007: First Light gameplay director talks Uncharted and Batman: Arkham influences that add to IO's Hitman pedigree

I'd be lying if I said 007: First Light doesn't look (and sound) like one the coolest triple-A games coming out this year. With its post-delay 27th May release date not far away now, marketing and developer chatter are ramping up, and now we've learned about the explicit influences that were added to all the Hitman DNA we've able to discern in IO Interactive's latest.

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007: First Light gameplay director talks Uncharted and Batman: Arkham influences that add to IO's Hitman pedigree

Explosive mix.

[007: First Light - masked henchman]

Image credit: IO Interactive

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by Fran Ruiz
Contributor

Published on Feb. 25, 2026

19 comments

I'd be lying if I said 007: First Light doesn't look (and sound) like one the coolest triple-A games coming out this year. With its post-delay 27th May release date not far away now, marketing and developer chatter are ramping up, and now we've learned about the explicit influences that were added to all the Hitman DNA we've able to discern in IO Interactive's latest.

On 23th February, GameSpot shared juicy bits from Game Informer's recent interview with gameplay director Andreas Krogh, who admits the team looked at triple-A games "on the same scale" for inspiration. After all, even with a reboot, there's set of expectations around what a James Bond game should be, and IO's own style shouldn't get in the way of that if you ask me.

We already know many stealth and immersive sim elements from the recent Hitman trilogy, as well as spectacular and layered level design, have made their way into 007: First Light, but it's good to know IO looked at modern action-adventure classics for the more explosive sequences: "I think you see the Arkham games, you see those games in it. You also see some modern takes on destructibility in the environment that are not necessarily from the Arkham games, but newer takes like Uncharted. We have a deeper system than that because we want to do more of it, and from shooting, you see references that are also from modern games," Krogh explained.

In any case, while some gameplay scenes will railroad players into big set pieces that would make renowned Hollywood action directors smile, the studio hasn't sacrificed the freedom of "choice" it's known for in most scenarios: "We want to set the player up to choose for himself. What kind of player are you? What kind of playstyle do you prefer? Play that way."

It won't be long before we check for ourselves if everything has come together beautifully, but with a mix of old and new, plus Lenny Kravitz on board as the villain, it seems like IO's take on the property won't be retreading much old ground.

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