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Like the man himself, a James Bond game should ooze style and swagger. There's no point in a timid tie-in with neither the balls nor ability to bring the Bond fantasy to life. And I've never particularly wanted one that simply gaffotapes all the loudest bits of Call of Duty together and stuffs them into a tuxedo. Oh, very dapper. Give us 12. Piss off. What I've wanted is a Bond game that's confident and charismatic. One that both es patiently and peaks violently as it segways between social stealth, dangerous infiltrations, gadgetd driven shenanigans, and destructive never tell me the odds action.
What I've wanted is a Bond game like 007 First Light. And what we got is the best Bond game I've ever played. Do you have an appointment? The name's Bond. James Bond. He's with me. First Light's greatest success is just how impressively developer IO Interactive has executed on its mission to create something that it can call its own within a very established universe. What we get is something that's unmistakably Bond and respectfully adjacent to everything that has come before it, but confidently occupies its own space as a uniquely separate take.
Let's see what all the fuss is about. That is, it never seems like a situation akin to 2001's 007 Agent Under Fire, which felt like the series was in a holding pattern before EA cut another check for Pierce Brosman. No, this is a fidiously assembled world of its very own, inspired in all the key ways by the work of creator Ian Fleming and the expectations bred by the films, but tailored for IO's take on the series, like a bespoke suit. That's nice. Yes. Note the exquisite stitching and attention to detail, cut, proportion, and style in perfect harmony. First Light has its own M, its own Q, and its own Bond. And after playing it, I wouldn't have it any other way.
Bond. James Bond. What do you do, James? Lately, headunting. Oh, dear. First Light doesn't rush its world building. patiently moving through Bon's first encounter with MI6 as a Royal Navy air crewman in the wrong place at the right time to his initial double O training and onto his transformative first field mission that sets up the core story to come. In another developer's hands, all of this may have been smooshed into a single opening tutorial or partially handwaved off in a cutscene. Not so in first light, which unfolds much more like a prestige TV series than a film. While I'll stress vehemently that this is absolutely the last thing I'd want from current screenwrits owner Amazon when it comes to Bond's liveaction future. For first
lights purposes, it works splendidly. It feels perfectly suited to sit back and play, say, a chapter at a time, and it took me around 18 hours to reach the end without rushing. The writing is excellent, blending a world of serious consequences with a steady supply of onbrand oneliners. Listen, I'm in a bit of a binder. The music is impeccable, too. A masterclass of restraint that sensibly limits the use of Bon's iconic musical stinger to major moments, meaning I got chills each time it occurred. target. The chapters are very lengthy and rich with peripheral detail to explore, and this significantly bolsters First Light's ability to build a world I can feel properly immersed in. The pace of both the action and the story is
excellent, crescendoing brilliantly in its final act as the stakes explode along with everything else, and IO takes a moment to fulfill one last Bond fantasy I'd feared it may have forgotten. While I always felt properly propelled along, I have enjoyed the fact that beyond a few time-sensitive sequences and chases, First Light is more than happy to let you linger and absorb the detail. This is great, as since the world around Bond has been so thoughtfully and convincingly fleshed out, I found it largely impossible to blitz through. Cocktail, please surprise me. Whether it's Bond's London apartment or the bustling MI6 headquarters packed with staffers, the iconic secret agent is
seated in a believable world that doesn't fall to pieces the second you try to scrutinize it. As a Bond fan, it's delightfully immersive and Easter eggs are bound. So, looks can kill. You try moving through Q Lab without pressing every button. Q's helpless lackeyis aren't going to temporarily blind themselves. After all, something flew right in. Perhaps above everything, I just adore the attention to detail. From the big picture consideration of giving Bond the long vertical scar on his right cheek the character boasted in his literary origins to tiny embellishments like the
scratched rims and zip tied trim on the busted up 2006 Aston Martin that acts as a test mule at MI6's Maltabased training camp. If you don't walk around and ogle it like I did, this car only spends about a minute or two on screen during the chapter. Yet, the fact that IO saw fit to weather, damage, and field repair it like a teenager's taped up track day drift toy speaks volumes about where the studio set the bar for the level of authenticity it wanted to capture here. And I love that Aston Martin is here with multiple models, as is Jaguar, Land Rover, and Triumph. and that's meaningful. It doesn't feel cynical.
Bond is a British institution and First Light surrounds him with others. First Light is in rare air in this regard. It's a licensed game built with an obsessive desire to faithfully bring an existing property to life. Looking for these? Hold on. As its own take, it's on a slightly different track to famously brilliant movie tie-ins like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, The Warriors, or even Robocop Rogue City, right? But IO's commitment is the same. There are too many seamlessly embedded references to moments from various Bond films to argue that the movies aren't at the bedrock of what the studio is built here.
Stop touching your bloody ear. First Light's pace also allows us to marinate with these new riffs on the characters for a lot longer, which helps immensely. There's no doubt that coming out of the gate with such a young version of Bond was a risk. Irish actor Patrick Gibson's portrayal of a Bond in his late 20s and brand new to the world of international espionage is not initially the one we know. They gave you a less than 1% chance of success. You simply beat the odds. I didn't realize those were actual odds. He's an archetypal hot shot. Cocky and inexperienced. He's a successfully suave ladies man already, but encumbered with
a little too much misplaced confidence elsewhere. Drinking alone was never my forte. Well, I didn't realize you were this thirsty. However, this gives Gibson's bond room to grow as he becomes the product of all the new role models he's suddenly found himself surrounded by. These include Q, whose patient and more fatherly attitude makes sense in this context because it now leaves room for him to potentially become a little more hilariously exasperated as Bond continues to break or lose everything he ever gives him.
Already have a watch. Oh, you do? Now you get a new one. and Bond's training mentor, John Greenway, aly portrayed by British actor Lenny James in a similarly strong performance. I read your file. To do this, you need skill, discipline, and above all, dedication. The upshot here is that the bond we get by the end is the patriotic, heroic, and appropriately horny man of mystery we're very familiar with. But watching him get there was something we'd never seen before. With IO Interactive being the home of the Hitman series since its inception way back in the year 2000, First Light admittedly shares some very obvious DNA with its bold and barcoded Stablemate.
Running on the studio's in-house engine, the look and feel are immediately familiar to me as a veteran player of the Hitman series. For the most part, this is a strength. Bond feels weighty and grounded as he smoothly moves, climbs, and vaults around. And First Light typically looks quite fabulous, from its crowded clubs to its wide open natural spaces. Playing on a standard PS5, there were occasions where I found myself staring at a texture that seemed far murkier than it ought to be at such close proximity, but it's otherwise sharp and packed with fine, granular detail. The sandbox nature of Hitman's level design is also
here to a certain extent, albeit in the more managed fashion of 2012's Hitman Absolution. Are you in the list? What list is that? That is First Light stitches together open areas that have multiple approaches with linear sequences you need to play the way the developers dictate. There are levels here with large crowded areas akin to those like the Paris fashion show in 2016's Hitman or the German nightclub in 2021's Hitman 3. While other sections are a little more adjacent to something like the Uncharted series. Gravity's just a suggestion. The latter sequences are occasionally guilty of limitations that look a little silly in practice, like Bond's inability to clamber up a small rocky slope or
duck under a waist high booby trap string. not going that way. However, this is the kind of scene you can typically pick at in even the best thirdp person shooters in the business. First Light also repurposes a lot of Hitman's distraction-based sneaking. For instance, you can still turn on loud items and such to lure guards from their posts. Only in this case, it's something Bond can do from afar thanks to the embrace of gadgets. Gadgets are obviously a core component of the 007 fantasy, and First Light features an array of them. My favorites are the laser and the missile pen. The only thing that gives me pause is IO's solution to restrain their use. Gadgets
are a consumable, so there's a requirement to shuffle around and gather up battery power from loose phones and replenish your chemical supply by scooping up gobs of hand sanitizer and engine oil. The fact that there's always so much of this stuff laying around means gathering it is just an arbitrary task, which arguably could have been easily replaced by a cooldown timer. At any rate, I should note that this isn't simply agent 47 by way of his majesty's secret service. And there are a bunch of bespoke tweaks here that imbue First Light with its own very distinctly Bond branded flourishes. Well, that was dramatic. His abilities as a brawler put 47s to shame, and there's a layered system of dodges, counters, and satisfyingly devastating
environment attacks. Melee combat is perhaps a little clunky at times, particularly when Bond finds himself swarmed, but it is nonetheless a major distinction from the Hitman series. First Light is also far more suited for runand gun shooting. I initially found the shooting a little clumsy and I did find myself wondering about the worth of a mechanic that allows Bond to toss an empty gun right at the face of the nearest goon. Eventually, however, I almost started to relish running out of ammo, hurling a submachine gun like an oversized shuriken into some hapless bloke's head and snatching his own weapon. The times I got it right, which increased the more
accustomed to the action I got, were incredibly satisfying. For clarity, there are also parts of the Hitman formula that haven't crossed over into First Light's universe. Disguises, for instance, are limited to only when they're scripted necessities for the story, and Bond can't hide or drag the bodies of the guards he's knocked out, which does leave the stealth feeling a little archaic in 2026. I'll certainly concede that the idea of James Bond collecting a big pile of corpses doesn't pass the sniff test, but it would have been nice to be able to at least yank a knocked out bad guy behind cover in order to allow me to remain undetected for a little longer.
Tell me you're not checking out. I'm being upgraded. Actually, of course you are. While it's impossible to argue that 007 First Light shares the seismic importance of 1997's Golden Eye 007, it is nonetheless the best Bond game I've ever played. Demonstrably obsessed with bringing the Bond fantasy to life in a way no game has ever managed before, developer IO Interactive has found a highly successful home for the more curated action stealth formula of 2012's Hitman Absolution. Patiently paced, First Light is brimming with Bond's trinity of gadgets, guns, and girls in a way that feels fresh but reverent and never like parody. The evolution of this risky young Bond over the course of the story also feels logical and earned to the point where
the final moments before the credits left me literally cheering at the screen. Take a bow, IO, and put your clothes on because I'm buying you all an ice cream. I've been known to experiment. Audio James still on reviews director Tom Marks here with Luke Riley to talk a little bit more about his review of 007 First Light. Uh Luke, you reviewed Hitman 3 for us. So you're no stranger to IO. You also reviewed Indiana Jones in the Great Circle. So no stranger to movie game adaptations in recent years. And then also beyond that, Red Dead Redemption 2, the Mafia games, single player stuff in general, like that. Uh, first of all, we should just acknowledge the elephant in
the room. This review is coming post launch because code arrived super late on this one. We didn't get it until the Friday before launch. And then because of time zones, since you're in Australia, that means you didn't get it until the morning of your Saturday. And then it was also a holiday in the US on Monday. So, it was just like this really delayed, bad timing of a process. So, the first question I have for you is, you know, what's your history with both the series and the developer? Were you coming at this as a Bond fan mostly, or were you coming at it from the Hitman side, a mix of both?
Oh, man. It is 100% a mix of both. Um, it's it's a perfect storm uh for me. I am a Hitman fan all the way back, not until the not from the first one. Uh because at that point I didn't have a PC that was capable of playing anything uh back in the year 2000. But I picked up Hitman um on PS2 uh with Hitman 2 Soul and Assassin. That was my jam. I played that a lot. Played contracts after that. And then Blood Money was a big one. I remember Blood Money was an early press trip for me back when I used to work in print. Um we did a big piece on Blood Money on a magazine I worked on in Australia. But yeah, and then I played through Absolution, which was obviously a big kind of a handbreak turn for the series. And then the World of
Assassination Trilogy, as it's now known, was uh yeah, was huge amount of fun. I enjoyed that a lot. So yeah, I'm a massive Hitman fan from way back. But I love uh the Bond films. I'm a huge Bond fan. Um and have been since I was a kid. A lot of my movie tastes were informed by my late nana who was a huge movie fan um and who whose parents ran a cinema uh back in the day back in their town where they lived. Uh so a lot of my taste comes from all the VHS tapes that my nana uh used to give me as a young child and we used to go rent movies and um yeah the Bond films have just spoke to me through the decades and yeah I love the Bond films. I'm a huge fan. Who's your Bond?
Well, see, okay, that's a complicated question, Tom. I always give you these complicated these hard questions in these interviews because I think like the uncontroversial answer is Connory, right? Uh and I don't think it's the wrong answer. Um because he's an incredible Bond and he's so iconic in the role. Certainly the bond that was Bond briefly uh when I was sort of coming of age and starting to absorb those movies in the late ' 80s and then and beyond was uh was Dalton. And so The Living Daylights is actually one of my favorite Bond films um because it was one of the first ones I watched because it was brand new at the time. It was like that was the Bond. He was the Bond.
You talk a little bit about like what you wanted from a Bond game in the review, but I guess the flip of that question is like what do you think other Bonds kind of didn't quite get right that this one managed to figure out? People have differing opinions on this. I think certainly the Activision run was mediocre overall. And I think that in terms of that being our last taste of a Bond game prior to First Light certainly helps First Light in a lot of ways because all First Light had to do was come out and be a really confident uh Bond game that was trying to do something different at least and it would have gotten its dues. I would it wouldn't have got it would have gotten its
flowers for that. And it's beyond that. It's it's excellent. Um, so yeah, the I think the bar was a little lower uh on account of those games. I it's hard to say. I mean, Legends and Contours was fine at the time. They were far too heavily informed by Call of Duty for me at that time. And I know that Bond has its roots. I mean, not going back all the way to the very initial Bond games. The Bond series is extremely old uh in terms of its video game uh lineage, but I know being a first-person shooter is part of the Bond game DNA. And so I can appreciate leaning into that. And then I can appreciate the fact that Activision had Call of Duty in their back pocket and that was going to inform all the other
stuff they were publishing at the time. I don't know, particularly Legends was terrible. Bloodstone was okay. Uh it just wasn't particularly memorable. It was a pretty middle of the road third person shooter even contemporaneously. Um, and I think it maybe gets a little bit more fondly looked back on because it was probably the last Bond game that was trying to really capture the atmosphere of being a Bond game. It had its own original theme song and it was very cinematic, so to speak. Last thing I want to touch on with you is the I think it's there's an interesting comparison between First Light and Indiana Jones as you know existing shooter studios. Not that Hitman is strictly a shooter, you know, studios
that have an existing MMO, I guess is the better way to put it. Taking a really well-known movie IP and not making a strict movie adaptation, but their own thing that's very storydriven, trying to evoke the same feeling as the source material movies. What do you make of that trend? Because both these games really did it right in a way that licensed tie-in games don't always. Passion is the major ingredient other than money clearly. Um, but you have to be passionate about the source material and you have to just have this unshakable uh desire to present it right and do it justice.
Um, and I think games like The Great Circle and certainly First Light demonstrate that there's so many things about both. Um, and they are a little different uh in their own ways. Like uh The Great Circle, for instance, is so ruthlessly faithful to being uh to inserting itself into that existing Indiana Jones cannon, right? And that universe. It's got we've got Harrison Ford's likeness there and then the impression of Harris that impression that we got from Troy Baker was really on point and so it just feels so naturally part of it and then the production values alone push it even further along like it just felt so well positioned in that sort of and I'll say trilogy because that's kind of where it sits in those original films.
Um but First Light is a slightly different thing. Uh because First Light is not doing say the it's not going through uh the Bloodstone track where it's like taking the existing Bond of our moment at and at that point it was Daniel Craig and then putting him in a uh bespoke game adventure. Um this is setting up its own Bond universe. you know, we're not bringing in Judy Dench to, you know, we're not air dropping Judy Dench in here for a little bit of uh, you know, linkage to the to the real world. This is its own thing. And I think that's one of the things that impressed me most, but because and I won't say I was like resistant to it at all initially. I was kind of straight into it, but what would you say? Any like in congruence I had of
like, well, who is this guy and what is this world and who is this M and who are these people? It just re it just rapidly uh disintegrated as it kind of just so the stidiously and expertly established its own Bond universe that's so deep. It really stands up to that kind of scrutiny uh that if you ever stop in the world and look around, you're like, well, you know, there's a whole operation here. There's a whole MI6 operation here that I feel like I'm a like a little cog in. Yeah. I don't know, man. You just have to be committed. Luke, thank you so much for telling us more about your tastes on both the Bond and the IO side of things.
Uh it's really great to hear your clear excitement for these series and these things. Uh if you want more from Luke, you just gave a 10. He reviewed Fors Horizon 6. You can go check that out. Uh and if you want a very different sort of stealthy game, Warren Spectre's new game, Thick Thieves, just came out. We have a review of that as well. And for everything else, stick with IGN.
