in the dark as to what shape Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming Bond film will take, First Light is looking like a very bright prospect for the future of Britain’s most famous spying export.
Got any burning questions about 007 First Light? Ask them in the comments below, and I’ll do my best to answer them for you in the next few days!
Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.
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