007: FIRST LIGHT Trailer Drops - A Bold New Bond Origin Story From the HITMAN Devs — GeekTyrant
IO Interactive just pulled the curtain back on 007: First Light during Sony's latest State of Play, and Bond fans might like what they see! I sure do!
Previously codenamed Project 007, the game marks IO's much-anticipated leap from hired assassin to international spy.
The trailer gives us our first glimpse at their version of Bond, and it's not the polished MI6 veteran you might expect. This is a raw, unshaped Bond, "before the tuxedos and martinis," as IO CEO Hakan Abram puts it.
The trailer teases a recruitment file, highlighting his academic record more than any deadly mission log. The Bond we meet here doesn't mimic any single actor from the films.
Instead, IO's take is something new, an original character model that subtly nods to the many Bonds who came before, without being beholden to one.
What really lands, though, is the gameplay style. It's third-person action, as hoped, and you can instantly feel the Hitman style. Stealthy takedowns, distraction gadgets, and some very creative ways to stay unseen, it's IO playing to its strengths.
Of course, no Bond game is complete without an Aston Martin, and the trailer doesn't disappoint there either. There's a high-octane car chase that throws IO into unfamiliar territory, but it's pretty awesome.
Mix that in with a few explosive set pieces and a gallery of Bond Girls, and you've got something that feels like a cinematic event waiting to happen.
007: First Light is set to arrive in 2026 for PlayStation 5, with a deeper gameplay dive promised later this week. Until then, consider our martinis stirred.
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Digital Trends
32 minutes ago
- Digital Trends
To make 007: First Light, Hitman's creators had to get uncomfortable
On paper, the idea of the developers behind Hitman making a James Bond game sounds like a complete no brainer. Of course that team would be able to create a great spy game that naturally plays off everything it has accomplished with its flagship series over the past few decades. Take Agent 47's suit to the dry cleaner, tailor it a bit, and throw it on James Bond. What's so hard about that, right? But for Io Interactive, making a James Bond game was an exercise in discomfort. 007: First Light aims to create an entirely new take on the character, delving into an origin story that will allow the team to make a Bond that belongs to the gaming medium. Maybe it would be easy to throw that character into Hitman's immersive sim template and let him take down targets with stealth and his cunning wit, but that wouldn't truly capture the character's ethos. To get Bond right, Io would need to step outside of its comfort zone. Recommended Videos Following Friday night's Io Interactive Showcase, where the studio shared more details about First Light, I spoke with CCO Christian Elverdam about where the project shares DNA with Hitman and where it needed to push away from it. It wasn't enough to trade one agent for another; it would require a studio that's spent nearly a decade perfecting one instrument to learn a new one. 'It sounds easy to mix Hitman and Uncharted,' Elverdam tells Digital Trends. 'I saw a lot of people say that. I'm like 'hah … yeah, sounds easy … '' A 360 Bond Ahead of 007: First Light's debut trailer, I'd wager that a lot of people had a certain expectation in mind. We were no doubt in for an immersive sim starring a debonair spy who uses his brains and charisma to outwit unsuspecting goons. That's not exactly what First Light is. It's not just that Io is going full Hollywood for 007's action; it's that James Bond himself is totally different from the suave hero we're used to. First Light will tell an origin story about the spy, showcasing him as a young, brash agent in training. The move has come as a shock to some fans, but Elverdam explains that the change came from a desire to create a Bond that belonged to gamers. 'If you're going to build a James Bond for the games medium, where do you start? We were like, let's start at the beginning,' Elverdam tells Digital Trends. 'There's this great question of who's James and who's 007? I think James has always been a rebel. He's always been at odds with authority, but we thought it was interesting that most young people yearn to find out what's their purpose. If you put that question in front of James Bond, it starts brewing some magical stuff instead of saying 'this is who you are.' This is a different version of that. I think we tried to communicate that in the trailer. It's a little bit like, hm, he's not fully fleshed out is he?' The Bond we see in First Light's debut trailer already teases a very different take on the character, but he's not totally foreign. The confident spy we know is somewhere underneath all the uncertainty waiting to be fully formed. Elverdam says that the Bond ethos is still present here in the character's moral compass. 'First and foremost, I think James Bond is a true hero,' Elverdam says. 'He will do what's right almost at any price. From the bottom of his existence, he has some element of that. I think 007 is a profession in a way. It's both about being a great spy and a great agent, and that comes at a price of humanity in some cases. It's super fun to play with this idea: What if he's not the perfect spy? What if he makes some mistakes and then learns some spy craft along the way? He's always audacious … He stirs up chaos and expects something good to come out of it. That's deep in his bones as a character.' Really getting down to the essence of Bond wouldn't just be about hanging on to the character's core personality traits. The gameplay would have to reflect him too, which meant that First Light couldn't be your average action game. It had to be something that felt custom built for Bond's skill set. The team's Hitman experience would come in handy there, as it knows how to craft action and tension that isn't just built around gun fights. 'With Bond, our insistence, which was shared across everyone that was involved with everyone in the game, was that we wanted the 360 version of James Bond,' he says. 'And that means it's not just a shooter. That was super important for everyone. It turns out that Hitman had a lot of stuff to teach us because most people who don't know Hitman think it's just an endless game about killing people left and right, but in reality, it's actually about almost not doing anything. There's just a lot of non-shooting gameplay, and that was one of the things we brought into James Bond … I think the movies are clearly action films, but there's not a lot of shooting. It happens, but it's not super frequent. It's much more action, running, driving, fighting, spectacle moments. And that's hard to build, but it's one of the things where we said we have to nail that.' Elverdam is tight-lipped when it comes to sharing any new details that haven't been revealed about the game. Every time he even alludes to a gameplay component, he treats it like a spoiler and leaves a trail of teases. All he does affirm is that First Light won't quite be like Hitman, though that series' approach to freedom will still be somewhere in 007's bones, just as Bond's do-gooder nature will still be underneath the younger hero's skin. 'A Hitman location you should be able to play 100 times. And I think our desire with Bond is not that it's one and done, but it's also not 100 times,' Elverdam says. 'You can't play a level 100 times and keep discovering new stuff. You might replay it because you enjoy the story, and there certainly are different paths you can take in the game, without spoiling too much.' Learning a new instrument Based on the bold changes to the Bond series, it may seem like Io Interactive has a lot of creative freedom here. After all, it's putting a very new spin on a character that's historically been locked to one fairly rigid interpretation. The independent studio does have free reign in some ways, but Elverdam notes that there's a bit of a self-imposed restriction too — one that's also present in its Hitman games. 'I'll be totally honest. I was a big part of reimagining Agent 47 in the current universe. I never felt like I had freedom even though we own that IP,' Elverdam says. 'You are beholden to the fans, and to a legacy and to an understanding of the core. I don't think James Bond is different. You have to respect that there are a lot of people out there who have an opinion about what the character means to them. So, we have a lot of freedom, but we don't have a lot of freedom. And that's actually a good thing.' It's always uncomfortable to learn stuff. If you play the piano the first time, it sounds miserable. As we discuss this, the conversation turns to the Hitman series. While it has been around for decades, its defining moment truly came in 2016 when Io Interactive retooled the series into what it is today. Like First Light, that too was a risk that had to balance fan expectation with creative vision. It paid off, as that game spawned a trilogy that was collected into one live service offering that's been going strong for nearly a decade now. It expanded once again last night with a new 007-themed update that brings Casino Royale's villain to the fold as a new target. I ask Elverdam what he feels the studio did right to make that happen. He cites a lot of reasons, such as its unshakable desire to turn it into a service, but one part of his answer stands out in context of First Light. 'I kind of always felt like you're either making a Hitman game or you're not, which means that you cannot pretend that this is a game for everyone. It really isn't,' Elverdam says. 'And by doing that unapologetically, I think we found a really engaged audience. We're not going to be Fortnite. That's not in the cards. And being independent allowed us to just double down on that. We're here to build the absolute best version of what Hitman can be. And that's the real first right call we did.' It's with that answer that I can clearly see how First Light is a product of the Hitman team, even if the games don't look as similar as you'd expect at first glance. This is a team that has the utmost respect for its audience and wants to do right by them, but also understands that sometimes the right thing to do is what fans aren't expecting. First Light seems to be a product of that thinking, telling a reimagined take on Bond because that's what's going to make for a better story, even if not every fan can see it right now. It's about pushing fans out of their comfort zone, because that's exactly what Io Interactive is doing to itself too. It's creating a game with more cinematic action, a narrower structure, a pure hero, and a James Bond that no one has ever met before. And the studio is embracing it all. 'There has to be an element of growth and discomfort,' Elverdam says. 'Man, we have to learn something here. We have to invite some new people into Io to teach us how to do stuff, which is great! It's always uncomfortable to learn stuff. If you play the piano the first time, it sounds miserable. There's some growing pains there with James Bond. How do we do this again? That's why we do it.' 007: First Light launches in 2026 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
James Bond actor makes surprise return as iconic villain
Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen is reprising one of his best-known roles in a unique collaboration between the James Bond franchise and the Hitman video game series. The 59-year-old will be voicing Le Chiffre, the character he played in 2006's Casino Royale, in Hitman: World of Assassination where he will be a target for the game's protagonist, the professional hitman Agent 47. The news was announced by video game developers IO Interactive, the company behind Hitman and the new James Bond origins game 007 First Light, at Summer Game Fest 2025. However, unlike his scene-stealing moments in Casino Royale, which included torturing a nude Daniel Craig, Le Chiffre will be the one trying to stay alive as gamers hunt him down as he hides out in Paris. The character will appear as a new 'Elusive Target' in an update for the game and will be available across PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 from 6 June until 6 July. As per the event's description: 'Mads Mikkelsen returns as Le Chiffre, the iconic private banker to the criminal underworld, known for his mastery of games of chance and probability. 'A recent failed venture left him in dire straits, losing vast sums of both legitimate and illicit capital, and in a desperate bid to recover, he has arranged a high-stakes poker game at the Casino Monarchique in Paris. Agent 47 has been tasked with infiltrating the perilous event and will have to find his way to his target to prevent havoc being wreaked across the world.' HITMAN and 007 are coming together in a very unexpected way… yep Agent 47's next target is Le Chiffre! @007GameIOI #SummerGameFest — Summer Game Fest (@summergamefest) June 6, 2025 Mikkelsen also made a special appearance at the event, which was being broadcast from the YouTube Theatre in Inglewood, California, where he spoke of his excitement at returning to the role. 'This is a role, I've had a lot of love for this character, it means a lot to me,' said the Hannibal star. 'So when I got the chance to step into the shoes of Le Chiffre again, I didn't hesitate. But this time is a little different. He's more confident, he's dangerous, he's not just a brilliant mind hiding behind a desk. He's visceral, unpredictable and ruthless, and this time, he doesn't outsource the violence any more." It comes after Mikkelsen told Vulture in 2021, that he and Craig almost went too far when filming the infamous torture scene in Casino Royale. According to Mikkelsen, one idea the pair concocted was that Le Chiffre 'actually cut [Bond] up somewhere, and he had to suffer with that for a while'. The actor added: 'At a certain point, director Martin Campbell was just smiling and said, 'Boys, come back to the table. This is a Bond film. We can't go there.' 'We were lost in our indie world, right? You have to respect that. It is a Bond film. That's the framework you need to understand.'
Forbes
3 hours ago
- Forbes
Is ‘Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour' Really Worth $10?
In the 1990s, the immortal ad campaign once declared that 'Sega does what Nintendon't'. Fast-forward to 2025, and it's slightly different — Sony did what Nintendidn't by bundling Astro's Playroom with its PS5 to showcase its new tech, while Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is locked behind a $10 payment. Still, I bit the bullet and bought it anyway — after all, this is a Nintendo release. There's bound to be plenty of value in there, and surely much more than the minuscule $9.99 fee suggests, yeah? Well, no, not really. On balance, the pricing is accurate — the effort that went into this package was done with care. Still, it represents one of my biggest regrets as a day-one console owner, as playing Welcome Tour for this review means I've still not started Mario Kart World, which was the sole reason I ordered the damn Switch 2 in the first place. Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour initially dumps you into a long queue ahead of the experience — think the job center scene in The Full Monty without the thrusting — in which you pick a character from a wide range of generic people. In the absence of 'balding and overweight' options, I opted for the closest resemblance to what I hoped I'd become by my late 30s. As you ascend the escalator to what can only be described as 'clean Gamescom,' Welcome Tour quickly highlights a lot of strengths for the new console, which would be great if it were, by default, the first thing you'd play on the Switch 2. First up is the quality of the console's sound — not only can it be loud and crystal clear, but there's also a real depth to the effects, particularly echoes. The 120fps quality is as clear as day, too, bolstered by the bigger screen and fancy, magnetic Joy-Con 2s. Still, what becomes almost instantly clear is that you can't equate the Switch 2's technical genius with a $10 experience that explains why that's the case, especially one that goes to great lengths to make you feel like you're on a school trip. I'm not going to review the Switch 2, especially not through the lens of Welcome Tour's light propaganda. You start Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour on the left Joy-Con 2, exploring its wonders. You need to collect all the stamps in your given zone, which pop up for every button or feature of that piece of tech, to move to the next area. Collecting stamps for the up, down, left, and right buttons individually feels like a chore, and they're right next to each other. There's no fanfare or fun animation for any of these — it's very much a case that these inputs exist, and you should be happy they exist. In the spaces between these gatekeeping stamp plinths, there are fellow visitors to speak to, quizzes to take, minigames to play, and the occasional tech demo to enjoy. On the face of it, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour knows it could party, but the company's desire to teach you about the console through abnormally dull execution makes you soon realize it might not be money well spent. There are nice flash points, to its credit. Early in the tour — and rightly so — the mouse controls are showcased in a minigame that proves a fantastic example of progress: this pioneering idea is incredibly responsive, with the added bonus that rare left-handed mouse users like me can accessibly adapt the tech, simply using your preferred Joy-Con 2 as standard. Sure, the analog stick is still a little uncomfortable in the mouse grasp, but it's a small price to pay for progress. Still, even in light moments like this, there's also a shade, as another mouse game undermines the vibration technology that Welcome Tour tries to promote. To celebrate the Joy-Con 2's magnetic rumble function, you're presented with a two-way axis to detect where the strongest pulses are. For the life of me, I'll never get the double gold medal, because you need near-pinpoint accuracy to get within the margin of error, as it's not that obvious. Sure, I might have bigger hands than your average bear, but I can't recognize the most powerful tremors. Otherwise, the minigames and tech demos are mostly standard fare. You shake maracas, make coin sounds with the vibration mechanism, shoot balloons, or play finger-Twister. Still, given Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour's focus on completionism, you mostly fly through them, shrug, and carry on, looking for the next thing to strike off your list. There's also a ton of reading. As someone who thrives in European museums (most recently ticking off the unsurprisingly depressing Museum of Communism in Prague), even I struggled to work my way through the three to five information boards that popped up at every 'quiz' desk before taking a mind-numbing test. Sure, you'll learn about how the mechanics work, and probably learn a few pretty impressive things. Still, you're mostly rewarded with silly multiple-choice questions that even celebrity episodes of The Chase would be embarrassed to use. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder You're even asked to return lost property to the main desk. You can only hold one item of lost property at a time. I assume the idea here was to explain how fast travel works, but it's another tick-box affair that will leave you feeling deflated and annoyed. Later, too, there are zones that apparently require you to use technology you might not have, such as the Switch 2 Pro Controller or camera. Luckily, they're optional, as Eurogamer's morse code guide outlines, and it's nice (and wholly unsurprising) that Nintendo offers this workaround. Due to bad decision-making on Nintendo's part, Welcome Tour occupies the weirdest position for a paid 'game.' The only real way you'll appreciate Welcome Tour's content is to know that you have to buy and play it before whatever you've genuinely bought your Switch 2 for, such as presumed killer app Mario Kart World (which I don't know anything about because, like I said, I've still not even started it). Given the outlay and practicality of the materials — and, let's face it, the obviousness and dullness of the execution — Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour should have been baked into the console. In a perfect world, it would have ditched the crap quizzes, streamlined the minigames and tech demos, and introduced itself as part of the installation and syncing process to get you excited for the games you really want to play. At the very least, this should've been a freebie for pre-orders to sweeten the deal, especially given all the flak Nintendo has received for the pricing of Mario Kart World (which, if I'm being honest, isn't something I agree with). Hell, bundle it in with Nintendo Switch Online — given the depth of additions going on there, specifically the GameCube expansion, it's a surefire winner, and I'd wager that it would've earned better long-term income for Nintendo. But for $10, is the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour worth it? Objectively, yes — a lot of effort has been put into it, and there are five or six hours of play time if you want to complete it fully. Nobody's expecting another Wii Sports, but if you're going to show off all the hard work you've put into your hardware on such a technical level — and with broadly forgettable rewards — the experience should be part and parcel of receiving your Switch 2, especially when you realize, after around an hour, you'd have so much more fun playing Mario Kart World instead. Not that I can confirm that, of course. I still haven't played Mario Kart World.
