007 First Light Hands-Off Preview (PS5) – It’s not often that developer and property comes together in quite the harmonious celebration that IO Interactive has with the James Bond IP. It’s a match made in heaven, and one that had me quietly confident that whatever IO had cooking would be a worthy homage to the legacy series.
James Bond has ventured into the world of games before, but from half an hour of footage, I feel like I’ve seen behind the curtain, and I’m gasping to see just that little bit more. IO have taken their expertise from their extensive work on Hitman, and brought it to a new playground; a playground that feels like both the perfect reflection of 007, as well as a gateway into a new world of games for general audiences.
I left the preview feeling incredibly excited to see what else could be coming around the corner, with the promise of even cooler stuff to be shared.
007 First Light Hands-Off Preview (PS5)
Finding His Feet
Our preface for this demonstration was that 007 First Light would very much be the origin story of James Bond, instead of taking place during his prime. The mission that we watched was positioned right at the start of the game, and featured a very different flavour of Bond from what you might expect.
While you might be used to the suave sophisticate, we had a brusque, rough and impulsive James who very quickly broke protocol in search of his own leads after witnessing suspicious activity. This was set against the backdrop of capturing a rogue agent without being spotted, so tensions were already high.
After witnessing a suspicious bellhop, James jumps into action and descends on the hotel to see what’s going on. We were then introduced to some of the dynamic approaches that you can take to entering into restricted areas. Our presentation had James turn a hosepipe on, to distract a guard and then proceed to set fire to a wheelbarrow of dry grass. Hardly inconspicuous, but it gets the job done.
This is where the Hitman trimmings feel most apparent. You aren’t playing a blank slate like Agent 47; you’re playing a character who cajoles his way through situations and finds footing where he can. After climbing through a window with all the dignity of a gatecrasher, James casually greets two maids in the hallway as if nothing’s happened. It’s a funny contrast, and one that I hope gets time to blossom across the course of time.
Bond is known for nothing if not his charisma, so seeing that immediately come into focus is great.
On The Road
In our segmented preview, we were then whisked into a car chase, which is another hallmark of classic 007 stories. This chase went across the countryside in a chaotic race to try and catch the rogue agent. This scene was full of bombastic set pieces that all felt a bit rehearsed for this. I want to see how people will approach these moments in the final game, but what I saw was impressive in its own right.
Environments look lush and full of detail. It’s exciting to see a more engaged approach to storytelling through these more linear moments that string together the more open espionage scenarios. After watching this for a bit, we got another exciting element of the Hitman DNA being used for something new, being a more action-focused set piece with some incredibly impressive gunplay.
Without having the controller in my own hands to confirm, I was left to bask in some incredibly bombastic explosion effects and a healthy dose of people flying all over the place. It seems 007: First Light has specific dividing moments that effectively give you the green flag for being able to attack people as you want, with permission from your handler to use force.
The result of James Bond being a more defined character means that he does have to act in a way that reflects the character, and that does mean generally having a more rigid approach to objective completion. Where you could feasibly force your way through a mission in Hitman with all guns blazing, you can’t do the same here, from the looks of things. Agent 47 is free to move on to his next target without any repercussions, 007 doesn’t have the same luxury.
With that in mind, these segments clearly are a no-holds-barred juxtaposition to the social stealth sections that Hitman players may be familiar with; if anything, this felt far closer to a setpiece from Uncharted than Hitman, and I mean that in the most complimentary way possible. Bodies were being shoved around and off ledges, and explosive barrels were exploding all over the place, it was really quite impressive to see how everything came together in this one singular set piece.
If anything, I was surprised at just how involved it was. Enemies seemed to be intelligently moving around the field in order to try and take advantage, but were being constantly knocked back. The Uncharted came in how 007 quite roughly picked up any gun in the environment and used it to try and get through, rather than relying on a clandestine toolkit of his own. I have to wonder if more of the spy gadgets will be used in combat in later missions, but the base gunplay appeared solid enough to me.
A gunfight quickly evolves into a chase onto a plane, in which 007 hijacks and takes control of the aircraft and, by using the shoulder buttons, is able to throw cargo and assailants around and gain the upper hand. This magnificent setpiece ended in a skydive from a destroyed plane and the acquisition of a parachute.
From One Screen to the Other
I mean this to be a positive, but this demo encapsulates everything that James Bond is meant to be, and it felt like a recreation of some kind of lost film that we’ve never seen. In the exact same way that MachineGames demonstrated their credentials when it came to Indiana Jones and The Great Circle last year, the exact same is true here.
This demonstration ended up feeling like IO Interactive telling us “don’t worry, we’ve got this”, and I fully believe them. Even from just this opening mission, it’s clear that the vision for this game is far greater than essentially making a Hitman 4. It is a meaningful cross of creatives and property for another licensed game that fully takes advantage of its source material.
In some ways, this might be the very best way for casuals to get a taste for what Hitman can actually be like, and this is also positive that comes from this union.
I came away from this demo incredibly impressed, full of excitement for what comes next, and eager to see where James Bond will go on his journey to become the illustrious 007. It’s a tall order, but I get the feeling that high expectations are well on their way to being met.
007 First Light is due out for PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch 2, and Xbox Series X/S in 2026.