007 First Light (PS5)

As a fan of the Hitman games, the idea of IO Interactive tackling a James Bond game sounded like a match made in heaven. Although Bond himself isn’t a mercenary, his status as a secret agent lends itself well to a gameplay style emphasizing infiltration and stealth without undercutting his license to kill. Although IOI made it clear that such a game wouldn’t play exactly like the World of Assassination trilogy, I still felt excited for what they could do with the property, currently under the ownership of Amazon MGM (there’s even an exclusive skin for buying the game through Amazon, naturally). The final game, 007 First Light (First Light), managed to live up to my expectations, capturing the world of James Bond in a new and exciting way. Its cinematic direction, however, is a double-edged sword in places.

In First Light, James Bond, a Navy aircrewman, is the sole survivor of an ambush on an Special Air Service team in Iceland. He soon finds himself guided by a handler from MI6, who are conducting a retrieval operation at the time, and reaches a camp guarded by a mercenary group. Although Bond is successful in locating the crashed satellite that MI6 was looking for, he defies orders and not only rescues a few captive scientists, but also destroys the base (and the asset along with it). Despite his reckless behavior, the head of MI6, M, is impressed by how he beat the low odds of his survival (calculated by an AI-powered supercomputer named THEIA) and recruits him into the revitalized 00 program, for which he is six months behind on training, under the reluctant instruction of John Greenway. Months later, the recruits are tasked with locating a rogue agent, Rhys Beckett aka the former 009, at a hotel in Slovakia. On site, Bond notices suspicious behavior and defies his orders so that he can go investigate, leading him and MI6 down a much larger rabbit hole than they had imagined.

First Light takes a novel approach to its story, labeled “Earn the Number” in the menu, by offering a rare glimpse at a younger James Bond as he eventually becomes 007 (within a timeline that’s updated to the modern day). As such, we get to witness Bond go through some interesting character development, going from cocky but competent to a bit less cocky but more competent and fitting for the 00 designation. However, he still feels like the James Bond that people know and love, embodying the first rule of spy craft (as taught in the 00 program): “Always do the unexpected.” Although he still defies orders as the game goes on, his motivation for doing so subtly changes and usually helps him defy the odds. Not everything about the typical image of Bond comes to the surface, as this is an origin story, but we still get a nod to his famous preference for martinis (shaken, not stirred) and he eventually does get to ride in an Aston Martin; it also isn’t Bond without implied intercourse.

Bond's mission takes him to many impressive-looking locales.

As for the story around him, it plays out like a playable James Bond movie, but in a good way. The plot and characters are all compelling and the threat of AI is a timeless subject matter that feels all the more relevant today, though this time executed in a novel way, tying in the pitfalls of relying on the technology with the motivation of the main villain to keep up its appearances. Periodic nods to other parts of the franchise pop up, including one plot-critical event that’s a more hardcore version of a particularly famous scene in Goldfinger. There’s even an original cinematic song, “First Light” sung by Lana Del Rey, that maintains the quality of other Bond themes. Existing characters are interpretated in familiar yet distinct ways and there’s a good amount of humor driven by their interactions with each other that’s sprinkled in at just the right points to avoid undercutting the tension too much. While it’s not a perfectly-executed story, I still found myself invested in the various twists and turns and felt mostly satisfied by the end, although it does leave something open for potentially multiple sequels.

Appropriately for an IOI game, First Light’s gameplay uses the Hitman games as a foundation while introducing its own unique twists besides leaning into the cinematic angle by presenting parts of the tutorial as playable montages of Bond’s MI6 training. The basic sneaking mechanics are only one component of Bond’s skillset, but felt easy to get into (it helped that, due to proximity of playtime, I had some transferrable skills from Death Stranding 2). There’s also social stealth, where eavesdropping can give Bond valuable intel for various opportunities that can help him complete different objectives or sub-objectives as they come up during a mission (all of which you can track in the Objectives tab). When Stealth fails, melee combat is much more of a viable option than in the Hitman series, with fairly easy controls, although public spaces restrict its use (gadgets are still allowed).

Like in Hitman, there are plenty of opportunities that you can track.

But what is Bond without his gadgets? Courtesy of Q, there are a variety of gadgets that Bond can take with him out into the field that can help him out in both stealth and combat scenarios. However, Bond can only take a certain number of them with him at a time aside from the Q-Watch, which alone adds some utility in both hacking objects and allowing access to the Q-Lens, which can not only let you hack certain objects within range, but also highlights enemies and interactions within the environment for as long as you have it active; pressing one of the face buttons with the Q-Lens up activates the appropriate gadget. Although the variety of gadgets available adds some good replay value and suits a variety of different playstyles, I ultimately leaned on the Dart Phone, which incapacitates whoever it’s used on; the Laser Strap, which can slice through objects or temporarily blind people; and, as soon as I unlocked it, the Missile Pen, which fires a small rocket. While this combination of gadgets is rather versatile, they still have limited uses and must be recharged or refilled by interacting with environmental objects, forcing the player to carefully consider when and where to use them.

A spy like Bond must also possess a quick wit, which First Light implements through the Instinct system, represented by a meter with a lightning bolt symbol, with different actions costing a different amount of Instinct. While hidden, Bond can Lure enemies closer for a quiet takedown to slowly thin enemy ranks. If he gets caught, he can Confront the enemy and, depending on the context, come up with a bluff, comply, fake a surrender, or just strike them anyway. If needed, Bond can temporarily bluff his way through certain areas without hiding first, but it won’t work on NPCs with a white dot above their head. In certain situations, mostly combat, Bond can also Focus to slow down time to more easily hit a target while aiming, be it a headshot, disarming by shooting a weapon or stunning by shooting their legs; defeating enemies refills Instinct. Since this system relies on a finite resource like Gadgets, players are encouraged to weigh their options and plan ahead.

With these elements combined, the game does a good job of letting you get in the same headspace as Bond and giving you the tools to adjust your approach on the fly. These tools, including the combat, are satisfying in practice and the fact that there are multiple potential approaches to accomplishing the same goal is great for maintaining engagement. There are even some collectibles that encourage and reward exploring the environment. However, I shouldn’t understate the role that the graphics have in adding the extra sense of realism that Bond has without feeling like the game prioritizes that aspect too much. Apart from the smooth framerate in Performance Mode, you can see this most clearly in the way the environment reacts to fights, which adds a sense of weight to each attack.

Once you’re finished with the story, you can get more replay value through the Tactical Simulator, or TacSim, presented as a training simulator within MI6’s Q-Lab. Here, you can play through missions under different parameters via Escalations and Operations. Escalations unlock increased difficulty levels as you progress through them while Operations ask you to solve certain challenges while employing creative use of your tools. Before starting each mission, you can customize your wardrobe, firearms and gadgets by going to each station within the physical space of the TacSim. However, although you can unlock everything within the main story, you must unlock everything within the TacSim again by earning Intel, as well as XP to boost your Clearance level. Obtaining a certain Clearance level enables access to new items and cosmetics that you can buy with earned Intel from completing Challenges, so you’re encouraged to experiment as much as you can within each Mission. The only downside, however, is that there isn’t as much content for the TacSim at the moment as some may want.

James Bond films are also known for their product placement and First Light is no different in that regard. Fortunately, the game’s approach feels organic to the point that you might not even notice everything. Yes, they do make sure to point out that Bond is wearing an Omega watch and you may notice certain car brands like Land Rover, Jaguar or Aston Martin, but apart from prominently displaying the Omega logo the first time, it’s never really relevant. For example, there are Coca-Cola products and signs within the game, but they’re not shoved in your face. For the concept of advertising within games, this is perhaps the best route: the product they’re using could be anything, it just happens to be from a particular brand.

The only difference here is which color watch you want.

As much I liked First Light and would want to see more from this world, however, there are some criticisms. When you knock someone out, you have to be careful where you do it, as other enemies will investigate once they notice the body. While this can easily set up another takedown, I did find myself wishing that I could drag bodies into a more secure position, as in Hitman, for times when I didn’t want anyone to notice. The campaign is fully playable offline (once you download a majority of the game through an update), as stated on the main menu, but since I played Online, I disconnected four times throughout the entire story, one of which occurred with admittedly hilarious timing (the very moment I hacked something in the environment). Speaking of the campaign, at least a couple of the story missions dragged in places and although there is a good amount of freedom in completing your task, there’s only one outcome thanks to the cinematic approach, so it can feel like your choices don’t really matter. While I can understand that last point, I found that I didn’t mind as much after thinking about it like a much better take on Hitman: Absolution (my first Hitman game and one that I find overhated), which also had a more linear story path and more of an emphasis on a gritty, cinematic story with less overall freedom than the more “open world” gameplay that most of the other games employed.

Despite its flaws, however, 007 First Light is a great start to a new era of gaming for James Bond. I may, however, suggest waiting for a sale, especially if you care about how the physical disc doesn’t contain the entire game.