007 First Light is already an exciting prospect on its own, simply because James Bond has been away from games for far too long. But what makes IO Interactive's upcoming Bond game especially interesting is that it might end up scratching an itch that has gone largely untouched since the release of Alpha Protocol in 2010. Obsidian Entertainment's espionage RPG was messy, uneven, and rough around the edges in numerous ways, but it at least understood that being a spy should involve more than just sneaking past guards or shooting through them.
That's why 007 First Light feels like it could be such a natural spiritual successor, even if it's not an RPG in the same way that Alpha Protocol is. IO Interactive's Creative Approach philosophy is built around giving players different ways to solve problems through Instinct, gadgets, and combat, and that already feels closer to the spy fantasy that Alpha Protocol was going for. However, the question is whether 007 First Light can take that fantasy and polish it into something that Alpha Protocol never fully realized.
007 First Light Dev on Comparisons: 'We Can’t Simply Reskin a Hitman Game and Call It Bond'
IO Interactive comments on the speculation over whether 007 First Light, the studio's next release, is just a reskin of its past Hitman games.
Alpha Protocol Was a Spy Game Before It Was Anything Else
Alpha Protocol was an action RPG about Michael Thorton, a secret agent who becomes a rogue operative while trying to uncover an international conspiracy. It had guns, gadgets, stealth, martial arts, skills, classes, and dialogue choices, the latter few of which pushed it into classic Obsidian RPG territory. At the start of the game, players could choose an agent background that narrowed Thorton's gameplay focus to firearms, stealth, or gadgets, but they could specialize further in different skills and tools later on.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
What made Alpha Protocol different, though, was the way those systems served the larger spy fantasy. As Thorton's skills were improved through the game's progression systems, he was simultaneously being transformed into a particular kind of operative. Players were ultimately deciding whether he handled situations like a professional, a smooth-talking charmer, or an aggressive blunt instrument. Conversations happened in real time, forcing players to make quick decisions rather than sit with a dialogue wheel forever debating their choices, and those choices could affect relationships, mission outcomes, and future opportunities.
That's what made Alpha Protocol so unique. Whereas most spy games default to stealth or FPS gameplay, Alpha Protocol treated spycraft as a matter of personality, preparation, and improvisation. Stealth, combat, and dialogue all worked in tandem to determine what kind of spy Michael Thorton was becoming, and that gave the game's messier moments a stronger sense of purpose in the end.
Why Alpha Protocol Became So Underrated
Unfortunately, those messier moments still got the best of Alpha Protocol, and its reception sank because of them. Critics frequently pointed to its clunky combat, awkward presentation, and inconsistent systems, and those criticisms weren't baseless. Even now, it would be hard to argue that Alpha Protocol plays smoothly by modern standards.
However, the game's long-term reputation is a different story, largely because players have begun seeing and accepting what it was aiming for, and that has aged better than some of its mechanics. In fact, it has received a few more recent user reviews on Metacritic giving it 9s and 10s, making it one of the more underrated cult classics of the last two decades. Of course, it helped that it returned to PC through GOG in 2024 after being delisted in 2019.
Whereas most spy games default to stealth or FPS gameplay, Alpha Protocol treated spycraft as a matter of personality, preparation, and improvisation.
The reality is that games don't usually get second lives because players have fond memories of them. Nostalgia alone is rarely enough to bring players back to a classic for a very long time. Rather, games like Alpha Protocol get second lives because they tried something that people wish still existed today. A spy game where the player's choices actually matter is a big deal, especially considering 007 games have largely only ever adapted the films, thereby limiting player agency.
But it's Alpha Protocol's emphasis on player agency that stuck. The RPG gave players the fantasy of being a spy who could talk, sneak, threaten, manipulate, investigate, or fight his way through situations. It was more interested in player agency than clean genre boundaries, and that's why it still feels like an idea the industry never fully followed up on.
007 First Light's Creative Approach Sounds Like the Right Successor
007 First Light isn't an RPG like Alpha Protocol, so it doesn't compare in that regard. IO Interactive's Bond game isn't about building a custom agent, managing reputation scores, or steering a branching RPG narrative in the same way Obsidian attempted with Michael Thorton. Instead, First Light seems focused on integrating the spy fantasy into its live gameplay rather than roleplaying decisions.
That's where its Creative Approach comes in. According to IO Interactive, the system is built around allowing players to take on objectives through stealth, direct action, a mix of both, or improvisation. The studio breaks that philosophy into several parts, including spycraft, Instinct, gadgets, and combat. Spycraft covers things like eavesdropping, pickpocketing key items, inspecting environments, and using gathered information to open new routes. First Light's Instinct system gives Bond a limited resource for quick thinking, allowing him to lure guards, bluff his way through suspicion, or line up a better shot. Gadgets from Q Branch can hack systems, cut locks, create distractions, or incapacitate targets. Combat, meanwhile, is designed around Bond’s blend of melee, shooting, escalation, and controlled force.
A spy game where the player's choices actually matter is a big deal, especially considering 007 games have largely only ever adapted the films, thereby limiting player agency.
Even that makes 007 First Light sound closer to an actual spy game than a simple stealth game or FPS. In a pure stealth game, getting spotted is often failure. In a pure shooter, being spotted is often the point. But a true spy game should actually live somewhere between those extremes, where observation, information, charm, misdirection, improvisation, and violence all have their place. Based on what IO has shown so far, 007 First Light seems to understand that Bond should not feel limited to one lane.
And that is its strongest connection to Alpha Protocol. Obsidian's espionage game gave players a role-playing framework for deciding what kind of spy Thorton would be. IO's game seems to be giving players a design framework for deciding how Bond handles a situation. One game expresses that through RPG choice and consequence, while the other expresses it through encounter design, tools, and improvisation.
Alpha Protocol may never get the sequel its fans have wanted for years, and 007 First Light will not replace what made Obsidian's cult classic special. But if IO's Creative Approach delivers on its promise, it may finally give players the kind of modern spy game Alpha Protocol always seemed to be pointing toward, where the answer to a problem doesn't come down to genre, but down to how well the player thinks like an agent.
007 First Light
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 88/100 Critics Rec: 97%
- Released
- May 27, 2026
- ESRB
- Teen / Blood, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence, In-Game Purchases
- Developer(s)
- IO Interactive
- Publisher(s)
- IO Interactive
