007 First Light drops you into the origin story of James Bond before the tuxedo, before the Aston Martin, and before the licence to kill is second nature. IO Interactive spent years building the Hitman trilogy, and that DNA is all over this game: layered systems, optional approaches, and a stealth-first philosophy that punishes players who treat it like a cover shooter. After spending over 20 hours working through every chapter and challenge, here are 18 tips that will save you from the mistakes most players make in the first few hours.
What is the Licence to Kill mechanic and how does it work?
The single biggest adjustment new players need to make is understanding that Bond cannot freely pull out a gun whenever he feels like it. The Licence to Kill mechanic gates firearm use entirely: Bond can only draw a weapon when enemies are actively shooting at him. A red glow and the Licence to Kill text at the top of the screen signal when lethal force is permitted.
Do not expect to stockpile ammunition during these sections either. The game actively pushes you to swap weapons with fallen enemies rather than hoard magazines. If your reserves run dry, you can throw your current weapon at an enemy to disarm them, then catch their gun and keep firing. Shooting an enemy in the hand achieves the same result. Once the threat is neutralised, Bond holsters his weapon automatically and you return to standard espionage.
How do you stop enemies from calling for backup?
Blowing your cover is not automatically a mission failure, but letting an enemy complete a radio call is close to one. When an enemy starts transmitting, you have a short window to neutralise them before the call completes. Look for the yellow antenna icon above their head to identify the right target fast.
Breaking the transmission before the bar fills cancels the backup request entirely. Force works most reliably here, but gadgets also interrupt the call. A successful interception keeps guards outside the encounter unaware, which means you can still recover your stealth approach if no one else spotted you.
Gadgets like the Dart Phone and Laser Strap can interrupt radio calls from a distance without alerting nearby guards to your position.
Understanding the instinct system
Bond's instinct meter sits at the bottom of the screen and fuels several core abilities: Lure (drawing enemies to a location), Confrontation, Bluff (talking your way past low-level guards), and Focus (bullet time during combat). Each costs a different amount of instinct, and the meter on the bottom left shows exactly how much you have left during Focus use.
Building instinct requires doing spy things. Eavesdropping on conversations, silently knocking out enemies, and clean kills all contribute. The bluff option will not work on Watcher enemies, who are identified by a white dot icon above their heads. Disguises also fail around Watchers, so plan your approach before you reach them.
Which gadgets should you pick for stealth?
Gadget selection shapes your entire playstyle, so choosing the right loadout before a mission matters. The Missile Pen and Shockwave Camera are loud and destructive, which makes them poorly suited for stealth runs. For quiet approaches, four gadgets consistently outperform the rest.
The Dart Phone stands out because its stun duration is the longest in the game, giving you time to pickpocket, reposition, or slip through a guarded entrance without rushing. Heavier armoured enemies recover from stuns faster regardless of which gadget you use, so factor that into your timing.
The Smoke Pod works best when you can cluster enemies together before deploying it. The Laser Strap can cut through metal barrels, locks, and wires holding up environmental objects like chandeliers, making it genuinely useful outside of direct combat. The Q-Watch handles security cameras and interactive objects throughout the environment, which is essential for creating distractions without burning chemical or battery resources on other gadgets.
Every gadget use drains either your Battery or Chemical resource, tracked on your Q-Watch gauges. Blue or green icons mean you can pick up more of that resource. Grey means you are full. Some resources replenish over time in larger open areas, so revisiting looted locations when running low is worth doing.
How do you find hints and mission opportunities?
Open-ended levels in 007 First Light use a hint system that functions similarly to Hitman's mission stories. Holding the gadget button reveals teal icons scattered through the environment that point toward alternate approaches. To review hints you have already collected, open the journal screen, go to the objective tab, and press show hints. You can track a specific hint if you have multiple leads active.
For players who want to master pickpocketing and distraction-based approaches, following these hints is the fastest way to discover which NPCs carry keys, keycards, and mission-critical items.
Should you use the TacSim before the main story?
The TacSim unlocks at the end of Chapter 2 after speaking with Selina Tan, head of Tactical Simulation at MI6. At that point, two escalations become available immediately: Advanced Tactical Training and Advanced Close Combat Training. Completing at least the first two tiers of both before continuing the story is genuinely worth the time.
These escalations teach parrying, sidestepping, grabs, and strike combinations in a controlled environment where dying has no consequences. The combat system has more depth than the opening Malta training suggests, and learning it properly in TacSim means you will not be discovering mechanics mid-firefight when it actually costs you.
The TacSim also functions as the game's online component, with leaderboards, a progression system, and unlockable cosmetics. There are two mission types: escalations (tiered challenge series) and operations (single missions with modifiers called game changers). IO Interactive has confirmed plans for post-launch TacSim content, and completing the main story unlocks additional missions within the mode.
Completing all challenges in a chapter unlocks Bond's mission outfit for use in TacSim. Check the challenges menu at the start of every chapter so you can plan your approach before committing to a path.
How do you use the checkpoint system efficiently?
The checkpoint system is one of the most player-friendly features in the game, and most players underuse it. Every chapter contains multiple dedicated checkpoints, and you can load into any of them directly from the main menu.
To access it: navigate to Story, then Chapter Select, choose your chapter, select a specific Checkpoint, set your Difficulty, and save to one of the five available save slots.
Collectibles carry over between saves, which makes this system extremely useful for trophy hunting. Rather than replaying full chapters to find a missed collectible or complete a specific challenge, you can jump directly to the checkpoint nearest to what you need. For a full breakdown of what you are working toward, the 007 First Light trophy and achievement list covers every collectible category and unlock condition.
What collectibles are in 007 First Light and where do you find them?
There are 5 collectible types spread across the game: 36 Cards, 23 Intel, 14 Mementos, 10 Postcards, and 9 Legacy items. Each category has its own trophy or achievement tied to completing it.
Many collectibles sit off the main path, locked behind optional rooms that require a Key, Keycard, or specific gadget interaction to access. Some are also gated behind story progression or specific NPC conversations, which means a single playthrough will rarely catch everything. The Q-Lens highlights all interactable items in orange, and collectibles specifically display a bookmark-like symbol when you are close enough to spot them.
The Field Missions Collection wall, located just left of the TacSim mission pedestal, displays every collectible you have found so far in physical form.
Combat tips: how do you fight efficiently?
Headshots are your most resource-efficient option in firefights. A single clean headshot drops an unarmoured enemy. Heavily armoured enemies require 2 to 4 headshots. Leg shots offer an alternative: one shot to a leg temporarily dazes an enemy, and hitting both legs incapacitates them completely.
Button mashing will get you killed. Queuing up multiple strikes locks Bond into long attack animations, and surrounding enemies will hit you freely while you are committed to that sequence. The better approach is deliberate: plan your strikes, use grabs, and toss environmental objects at enemies between strikes to stagger them.
For parrying and dodging, timing is everything. Wait until the yellow glint on an attacking enemy reaches its full brightness (it looks like a cross with a faint circle). Parrying at that exact moment always succeeds. A red glint means the attack is unblockable, and your only option is to dodge immediately.
Most cover in firefights is destructible. Wooden crates and corrugated sheeting will not survive sustained fire. Look for metal beams and solid structures before engaging, not during.
How do you handle grenades in combat?
Enemies will announce grenade throws verbally, giving you a brief window to act. A single shot or gadget hit interrupts the throw animation, causing the enemy to drop the live grenade at their own feet. If you cannot stop the throw in time, you can hack the grenade mid-air with your Q-Watch to defuse it before it detonates. Successfully hacking a grenade also unlocks the Damp Squib trophy.
How do you survive when health is low?
Bond's health regeneration can be slow, and a few solid hits will put you in serious trouble fast. Running into another room is risky because it can alert new enemies, but standing still while low on health is worse. The recommended approach is to kite enemies around environmental obstacles, maintaining enough distance for health to recover before re-engaging.
If you are facing a single enemy in melee range, focus entirely on dodging rather than attacking. Against multiple enemies simultaneously, creating space is the priority over dealing damage.
Dynamic environments and when things change
Some areas shift as you complete story objectives or trigger specific conversations. The Safe House in Chapter 1 and the Nightclub in Chapter 2 are two confirmed examples where NPCs reposition and new interaction options appear after story beats. This includes access to collectibles and disguises that were unavailable earlier in the same area. Backtracking through these spaces after key story moments is worth doing before moving on.
For everything else the game has to offer, the full 007 First Light guides collection covers suits and outfits, multiplayer details, completion time, and more to help you get the most out of IO Interactive's spy origin story.