Stealth and Disguises

0:06 Stealth in 007 First Light works through what IO Interactive calls the Creative Approach: you reach each objective by sneaking, going in loud or mixing both. The stealth tools are Spycraft (eavesdropping, pickpocketing, reading the room), Instinct (a meter spent to lure guards, bluff or slow time), social stealth through mission-specific disguises, and Q Branch Gadgets. It is forgiving: Game Rant found that being caught "is rarely a death sentence", and no mission demands a perfect ghost run. Reviewers who know IOI's Hitman games found it lighter than those: no body hiding, fewer routes, more guidance.

Quick facts

Sources: PlayStation Blog, Sep 3, 2025; TheSixthAxis, Jun 4, 2026; Shacknews, May 26, 2026; Hardcore Gamer, Jun 2, 2026; IOI 1.3.0 notes, Oct 1, 2026.

Spycraft: eavesdropping and Opportunities

5:03 Spycraft is IOI's word for the information side of a mission: eavesdropping for intel, lifting keycards from guards and reading clues in the environment to find shortcuts. Overheard conversations turn into hints called Opportunities, and you choose which leads to follow; IOI's own patch notes use the word as a system term, fixing an "Android opportunity" that could be locked out. Shacknews's example is a nightclub VIP room: Bond gets past the guard by carrying in a tray of drinks, or by sneaking through the bar and a vent. Bond can also climb buildings and shimmy along ledges to reach a new route.

Game Rant's one big complaint lives here: missions open with slow, crowded information-gathering that it found overlong and "hand-holdy". Outcomes are fixed; Hardcore Gamer calls missions guided, with different routes to the same result.

Pickpocketing

2:34 Badges, keycards and keys are lifted from pockets, which opens doors without a fight. The Q-Lens highlights pickpocket targets, and the Dart Phone can make a target sick to set one up, as Beebom does to take the Staff Key and Cellar key in Slovakia. COGconnected found it easy, noting that NPCs ignore nearby pickpocketing. Safe and door codes found this way are collected on Safe Codes and Passwords.

Instinct

4:18 Instinct is a limited meter that refills as Bond defeats enemies and completes objectives. IOI lists three uses: luring guards for silent takedowns, bluffing past suspicious people, and slowing the action for a precise shot. PlayStation LifeStyle's tip follows from that: refill it through takedowns and mission tasks before you need a bluff. Later reviews and IOI's patch notes call the slow-time ability "Focus"; in IGN's May 27, 2026 guide (the clip above), Focus is paid for with Instinct, and an Instinct meter at the bottom left of the screen shows how much slow time is left. See Combat and Takedowns. Update 1.3.0 (Oct 1, 2026) fixed Instinct so it activates from a press, not only a tap.

Bluffing

0:42 When a guard catches Bond somewhere he should not be, a button press improvises an excuse. Bluffs are limited, and some characters are immune; PlayStation LifeStyle names headstrong enemies as the ones it fails on. Hardcore Gamer found the range of excuses "surprisingly varied". Bluff is a story unlock with a tutorial (IOI's 1.3.0 notes fixed it being offered before it was unlocked). Bond can also shout to lure a guard from his post. IOI counted players' "successful bluffs" in its launch statistics (Sep 10, 2026), though the figure sat in an image.

Disguises and social stealth

4:19 Disguises are roles written into each mission rather than a Hitman-style system where any guard's clothes will do; no source we read describes taking outfits freely. In the first mission, after the helicopter crash in Iceland, Bond poses as a crew member to gather intel; at the London gala he plays several characters, which GamingBolt calls social stealth "similar to Hitman"; and in one tracker-planting mission he can pose as a yoga instructor. IOI's notes also mention an Event Staff Uniform and a disguise pickup prompt. IGN's May 27, 2026 stealth guide (the clip above) shows disguises as hats Bond finds in a level and puts on to walk past that area's security; only watchers, the guards marked with a white dot over the head, see through them. Outside those roles, campaign outfits are set by the story: GamingBolt reported before launch that collected outfits can be worn only in TacSim. Since 1.3.0, New Game Plus adds "Mission Warderobe" (IOI's spelling), letting you change outfits from the journal and restart from a checkpoint. See Outfits and Unlocks.

Guards, bodies and awareness

12:18 Guards do react to bodies and disturbances: IOI's description of the 00 Difficulty says enemies there react faster to bodies and disturbances, which implies they react more slowly on the others. You cannot move a body, though: Can I Play That? and Hardcore Gamer both note that guard bodies cannot be moved, and there is no hiding them. Can I Play That? also points out that guard alerts are sound cues with no captions (Accessibility). We found no source naming the detection meter on screen, as of Nov 4, 2026.

13:50 COGconnected thought the AI the game's main weakness: guards are easily fooled, and "if you see an enemy, chances are there is some way to cheese the encounter". Mortismal Gaming's review after 100% (May 29, 2026; the clip above) found detection just as uneven, with guards who spot Bond at once missing a fistfight across the room. If that is too easy, the 00 difficulty swaps in tougher guard types and blocks gadget use inside a guard's line of sight.

How it compares with Hitman

Hardcore Gamer found stealth less deep than Hitman's, with Hitman-style areas usually offering only two or three approaches and leaning on gadgets. TheSixthAxis says First Light trades Hitman's open levels for a guided, cinematic run, and COGconnected calls it more approachable and less punishing. The longer comparison is on 007 First Light vs Hitman.

Frequently asked questions

Can you play 007 First Light fully in stealth? Often, but not always: TheSixthAxis says complete stealth is often an option, with action always available as a fallback. 007 First Light never requires a full stealth run, and some set pieces are combat or chases.

How does Instinct work in 007 First Light? Instinct is a meter that refills through takedowns and objectives. In 007 First Light you spend it to lure guards, to bluff past suspicious people and to slow time for a precise shot.

How do you bluff in 007 First Light? When a guard spots Bond, press the prompt to improvise an excuse. Bluffs in 007 First Light are limited by Instinct, and some headstrong characters cannot be bluffed.

Can you take any disguise in 007 First Light like in Hitman? No source describes that. 007 First Light's disguises are roles set in each mission, such as a crew member in Iceland or event staff at the London gala.

Can you hide bodies in 007 First Light? No. Guard bodies cannot be moved in 007 First Light, so plan takedowns where other guards will not walk past.

Sources

• Watch over 30 minutes of 007 First Light gameplay, launching March 27, 2026, PlayStation Blog (Yann Roskell, IO Interactive), Sep 3, 2025
• 007 First Light's Stealth, Action, Set-Pieces and Gadgets Detailed in Hands-On Preview, GamingBolt, May 1, 2026
• 007 First Light, 15 More Things to Know Before Launch, GamingBolt, May 26, 2026
• 007 First Light Review, Game Rant, May 26, 2026
• 007 First Light review: Tomorrow Never Dies, Shacknews, May 26, 2026
• 007 First Light Review, PlayStation LifeStyle, May 27, 2026
• 007 First Light All The Time in The World Mission Walkthrough, Beebom, May 27, 2026
• Game Update 1.0.2, IO Interactive on Steam, Jun 2, 2026
• Review: 007 First Light, Hardcore Gamer, Jun 2, 2026
• 007 First Light Review, Target Mostly Acquired, COGconnected, Jun 2, 2026
• 007 First Light Review, TheSixthAxis, Jun 4, 2026
• 007 First Light accessibility review, Can I Play That?, Jun 9, 2026
• All The Numbers Earned. Time to Earn Yours!, IO Interactive on Steam, Sep 10, 2026
• 1.3.0 Game Update, IO Interactive, Oct 1, 2026
• Prove Your 00 agent Skills!, IO Interactive on Steam, Oct 8, 2026
• Exclusive: 007 First Light vs. Hitman - What's Different? | Cover Story Interview, Game Informer, Feb 20, 2026 (video)
• 007 First Light - 007 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting, IGN, May 27, 2026 (video)
• 007 FIRST LIGHT - Every Tip I Wish I Knew From The Start!, Boomstick Gaming, May 26, 2026 (video)
• 007 First Light - Rules of Spycraft, IO Interactive, Apr 22, 2026 (video)
• 007 First Light: 6 Ways to Master Stealth, IGN, May 27, 2026 (video)
• 007 First Light Review, IGN, May 29, 2026 (video)
• 007 First Light - Review After 100%, Mortismal Gaming, May 29, 2026 (video)