Today we got to see our first presentation showing off gameplay for 007 First Light. We got to see a shortened version of one of the missions in the game that starts off showing the stealth elements of the game which given IOI's background with the Hitman series, the stealth in this game looks really good with distracting guards in order to grab a lighter, which allows Bond to light a wheelbarrow of leaves on fire, which distracts another guard, which lets him sneak through a window.
After this we got to see a bit of a car chase, which to me this felt like the weakest part of the presentation because this looks like one of those car chases where you can go race through a premade track in order to "catch up" to your target and if you make one mistake you are gonna fail the mission and have to start over.
Then we got to the part that I loved the most because this is is where it started to feel like I was watching a James Bond movie as he gets into a gunfight at an airfield complete with tons of destruction by blowing up tanks, causing lots of explosions and taking out multiple enemies at once.
I was so hyped watching this presentation and the reason is because I want to see more of this in games. That is focusing on fun. The way that melee combat works with being able to throw people off ledges, throw them through windows, send them crashing into bookshelves and all of the destruction that comes with it. This looks like so much fun. Same when they showcases what you can do with guns by shooting down chandeliers, blowing up explosives, shooting the environment and having things fall on enemies to kill them. It makes missions totally repayable to find all of the amazing ways you can destroy the environment and take out your enemies. One of the best parts of IOI's Hitman series is how there were tons of different ways you can complete a mission which made the game insanely replayable. It looks like 007 First Light will be the same deal with many different ways to complete parts of your mission. I will absolutely be keeping an eye on this one leading up to launch next year.
007 First Light launches on March 27th 2026 for PS5, Series X, Switch 2 and PC.
