Last night, we got our first good look at IO Interactive’s upcoming James Bond game, 007: First Light. While the developer has said that First Light – or as it was previously known, Project 007 – will serve as an origin story for the spy, and not be a “gamification” of any of the films that have come before, last night’s trailer still had a fair few nods to Bonds of the past.
Please note, I will be talking about events from the James Bond series generally below, so please be aware of potential spoilers for the films and books if you haven’t already enjoyed them for yourself.
Watch on YouTube
First up, there is this Bond’s facial scar. As you can see in the trailer above, this young Bond may be fresh faced when it comes to life as an agent, but he has clearly had a few scrapes already, earning himself a long thin scar down his cheek.
While the Bonds in the films have not boasted a scar like this, the book version of Bond did. Ian Flemming wrote that Bond had a three-inch long, thin vertical scar running down his right cheek. You can see some artwork of this book-based Bond below.
Meanwhile, given his overall look in the game, many have surmised that the actor playing James Bond in First Light is Patrick Gibson from Dexter: Original Sin (I have asked IO if they can confirm this).
In addition to this physical trait, there are also multiple other nods to the James Bond book and film series scattered throughout First Light’s trailer that hint to the story, such as Bond’s parents dying in a climbing-related accident.
Meanwhile, the trailer says 009 is a “master manipulator”, which made me think this was a little tease for him being a bit of a bad egg that fooled and betrayed his country a la Sean Bean’s 006 from GoldenEye. A little number flip there from IO?
On the cars and gadget side of things, because of course Bond is going to have cars and gadgets, First Light again is honouring the series that has come before.
In IO’s trailer, Bond can be seen entering Q branch, where he selects one from a number of watches. This watch obviously does more than tell the time, and triggers a blast from a nearby motorbike, which again is in keeping with Bond’s watches from the series.
While in the Sean Connory era, Bond often sported a Rolex Submariner, in many of the later films he changed things up a bit, with the agent wearing watches such as a Pulsar LED digital and a Seiko 0674 LC at times.
In 2006’s Casino Royale, which marked Daniel Craig’s first outing as the MI6 agent, Vesper Lynd commented on Bond’s watch: “Rolex?” she asks. “Omega,” he replies. Bond’s watches are a big deal, and in First Light, IO has partnered with Omega once again.
Speaking of partnering with a known Bond-brand again, of course we will see the agent in an Aston Martin in First Light.
This vehicle is slicker than Moore’s bus from Live and Let Die, but it is the same as the actors’ yellow Aston Martin DBS from The Persauders, so another little nod to the series’ legacy.
Additionally, we can see IO’s Bond chasing down a red sports car in the First Light trailer, which reminded me a bit of the playful chase between Pierce Brosnan’s Bond and Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye.
Setting the scene further, then, we also saw a chess game being played during last night’s trailer. Now, we don’t clearly see who is playing chess here, so it could be Bond flexing his prowess like he often does at cards. And is that a martini, shaken not stirred?
That said, in From Russia with Love, there is a scene where Bond baddy Kronsteen plays chess, so as soon as I saw this moment in the First Light trailer, I thought of that. Essentially, baddies play chess, right?
There is a clip towards the end of the trailer where a speed boat zips through some islands very much like those from The Man With the Golden Gun (Khao Phing Kan, but known also as James Bond Island, no less). This is one of my favourite James Bond locations, so I was pleased to see this pop up.
Also, the Junks in this scene are much like those of Scaramanger’s.
Last up for this piece (I am sure I will be doing more, because guys, it’s Bond!), the music played over the trailer was the theme from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. You can have a listen to it below.
007: First Light is set for release in 2026. Towards the end of last year, IO said it hopes its upcoming James Bond origin story will be the start of a trilogy.
007: First Light will also feature again later this week during IO’s own showcase, which is scheduled for Friday, 6th June, at 6pm PDT. That’s 2am on 7th June for those of us in the UK.
