If I’m being honest, I must say that I didn’t exactly love the way that the last run of Bond films wrapped up. To be clear, I’m not down on Daniel Craig. In fact, like many fans, I’m of the opinion that he's the best to ever take the role – but there’s no question that his five-film run as 007 had more ups and downs than an Aston Martin’s ejector seat. Casino Royale and Skyfall are surely two of the very best entries in the entire 60-year canon, but Quantum of Solace was undercooked, Spectre was one Fat Bastard away from being an Austin Powers-style parody, and although No Time to Die course-corrected to some extent, its bloated length and bleak tone has meant that I haven’t felt the need to return to it since its 2021 release. No Time to Die? More like no time to rewatch.
After a three-hour hands-on with 007 First Light at a recent BiliBili: First Look event in Shanghai, my biggest takeaway from IO Interactive’s upcoming spin on Ian Fleming’s superspy series is that it feels like the fresh start that Bond fans deserve. We’re now five years on from the denouement of the Daniel Craig saga, and with precious few confirmed details surrounding the next big screen outing for Bond besides the welcome hiring of Dune director Denis Villeneuve, it appears unlikely we’ll be getting a new Bond movie for another two years at least. That could well end up being the longest break between Bond movies in the series’ history. Thus the imminent release of 007 First Light could not be better timed, and I’m pleased to say that from what I’ve played so far I couldn’t imagine a better way to break the big Bond drought.
Of course, if we’re talking Bond games the wait for a new release has been exponentially longer and, given the last Bond game was the thoroughly dreadful 007 Legends in 2012, the wait for a good Bond game has been even longer still. Now with IO Interactive, it feels like we’re finally back in safe hands. With its Hitman series, the Danish developer has more or less been making James Bond games in all but name for well over two decades at this point, and its expertise in stealth and subterfuge certainly seems more tailormade for 007 than a Tom Ford suit. From the books to the big screen, the team’s love and respect for the source material is clear in First Light, and it pays careful homage to the character’s origins – such as the way its fresh-faced Bond gains a permanent scar in the story’s opening mission, much like the one described in Ian Fleming’s first novel but never portrayed in the films.
At the same time, IO is demonstrating considerable restraint so as not to be too slavish to the series’ signature hallmarks. You won’t hear Monty Norman’s iconic Bond theme rattled out during each and every shootout like so many Bond games of yesteryear. Instead it’s held back to properly punctuate his most outrageous stunts, like when he slips behind the wheel of a garbage truck at the end of the story’s Kensington mission to barrel through a sequence of hastily improvised roadblocks. That measured musical approach makes it all the more exhilarating when those iconic orchestral horns eventually kick in.
Quantum of Solace
I also appreciate that IO is putting just as much effort into building the world around Bond as it is into regularly blowing it up. Though the Kensington mission surges from a breathtaking sniper battle, to a basement level boss fight, and Bond’s eventual belligerent escape through crush hour traffic, it begins relatively sedately with 007’s return to the apartment he shares with two other young MI6 operatives. Since I’d just taken multiple runs through First Light’s training course in Malta, all of which began with stealthy intentions but inevitably devolved into scrambling Uncharted-style firefights, I appreciated the opportunity for a bit of a breather in Bond’s humble dwellings before the gun and gadget-based carnage continued.
There are countless cute touches to pore over here. An unfinished game of hangman sits on the kitchen table, seemingly spelling out the words ‘Poison Tip Umbrella’. On Bond’s bedroom bookshelf are manuals about tying nautical knots presumably from his naval days, as well as a book on ornithology, making it clear that he’s been an avid ‘bird-watcher’ from the beginning. There’s also a photo of a young Bond with his parents and a silver brooch left by his late mother to study up close. I can’t really recall a previous Bond game that has taken the time to flesh out 007’s character to this extent and, although it may sound somewhat minor in the scheme of things, I genuinely enjoyed these small touches just as much as the ensuing over-the-top action spectacle. You can even stop to mix yourself a cocktail at the drinks cabinet.
The many tiny yet vital details like this really helped me to quickly buy into this new Bond, as did the drama of the opening naval mission in Iceland that goes awry and lays the platform for his recruitment into MI6. IO’s decision to make this an origin story for the youngest-ever Bond – not counting James Bond Jr, because of course I’m not – means that everything that would otherwise come across as a tired trope is instead presented in a fresh light, or indeed a First Light.
We get to experience the intensity and hesitance of Bond’s first kill, the first time that he charms his way into a private party, and the first time he absently sips from a poisoned glass of champagne because he’s too distracted by a new female friend. That then leads to Bond’s first chairbound interrogation that uses a nifty provoke and stall minigame to create a level of tension very much on par with the not-so-friendly private chat with Le Chiffre in Casino Royale – mercifully minus the wince-inducing knotted-rope whacks to Bond’s dangling double-Os. All of it feels entirely new to the character, reinforced by a performance from actor Patrick Gibson that has the cocky confidence of youth but perhaps not all of the wisdom of experience.
Live and Let Die
I won’t pretend that I’m enamoured with absolutely every aspect of First Light, however. For starters, I’m not completely convinced by its melee combat. It’s rough and tumble as proper Bond fisticuffs should be, and I love the way that during a scrap you can grab anything within reach to crack over an assailant's skull – whether its bottles and cups from the countertop in Bond’s kitchen apartment, or pool balls from the breakout area in the art museum’s security wing. But it also feels somewhat loose and clumsy at times, especially against multiple foes. Although I might get used to it with a bit more practice, I definitely struggled to get into a consistent groove with Bond’s brawling versus smoothly headshotting henchmen or triggering environmental hazards with the Q-watch, both of which I felt comfortable with almost immediately.
Speaking of the gadgets, it also strikes me as being a little bit stingy that you only get a few uses out of the high-tech tools supplied by Q Branch before you need to manually recharge them. Bond’s Q-watch can be used to temporarily blind guards with the zap of a laser, or to drop chandeliers from the ceiling in order to lure them away from their post, but the use of each sneaky skill results in a substantial hit to Bond’s watch battery. I can understand the need to put restrictions on the player so that they’re not constantly triggering technological traps like they’re Home Alone in an Apple Store, but even so it does feel a little bit videogame-y to regularly stop what you’re doing in order to rummage around for conspicuously placed car batteries in an attempt to scrounge up some juice. Bond’s gadgets should feel cutting edge, not like they have all the battery stamina of a five-year-old iPhone you keep in your desk drawer on the off chance your new one is lost. A simple cooldown timer may well have sufficed.
Still, much like the scar on Bond’s cheek these small blemishes don’t really detract from the overall appeal of First Light and, unlike his power-hungry gadgets, I’ve come away from my hands-on completely energised and desperately keen to see more. I can’t wait to see how the mischievous sense of humour regularly on display in IO Interactive’s Hitman games translates to a potentially calamitous tour of MI6’s Q branch. I’m dying to get behind the wheel of the new Aston Martin Valhalla, which is a hybrid for the first time in the series because apparently even superspies aren’t immune to the current oil crisis. I also couldn’t help but notice that the signature gun barrel graphic was conspicuously absent from First Light’s opening, which makes me wonder exactly which major moment in this origin story is such an iconic sequence being saved for?
We’ll get answers soon enough, since 007 First Light is set to arrive on PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X|S on May 27th, with a Switch 2 version set to release sometime later in the year. It’s been a long time between drinks for fans of James Bond videogames, but from what I’ve seen so far this one is set to go down more smoothly than a freshly shaken martini.
Want more hands-on impressions of 007 First Light? Be sure to check out Alessandro Fillari's recent preview based off the same demo I played here.
Tristan Ogilvie is a senior video editor at IGN's Sydney office. He traveled to the BiliBili: First Look event as a guest of the organisers.
