007 First Light Feels Like Hitman Meets Uncharted, and You’re Right in the Middle of It

You step into James Bond exactly how you’d expect him to be at first glance. He’s confident, flirtatious, and always ready to lean into big, dramatic moments instead of carefully tiptoeing around problems. You quickly see that he’s the type who bets on luck just as much as skill, and somehow it keeps working out.

At one point, you’re thrown into a situation where someone demands to know who you work for and tells you to take the shot, and it immediately sets the tone for what kind of energy this game is going for. If you’ve ever imagined what it would be like if Hitman and Uncharted somehow blended together, this is basically that idea brought to life. You’re constantly shifting between stealth, improvisation, and full-on action set pieces, all wrapped in a very cinematic Bond experience.

During the preview, you get access to three different missions.

The first is the opening segment, which flows directly into the title sequence. Right away, you’re introduced to the game’s tone and pacing, which feels very intentional and very cinematic. Then you’re taken into a tutorial mission set earlier in Bond’s journey, where you’re introduced to core mechanics in a controlled environment. It doesn’t feel like a typical slow tutorial either, since it still keeps the spy fantasy intact while teaching you how things work.

Finally, there’s a longer mission that runs for about an hour, and that’s where things really open up. Based on what’s been shown before at events like Gamescom, it’s clear this is just a small slice of a much larger structure, so you’re probably looking at a fairly substantial full game experience.

What stands out most is how the game handles stealth and action together. You’re not just switching between the two freely, because the game actually pushes you into situations where you’re supposed to avoid killing whenever possible. In many cases, you don’t even have a “license to kill” active, which forces you to think differently about how you approach problems.

But when the game does give you permission to go loud, it fully lets you lean into that classic Bond fantasy.

A lot of the fun comes from how flexible the encounters are. You can bluff your way through situations instead of fighting your way out. You can casually walk into guarded areas and act like you belong there. You can short-circuit devices to blind enemies, poison targets to open up new paths, or hack systems to progress through locked areas.

There’s also a gadget system called the Qatch, which becomes a key part of how you interact with the world. It functions a bit like detective vision from the Arkham games, letting you scan environments for clues, interactable objects, or puzzle solutions. You end up relying on it a lot during exploration and stealth sections because it helps you piece together what’s going on around you.

Story-wise, the game doesn’t reveal everything, but it does make one thing clear pretty quickly: this character is not the Bond you’re used to from the films. This version feels like someone who is still growing into the role rather than the fully polished agent you might expect.

He still flirts, and people flirt right back, and that dynamic is present throughout the entire preview. It even ties into a broader discussion around how this version of Bond fits into a modern interpretation of the character, especially compared to older portrayals.

The developers seem confident in their take, describing Bond as a young, confident man in this version of the timeline and leaning into the idea that he still carries that classic charm without trying to completely reinvent him. One of the key early missions drops you into Iceland, where things go wrong immediately. You find yourself stranded after a crash, swimming to shore, and trying to survive the situation before being pulled into an MI6 operation.

From there, you’re tasked with saving agents and working your way toward escape, all while your handler stays in your ear guiding you through the chaos.

That supporting character role works surprisingly well, especially with Money Penny, who becomes your consistent voice during missions. She balances professionalism with personal chemistry, and the back-and-forth between her and Bond feels very natural. Bond, of course, keeps flirting even in the middle of high-pressure situations.

Visually, the game looks strong. Fire reflecting off water, crash debris, and environmental destruction all help sell the scale of what’s happening around you. Explosions stand out, not only because they are exciting, but also because they change the way the game is played.

The overall look and feel of the game is very cinematic, and the transitions between gameplay and cutscenes are very smooth. It really feels like one long movie at times, with you taking control instead of switching between different modes.

Combat is generally satisfying, especially when things escalate into larger fights. You can disarm enemies, kick weapons away mid-fight, and blow off armor using heavier weapons like shotguns. There’s a real sense of controlled chaos when everything comes together.

That said, melee combat does feel a bit unpolished. Some of the controls, like countering being mapped to a specific key, feel a little strange in practice, especially when using a keyboard and mouse. It's the kind of thing that will probably change over time or with custom keybinds.

One of the standout sequences involves chasing a target across rooftops, which mixes parkour-style movement with explosive set pieces. That chase eventually leads you into a gala infiltration mission, where the game really expands your options.

You can approach the infiltration in multiple ways.

You can blend in by getting close to staff and handlers, you can manipulate security systems, or you can even cause distractions and use poison to quietly clear paths. The game constantly gives you more than one way to solve a problem, and it rarely pushes you into a single solution.

Inside the building, stealth becomes more structured. You go through quieter areas where bluffing, disguises, and silent takedowns are more important. But inevitably, things tend to escalate, especially if you lean toward more aggressive play.

The mission eventually builds toward a final confrontation that turns into a full combat encounter. It’s loud, chaotic, and very much in line with the Bond fantasy the game is trying to sell. Even in these moments, there’s still a focus on style, with Bond moving through enemies in a way that feels almost choreographed.

By the end of the session, the impression is pretty consistent.

The game feels confident in what it’s trying to be, and it keeps momentum going by constantly shifting between stealth, action, and cinematic storytelling without giving you too much downtime. There is also a strong feeling that everything is meant to feel like one long experience. You can hardly tell where one gameplay scene ends and the next begins because the transitions are so smooth.

After everything shown, you’re left with the impression that 007 First Light is aiming to deliver a very specific kind of Bond experience, one that mixes modern stealth design with classic spy fantasy and blockbuster-style set pieces. With a release date set for May 27, the full picture is still ahead, but based on what you’ve seen here, it’s shaping up to be a game that’s hard to step away from once it gets going.