Good morning!

I just got back from Copenhagen where IO Interactive showed me 007 First Light behind closed doors, and let me tell you, Bond has never looked this good. It’s basically Hitman in a tux smashing into Uncharted’s biggest set pieces, and somehow it works. Think: alpine car chases, sliding crates in mid-air brawls, and gadgets that aren’t just for show (yes, even the AirPods case-looking one).

In this edition, we’ve got:

• Bond’s big debut (and why it slapped)

• Hollow Knight: Silksong breaking the internet

• Blizzard’s developers fighting back against layoffs

Here’s everything you need to know this week in the world of gaming.

TOP STORY

I saw '007 First Light' behind closed doors...

IO Interactive’s 007 First Light might just be the best Bond game we’ve never had. Forget tuxedo-Bond with quips and martinis, this is an origin story, where our guy starts out as a chauffeur before deciding, “screw it, I’m going in.” It’s Bond becoming Bond, not Bond on autopilot.

The game feels like Hitman’s brainy sandbox stitched to Uncharted 4’s blockbuster swagger. Levels give you multiple routes in, guards and staff follow real routines, and improvisation is king, poison a drink, short out a door, or bluff your way past goons. Then it cranks things up with cinematic set pieces: alpine car chases, planes full of sliding crates you weaponize mid-fight, and explosions big enough to make Michael Bay blush.

Gadgets have teeth too. Bond’s Omega watch handles hacking, while you pick three modern toys per mission (one even looked like an AirPods case). They run on resources, chemical, electric, and “bluff”, refilled by scavenging the environment. It keeps you exploring instead of brute-forcing.

It’s not flawless, on a base PS5, I saw frame dips during the biggest action scenes. But I’ll take a few stutters over a pre-rendered fake demo any day.

If IOI sticks the landing, First Light could be the first Bond game to marry real stealth depth with blockbuster spectacle. And honestly? It’s already vaulted into my most-anticipated list.

Brains, biceps, and Bond. What’s not to love?

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