Will 007 First Light’s focus on a more linear adventure fit into IO Interactive’s formula?
2026 preview: IO’s take on Bond promises to be less of a sandbox than Hitman is
If there’s one thing you can say about the folks at IO Interactive, it’s that they absolutely love a celebrity appearance.
While it’s dabbled with famous faces in the past – Gary Busey appeared as an Elusive Target mission in the 2016 Hitman reboot, while Sean Bean turned up as one in Hitman 2 – the number of celebrity deals has really ramped up in recent years, since Hitman 3 was rebranded as the catch-all Hitman: World of Assassination.
Recent Elusive Targets in the past couple of years have included former UFC fighter Conor McGregor, action star Jean-Claude Van Damme, martial arts icon Bruce Lee, rapper Eminem (and his alter-ego Slim Shady), and – most recently – actor and long-time video game fan Milla Jovovich.
One of the more interesting celebrity targets was Mads Mikkelsen, who reprised his role as Casino Royale baddie Le Chiffre in a Bond-themed mission this past summer. The collaboration was doubtless made possible by the fact that IO is currently putting the finishing touches to 007 First Light, but recent announcements have shown that the studio’s penchant for famous faces won’t be limited to the World of Assassination.
It was recently announced that singer Lenny Kravitz will appear in the game as Bawma, a ‘Pirate King’ described by IO as a “charismatic and unpredictable leader of a powerful black-market arms network”. The Are You Gonna Go My Way and Fly Away singer has dabbled with minor acting roles in the past, but nothing major, suggesting his addition to the 007 First Light cast is at least partly based on his star power.
The casting of singers in Bond games actually isn’t a new thing – Mýa (she of Ghetto Superstar) starred in EA’s 007: Everything or Nothing, Natasha Bedingfield played a new role in the video game adaptation of From Russia With Love, and Joss Stone starred in Xbox 360 and PS3 game Blood Stone (though I forget which of her accents she used for it). In that sense, 007 First Light is merely continuing a tradition, albeit a questionable one.
Of course, one thing First Light has that previous Bond games don’t is a solid connection to an already established and much-loved video game series. There are no better espionage games out there than Hitman, so when it comes to perfect matches are there few more suitable shouts than IO and 007.
That’s not to say First Light is set to merely be a Hitman game with more recognisable music, however. In an interview with VGC earlier this year, IO Interactive franchise director Jonathan Lacaille explained that while its Bond game uses the same building blocks as Hitman, it’s played at a faster pace, to fit with the nature of the younger, greener Bond of this story.
“There will be some of that DNA, but the game will be very different,” Lacaille told us. “Hitman, if you think of it, it’s a very open space, and you’re coming in, and you’re very patient, and you’re methodical, and you’re gonna count the milliseconds before the guard passes – it’s a very patient game.
“Of course, one thing First Light has that previous Bond games don’t is a solid connection to an already established and much-loved video game series.”
“In First Light, the character – in a sense – is young and a bit reckless, and sometimes doesn’t have enough patience. In design, that means we have to give you a sense of forward momentum all the time, so he needs to think quick on his feet.
“If the other game is more methodical, this one will be more about making you think fast under pressure, giving you a lot of options and you have to think – right, or left, or do you take all these guards? Do you blow your cover? We bring you forward all the time. So in that sense, the game is probably not as open.
“There are open moments, but there are some more linear ones as well, and it would always be done because in this game compared to [Hitman], we are telling a story, so we need to kind of drive you through it.”
Speaking of driving, Bond fans will also be happy with the news that the protagonist will once again end up behind the wheel of an Aston Martin, but this time it has to be earned.
After all, given that this game’s Bond is an inexperienced 26-year-old who doesn’t even have his 00 status yet, it wouldn’t be realistic to give him all the fancy stuff right away. And in a series that has brought us an invisible car in Die Another Day, and a laser gun space battle in Moonraker, realism is very much the order of the day.
All signs point to IO delivering another winner, then, but it’ll be interesting to see if the studio’s decision to focus less on patience and more on action will pay off, or if it emerges that it should have played to its strength. Here’s hoping that after it’s released, the main debate won’t be, “Did IO change the formula too much?” And will instead be, “What was better, this or GoldenEye?”
