Last week, on the occasion of the Gamescom 2025 in Cologne, in Germany, we were able to discover in preview the very first Let’s Play of 007 : First Lightthe next James Bond game developed by IO Interactive teams.
Tonight, we had the right to a new State of Play in partnership between Sony and IO Interactive to find out a little more about this next title. The opportunity for us to reveal you Our first impressions On this return of James Bond in video games, which is announced, for the moment, Not really so good that we would have hoped for it.
007: The origins of James Bond in video games
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It was therefore on the occasion of Gamescom that we were received by the IO Interactive teams to discover during half an hour The first gameplay demonstration of the next 007 : First Light. So we did not play the game, we were only able to discover a presentation with the development teams.
This presentation was cut in three phaseswith a first step centered on an infiltration sequence. A second part with A chase. And a last centered On the Gunfights. What have a nice overview of what the game can offer us.
First of all, we remind you that this 007 : First Light is the first game of a new saga. We embody the young James Bond, a member of the Navy who is enlisted a little unwittingly in the double 0 program.
This game will allow us to discover The origins of the secret agent The most famous pop culture, during its very first mission as 007. For the occasion, we therefore have the right to A new actorwhich will not be the one we have seen in the last films or in the next. The story that will be told in First Light East An unprecedented and revisited story of the origins of James Bond.
For this very first mission, the agent 007 will have to join his mentor to thwart a global conspiracy. The game will offer explosive missions Where you will have to pilot iconic vehicles and immerse yourself in an adventure worthy of a film with fights, infiltration and the use of many gadgets!
The first part of the presentation focuses on an infiltration sequence. A small cutscene allows us to see our secret agent, infiltrated as a car driver, aboard a sumptuous Jaguar. James Bond finds himself outside a very beautiful home, on foot, and the goal will be to enter it, without being spotted to collect information.
Graphically, The game seems pretty pretty. Some details are really appreciable, such as the sun reflections on the glitter paint of the car. We appreciate other references, such as HUD in the shape of a watch which necessarily recalls one of the most important accessories of our spy.
Alas, as soon as the kinematics stops and we discover the first minutes of gameplay, a first observation strikes us in the face: this part is strictly identical to games Hitman. And when we say identical, it is that we could clearly believe that we are in a game Hitmanbut with an agent’s skin with hair.
Whether it is the movements, the possibilities, the animations of our character and those of the NPCs, the enemies, Everything is identical to what we can do in the other license in IO Interactive. You could necessarily expect to find large similarities on the infiltration phases. And that’s normal. On the other hand, here, we clearly have the impression of being in the same game.
The presentation we had therefore started with A little sleight of hand To divert the attention of two guards in order to recover a lighter in an area prohibited from access. After making a little noise by activating a water pipe, to attract the attention of a guard, the agent 007 squats in the bushes, to sneak in the gardens of the manor. Once the object is in his possession, it was enough for him to return to the starting point, while the first guard always had his back turned, trying to understand for five minutes from which came the noise that had attracted his attention.
James Bond can use his lighter to set fire to a wheelbarrow with dead leaves. This will divert the attention of a second guard, to pass in his back, hang on to a railing, to reach a gutter, to climb it and reach the famous window. A very classic sequence in games Hitman.
Once in the mansion, you must browse the different parts without being spotted by bypassing the guards where by neutralizing them. Again, Nothing very revolutionary For those who played games Hitman. The AI is clearly not the most difficult and the most intelligent, which makes the infiltration quite simple in this first extract. Graphically, the game seems more beautiful and more detailed in closed environments, like that of the house. Alas, we are a little disappointed to see that, in the end, this first sequence is far from impressive.
Of course, and as in games Hitmanwe are told that there are several ways to achieve your goal, and this will have good replayability. Once this sequence is finished, we were able to switch to the second part of the demo with the prosecution. After a short cutscene, where we see 007 flee from the manor, the latter shows aboard a sublime Aston Martin Jaune in order to chase his target.
The prosecution is fairly dynamic And we feel that the teams wanted to offer us Hollywood sequences with the latter. Alas, for that, we had to make choices.
Therefore, the chase is therefore very scripted. You have only one way to follow and you are going to face traps, like trucks that get through the road, cars that block you the passage and force you to take other paths etc … For once, replayability will not allow you to vary the choices with the prosecution.
And gamepaly is very arcadethe car slips in all turns, physics seems very poorly managed (on jumps, accidents, etc.). To put it simply, everything is arcade And we feel that driving is not the specialty of the studio. This gives a fairly average rendering, far from being catastrophic, but which gives the impression that The sequence is quite dated.
Likewise for piloting, there does not seem to be of real difference between asphalt or off-piste. It is quite difficult to judge by only looking at the sequence and being able to pilot, even. Despite a desire to offer a dynamic prosecution with a feeling of speed, especially when you are close to vehicles, this lacks punch.
It’s a shame, because we feel that the idea was to offer A clearly ambitious sequence. And, once again, it is far from catastrophic, but the prosecution missions will probably not be the highlights of the game.
After a fairly long prosecution, with a lot of damage, we arrive at the last part of the demo with Gunfight sequence. James Bond arrives near an airport landing track. Again, several options seem to be offered to ourselves: switch to infiltration mode, or rush into the heap. Of course, the IO interactive teams will opt for force.
From the start, arriving on the track, James Bond must infiltrate without being spotted. It therefore goes through the woods and in an evacuation duct. Immediately, we notice that The gameplay seems quite rigidwhether in the way of moving, running or even crossing obstacles (like a tree lying on the road). Once the edge of the track has reached, we can take out our weapon and shoot everything that moves.
The Gunfight sequence is once again showing very dynamic. Again, we feel the will of the teams to offer us You Grand Show. In the shooting area, we have the right to Many explosive cans which allow us to kill several enemies at the same time and, above all, to make everything fart. The sequence is Technically impressivesince there are explosions every five seconds and the game seems to hold the road without decreasing framerates.
On the other hand, it is especially at the level of the gameplay that We are a little disappointed. Gunfights seem soft and, above all, the decline and the power of weapons seem not be very different When we go from a pistol, an assault rifle or a heavier weapon. It looks like very generic fire exchanges with few sensations. Damage.
Small rather interesting point, the possibility of throw your weapons in the heads of your enemies To destabilize them and finish them with bare hands. Practical when you have no more ammunition and this allows you to vary the gameplay during the Gunfights.
Once the sequence is over, James Bond has to climb an airplane that is about to take off. This is when we have the right to A very Hollywood scene inspired by films, which also reminds us of the famous « Uncharted Moment » by Nathan Drake.
The plane reactor causes a small truck to fly, which James Bond grabs miraculously when the latter falls on his wheels. At the wheel of the truck, James Bond manages to make up for the plane, to jump on the latter. Once on the plane, the Gunfight continues with a few melee sequences.
The last part of the demo is clearly a sequence at the Uncharted. Well inspired, we have the right to an exchange of shooting on a plane where You must manage travel of James Bond with the L2 and R2 keys to keep the balance in the face of the turbulence of the plane. What was to happen, happened, with the moment when the hold of the plane opens and our secret agent finds himself ejecting into the air. A sequence very similar to that ofUncharted 3but which seems quite successful and very cool to play.
- Our first opinion on 007: First light
This first discovery of 007 : First Light leaves us a little hungry. Our feeling is quite mixed. The title seems to try a lot of things, such as sequences in prosecution, and we feel the will to do things well, drawing inspiration from many moments in the cult saga of cinema. The references seem to be present. On the other hand, the infiltration sequences are clearly lacking in identity and make us think too much of the Hitman games. On the gameplay side, it still seems very rigid and generic, with a game that does not yet seem to the point, which seems a little dated. On this point, there is nothing to be too worried, since the title is planned to March 27, 2026and that there are still a lot of months for teams to refine all this. But, for the time being, we still emits a few reservations and we measure our hype while waiting to see a little more.
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