007 First Light is "not a reskin" of Hitman, IO Interactive says again, and the team brought in "amazing fresh talent" including devs with "specific driving expertise" to help build car missions

We've gotten our first look at 007: First Light gameplay, and Hitman fans will see plenty of familiar mechanics from developer IO Interactive's World of Assassination. But don't let the goofy guard distraction mechanics distract you – the devs are keen to (once again) make sure you know this isn't just a Hitman game in an Agent 47-style disguise.

"We have a very talented team back home, and our team has expanded ever since we first announced the game," senior licensing producer Theuns Smit tells GamesRadar+. "Obviously, that meant there was even more interest. We were able to bring in amazing fresh talent to bolster what we already have at the studio, and that has been a really big growth moment for us as a studio."

These additional devs have given IO "fresh eyes, fresh expertise, all of that," Smit continues, "while still leaning [into] our strengths, [with] the pedigree of 25 years behind us. It comes about the game first. The experience first. If you're looking at Hitman, it's the way it is for a particular reason, because that's the gameplay experience we want to give. For Bond, it's not exactly that. It's not a reskin of that."

One big difference between Hitman and First Light is the presence of drivable cars, which we see multiple times in today's new gameplay footage. That's an area where IO has very little experience, and it seems the influx of new devs was particularly important here.

"It was absolutely a huge challenge, and also a challenge we didn't take on lightly," franchise art director Rasmus Poulsen tells us. "We had to bring onto the team specific driving expertise, i.e. people that had experience coding, setting up, tweaking, balancing.

"Because of course it's a balancing act of making a vehicle feel both exciting, credible, and dangerous at the same time as being approachable and fun for a wide audience. So absolutely, that balance is very difficult and indeed a new adventure for us, so something we took very seriously. And I'm pleased to say, I feel [we] have landed in an amazing space."

007 First Light is more than just Hitman: James Bond edition, and I'm over any fears I might have had that IO couldn't deliver.