Few studios understand stealth and action mechanics as intimately as IO Interactive, having polished their approach over the past 26 years through many Hitman titles. When it was announced that this developer got the greenlight to create a new 007 game, fans were rightfully excited; the IP was in good hands.
A few weeks ago we finally got to get our hands on this project, and the reviews from critics and fans are overwhelmingly positive, already making it a potential GOTY contender. While playing through 007: First Light myself, I came to fall in love with one of the core symbols that has been a staple of James Bond since Ian Fleming’s 1953 Casino Royale novel: the License to Kill.
The way License to Kill is worked into the narrative and gameplay of 007: First Light is nothing short of brilliant, and other studios developing stealth games would do well to take inspiration from it. Encouraging the player to use every tool in their spykit, License to Kill is always a last resort, and a bloody satisfying one at that.
007: First Light Makes You Earn Your License to Kill
Growing up with games like GoldenEye, Agent Under Fire, Nightfire, and Everything or Nothing, the approach to James Bond was always through the lens of a shoot first, ask questions later philosophy. It didn’t matter if enemy henchman fired upon you or not; every encounter was an opportunity to kill, and I did quite a bit of it in my younger gaming days. First-person shooters that came after often copied this formula with their own twist, inspiring an entire generation games.
007: First Light differentiates itself by making you complete training and introductory missions before that privilege is enabled. The duality of First Light training James Bond the agent while also training you the player is a phenomenal way to get acquainted with all the gadgets from Q-Branch and find non-violent solutions to your problems.
Of course, when in the field and an enemy pulls a gun, all bets are off, and MI6 will authorize License to Kill, enabling the player to use lethal force if they so choose. I see this as a compromise between two ends of the stealth/action spectrum you often see in other games like Star Wars Outlaws or The Last of Us, where you either have the choice to guns blazing at any time or find yourself in a situation where breaking stealth can be an instant fail.
License to Kill bridges these two extremes, encouraging the player to lean into the gadgetry provided by Q and even bluffing to an enemy’s face to get past them. While Bond can still be killed outside of direct lethal combat if he gets into a fistfight with the wrong person, stealthily taking down big brutes and other enemies from the shadows can give a competitive edge when the odds are stacked against the player.
When guns are drawn and there’s a clear intent to kill, Bond will have the authorization to pull his own firearms. However, I did discover there were times where you could nudge 007: First Light in the direction of activating License to Kill to help you out of sticky situations.
License to Kill in 007: First Light: For When Things Go Wrong
007: First Light curates the License to Kill segments throughout the narrative, forcing the player to think more creatively to resolve conflicts. While still a last-ditch resort, it’s a nice change of pace from the video games that just give you a gun as your only tooI. That being said, if you want to go in guns first, I found a loophole that can sometimes work, you just need to be a little careless.
During one of the early stealth levels, my cover was blown and I was quickly surrounded by enemies who wanted to beat me to death with their fists. I tried fending them off at first, but when it became clear that I was outnumbered and outmatched, I just took off running.
Not the most courageous move fitting of a spy, but I had to improvise quickly to stay alive. So, choosing to run away, other enemies spotted me throughout the level as I was escaping. Eventually, one of those enemies decided to pull a gun, and BOOM. License to Kill was authorized.
Seeking cover, I pulled out my service weapon and took care of business the way that has been instilled in me since growing up with the old-school James Bond games. While I could have brute-forced my way through with Bond’s fists and eventually got to a point where the situation was contained, choosing to run ended up working in my favor.
In a twist of paradoxical gameplay, the more lethal the enemies become, the easier they are to deal with.
Of course, 007: First Light has ways of restraining you throughout its narrative, making the player rely on gadgets, stealth movements, lies, and distractions to complete many of its levels. But when the option to pick up a weapon and start shooting presented itself, I went that route every time.
Studios developing stealth games should use this as a benchmark of what an action/stealth game can be. It would have been obvious for IOI to create another 007 game that was a gun-focused FPS, but instead they designed something that stands apart from the noise.
While the stealth sections are challenging and offer their own satisfaction, these moments often felt like an overture that was building to a crescendo of bullets, making the action feel earned and not performative.
007: First Light: An Experience Worth Replaying
I rolled credits on 007: First Light shortly after release, and I already want to jump back in to see what other exploits I can discover in this Bond experience. I don’t often buy games on multiple platforms, but the First Light Nintendo Switch 2 edition is very tempting to pick up for my second run-through.
Plus, with First Light bonus mission DLC already announced with the possibility of more in the future, the newest 007 ensures fans will get plenty of practice with their well-earned License to Kill.
In the meantime? I’ll be hitting the Tacsims and honing my marksmanship for the next time I step into the very expensive and impressively polished shoes of James Bond.