Five years ago, James Bond was shot, infected with an uncurable technological virus, and exploded by a barrage of intercontinental missiles. They have said that no one has ever been more dead. Since the 2021 release of No Time to Die, James Bond has been buried (no, Prime Video’s The Night Manager doesn’t count, as Bond-y as Tom Hiddleston’s Jonathan Pine is).
Given how long it’s taken Amazon, the new stewards of the series, to cast a new James Bond, it’s safe to assume 007 will remain that way for a while. After all, the search for a new director — Blade Runner: 2049‘s Denis Villeneuve — took years. And the writer, Steven Knight of House of Guinnes fame, only signed on late last year. Bond may not make it to the screen for some time.
Sike!!! 007 returns sooner than many expected. The new video game 007 First Light brings James Bond back to the field, though not in the way he’s appeared before.
007 First Light starts James Bond as a young man
007 First Light comes out for PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X on May 27. (A version for Nintendo Switch 2 is planned for later in the summer.) It’s developed by IO Interactive, the long-time developer behind Hitman, a well-liked series of Rube Goldberg machines set in Trip Advisor’s top 23 vacation destinations of 2023. Early previews of 007 First Light show that IO Interactive have applied that same taste for lavishness — where you can stroll through a digitized Maldives and practically smell the mojitos — to its Bond adaptation too.
But it’s not pure Hitman. According to a three-hour preview attended by Polygon, 007 First Light also apes Uncharted’s mix of third-person shooting and cinematic action sequences. It features a linear narrative structure, with open-ended levels. You can sneak through environments, and you can lean on Bond’s natural charm to branching-dialogue-option your way out of getting in trouble when you’re caught. And critically, you can’t start shooting first: You can only start shooting at bad guys if they point their guns at you first (though it’s apparently pretty easy to goad goons into doing exactly that).
Its story, which IO Interactive says runs for about 20 hours, focuses on a young Bond: He’s 26 years old, hasn’t earned the role, and, like most people who’ve just been kicked off their parents’ health insurance, is trying to figure out his place in the world — and his way through it. That might explain why the character doesn’t fully feel like Bond yet.
Bond is played by Patrick Gibson (known for Dexter: Original Sin). Lenny Kravitz plays one of the game’s villains. Sure, why not?
How to play 007 First Light early
You can play 007 First Light a tiny bit early by preordering the game. Doing so gives you a free upgrade to the game’s deluxe edition, which includes the following:
- Four outfits (including an Archer-style black turtleneck)
- Four gold-themed weapons skin (all Goldmember-themed)
- One weapon skin
- 24 hours of early access
That’s right. Preordering the game that comes out on May 27 means you can play it on May 26. Yes, typically preordering AAA games gives a full three days of early access (Saros is a recent example), but if you’re really itching to get First Light at first light, that’s the best you’re gonna get here.
After 3 hours, the new James Bond games feels faithful — to Hitman and Uncharted
007 First Light is shaping up to be a fine stealth action game. But does it have a grasp on the iconic character?
