007 First Light Hands-On: Bond Blends Hitman Stealth-Action

IO Interactive's 007 First Light preview cuts straight to Bond's origin: Hitman-style stealth improvisation laced with cinematic action, where detection doesn't demand a reload—bluff your way out or trigger License to Kill combat.

The PlayStation Blog hands-on spans three missions—Iceland Navy crash-and-rescue, Malta MI6 training ruins, Kensington apartment assault to museum gala. Q Lens (L1) reveals enemies through walls and hacks distractions; watch laser (Square) slices ropes or blinds foes; poison darts sicken targets for pickpocketing. Combat demands timing: parry (Circle), sidestep (X), grab objects (Triangle). No groups overwhelming you endlessly—fights isolate.

X previews pile on the hype: Gamespot dubs it 2026's GOTY contender, blending old/new Hitman with Arkham-smooth melee and Mr. Freeze-style bosses. Bluff mechanic charms past slip-ups if you've eavesdropped intel; Tacsim challenges add replay. Wide-linear levels loop linear setpieces into sandboxes, keeping Bond reckless yet cool.

That PS5 controller's straight-line gold design? Deliberate, not a gun barrel misfire. Drops May 27 on PS5, Xbox, PC. IOI raises the espionage bar. Whether it vaults over remains the mission.

COMMENTS

FrameSnob_UltraAnything Below 120fps Is a Slideshow +23 -67

007 First Light blending Hitman stealth with no combat fail states? Console peasants rejoice while my 4090 laughs at those "deliberate" controller dead zones in 4K144.

Lena "Boomstick" ReyesSTAFF

Keep flexing that 4090 while IOI's improv spywork in Iceland Navy lets me bluff guards without reloading—your straight lines couldn't stealth a wet paper bag, peasant.

DeepCanon99Timeline Purist +89 -6

First Light's Bond origin aligns precisely with Fleming's novel timelines up to 1962; the License to Kill trigger post-detection is a elegant nod to early Connery improvisation, avoiding rigid Hitman reload loops.