Last night’s PlayStation State of Play saw the unveiling of 007 First Light, the new, eagerly anticipated James Bond game from IO Interactive launching in 2026.
From the makers of the Hitman series, 007 First Light sees you play as a young James Bond in an original origin story, starting as a Royal Navy air crew member before joining MI6 and becoming the world-famous spy.
Played in third-person, 007 First Light promises a mix of stealth and action gameplay, with the announcement trailer confirming that this will also include driving sections.
The trailer offers a brief glimpse of a driving set piece, featuring Bond in a high-speed chase behind the wheel of a 1960s Aston Martin DBS – a throwback to On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, the 1969 film starring George Lazenby as Bond. While that car was silver, Roger Moore also drove a similar-looking yellow DBS in The Persuaders.
Bond is briefly shown speeding the wrong way through a tunnel, smashing through a fence, driving off-road and chasing down a X150-generation Jaguar XKR Coupe on mountain roads, confirming that licensed cars will feature in the game.
However, it’s not clear yet if you can use vehicle-mounted weapons or drive any other licensed Bond cars. Given that IO Interactive has a licensing deal with Aston Martin, we would be surprised if the iconic DB5 doesn’t make an appearance.
James Bond games have a history of featuring cinematic driving set pieces. Sixth-generation titles like James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire and James Bond 007: Nightfire featured several driving levels, putting you behind the wheel of famous gadget-laden James Bond cars like the Aston Martin DB5, Aston Martin Vanquish and BMW Z8.
Then there was the blatant Porsche Cayenne product placement in James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing. Bizarre Creations developed the driving sections in 2010’s James Bond: 007 Blood Stone, but the car handling left a lot to be desired compared to Project Gotham Racing.
There was also the dedicated James Bond driving game 007 Racing released for the PlayStation in 2000, which, ironically, doesn’t feature any racing – but the less said about it, the better.
The first official James Bond game in over a decade since 2012’s 007 Legends, 007 First Light is set to launch in 2026 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch 2, with a release date yet to be confirmed.
Chat with the Community
Sign Up To CommentIt's completely Free