By Ameer Ammar
007: First Light is the newest game by Hitman developers IO interactive, Going into this, I didn’t have any idea what to really expect. Whether it would end up way more linear like Uncharted or simply be another Hitman with a new coat of paint. What I did not expect is for this game to somehow be both at the same time, and for that to work perfectly as it integrates open-level design allowing for a ton of different approaches with a cinematic feel that puts it up there with some of the best action games.
007’s gameplay feel is very similar to Hitman: World of Assassination, things like the camera, the movement, climbing, all feel very familiar but this game pushes the envelope massively with its combat, the melee combat in specific is absolutely sublime. It is a new take on the free-flow combat popularized by the Batman Arkham series but with a unique twist where it feels like every single wall, decoration or item in a room is destructable. You will constantly by throwing enemies into desks, walls, paintings, it is absolutely thrilling to play and feels amazing. Often, I’d let myself get detected purely so I can wreck an entire room fighting a group of enemies, its that fun.
Gunplay is also by far IO’s best ever, it has a visceral feel as weapons have very limited ammo, so the general loop is run at an enemy, take their gun, use that against their buddies until you’re out of ammo and have to throw that gun at the next guy in order to get the drop on them and pick up their gun. It is consistently exciting, fun and the closest I’ve felt to a John Wick simulator since Max Payne 3.
Stealth makes up a significant portion of First Light’s gameplay and its very much an evolution of Hitman, the opportunities system returns where a set of objectives can be followed for a unique mini-story and these feel a lot more integrated into the levels in a way I have never seen done before. Basically, IO managed to have that linear, cinematic feel applied to every single path you decide to take in a mission, with unique dialogue, NPC reactions, locations all changing depending on the path you choose to tackle an objective. I’ve never seen this level of cinematic feel be applied to a game that can be played this open ended. Often, objectives that felt linear would turn out to actually be one of many possible ways to tackle a specific scenario.
Bond’s gadgets are all tied to his watch, you choose two of these to bring into each mission and they affect which paths will be available in any mission, some will make distracting guards much easier while others open up doors. One of my favorite abilities in this game is Bluffing, if you get caught or can’t find an alternative way, Bond can begin making up a story in order to get past guards. This is an absolute genius mechanics and Bond always comes up with a story that makes sense in the context of the mission and location, adding further to that immersive feel.
007 brings in some major set-pieces they are VERY high octane, high adrenaline and often just insane. It’s as close to playing a new Uncharted that I’ve felt since Uncharted 4 while still keeping that core open level feel from Hitman. Being both cinematic and still fun to play and experiment with on replays, they seriously nailed these big moments especially when its all going down and the classic 007 theme kicks in. It never gets old.
The narrative in 007: First Light is quite unique from anything James Bond I’ve seen, this is an entirely new take and origin story. Think of it like Batman Begins for James Bond, this Bond is only 26 years old and at the very beginning of his career. However, as the game goes on, he becomes more and more like THE James Bond that we all know and love, and the way its tackled feels so natural and genuinely compelling.
Patrick Gibson delivers a seriously strong performance, he manages to be consistently hilarious with his quips, yet nails that masculine charm that James Bond should always have. Its themes feel very current to our modern day and current world, 007 has a lot to say on the human spirit and AI in specific. This game does its training sequence in quite possibly the coolest way I’ve seen a tutorial done in a video game, the way cinematics flow into gameplay always felt perfect and really creative. I especially loved the side cast of characters, in particular John Greenway, who is both Bond’s mentor and also his biggest doubter. Their connection through the story really got me and I absolutely adored where that went.
If you’re concerned about this story not feeling 007 enough because they chose to go with such a young James Bond, you have no reason to worry. They nailed it. I’d say its IO’s strongest narrative to date and a fantastic story overall that wraps up perfectly. I hope we see a lot of sequels to this, it deserves it.
My only real flaw with 007 is that I found one of the game’s major levels to be too linear for my tastes, its in the late-game and overall came across as a strange stop to the strong momentum the game has up to that point, thankfully the game quickly followed up that level with one of its best, so it’s overall very minor in the grand scheme of things. The game also ran perfectly and looked gorgeous on my PS5 Pro, holding a consistent 60FPS with PSSR outputting a gorgeous sharp image at all times.
FINAL VERDICT
007: First Light feels like the game IOI has wanted to make their entire existence, everything they’ve learned with the HITMAN franchise is applied here while carving out its own new identity. I think this is just the beginning of what is hopefully, an amazing series of James Bond games.
If you love games like Uncharted or Hitman, then you’re guaranteed to love this as much as I did.
007: First Light - 9.5/10 - MUST-BUY
Special thanks to IOI for providing an early review copy.