007 First Light beginner guide: how long to beat, stealth, difficulty, PC specs

007 First Light from IO Interactive tells the story of a young James Bond before he earns the number 007. It is a third-person game of stealth, gunfights, melee, gadgets and a few driving sequences. It is not an open world in the Hitman mould but a sequence of levels that often offer several routes to the goal.

Below is what is worth knowing before your first launch: how long it takes, which difficulty to choose, how not to get lost in the stealth and whether the game suits an offline rental.

Account rental · Steam007 First Lightfrom 70 ₴Rent

How long it takes to beat

The HowLongToBeat figures (user-reported, as of 9 October 2026) match what DekuDeals shows too.

Reviewers give similar numbers: Mezha writes of 14–20 hours depending on how many times you die, and Beebom of 18.5 hours in its own playthrough. Before release the developers, as relayed by a YouTuber, spoke of about 20 hours and up to 30–40 with the extra mode and collectibles — that is a single secondhand conversation, so treat it as a rough guide.

Which difficulty to choose

The game has three levels: Novice, Intended and Purist. According to Gfinity, the developers recommend Intended for a first run. Novice eases gadgets and weakens enemies, while Purist is a challenge where you have little health. You can change difficulty after a failure or from the chapter select menu, so a wrong pick at the start is not fatal.

There are also accessibility options: camera comfort, subtitle options and volume controls.

How to play: stealth, gadgets, combat

The game rewards scouting. According to Mezha's review, levels have several routes, you can eavesdrop, hack, bluff and use parkour, and many sections can be completed without a fight. Driving and vehicles are separate episodes, secondary to stealth and combat.

A few tips from Gfinity:

• Don't rush to the marker. Look around: the Q-Lens device highlights keys, cards, collectibles and alternative routes.
• Listen to conversations. They can give you passwords and the way forward.
• Gadgets are consumed. The Dart Phone distracts enemies for a long time, the Smoke Pod makes an escape route, and the Laser Strap cuts locks and wires and blinds. Supply is limited, so don't waste them.
• Instinct recharges through "spy" actions: quiet takedowns, gathering intel and eavesdropping.
• In combat don't hold the attack button down: use parries, grabs and surrounding objects.
• Collectibles sometimes unlock only after certain conversations or events, so you can return to locations.

Saving

According to Gfinity there is no manual save: the game saves at checkpoints, and you can restart a chosen one from the menu. So quit after the save icon has appeared, not in the middle of a fight.

The extra mode, TacSim

Besides the campaign there is TacSim — replaying missions with modifiers and challenges and global leaderboards. The game has no multiplayer or co-op. The campaign can be completed offline after the mandatory day-one patch, and only the TacSim leaderboards need a connection (Gfinity).

PC system requirements

Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit) is required. The game is rated Steam Deck Verified.

On performance: Mezha says the game runs well on high settings and advises turning off grain and blur. Some players complain of stutter and long loading times (a single source), so judge the first hour for yourself.

What to know before renting

• There is no Ukrainian: no text and no voice-over. Voice-over is English only. Text languages: French, Italian, German, Spanish (two versions), Japanese, Korean, Polish, Russian, Chinese (two), Brazilian Portuguese, Turkish.
• Denuvo. Denuvo was added to the game shortly before release, which triggered a wave of refunds. Patch 1.1.0 of 24 July 2026 removed it: this was spotted from the smaller executable on SteamDB (PC Guide and Tech4Gamers), although the official notes do not mention it. Still, launch the game once online and only then switch Steam to offline mode (see how it works).
• The game is single-player. Online features (the TacSim leaderboards) will not work in an offline rental — the campaign is unaffected.
• Scores: 84 on Metacritic (PC) and an 87 average on OpenCritic, "Very Positive" on Steam (about 91%). Players praise the take on Bond, the cast, the levels, the music and the melee; they criticise weaker gunplay, bosses, driving and the price relative to length.

Sources

• Steam store page — requirements, languages, modes
• HowLongToBeat: 007 First Light and DekuDeals
• Insider Gaming: game length
• Mezha: review (in Ukrainian)
• Beebom: how long to beat
• Gfinity: beginner tips
• Gfinity: difficulty
• Gfinity: modes and multiplayer and offline play
• PC Guide: Denuvo removed and Tech4Gamers
• Digital Citizen: refund wave over Denuvo
• Steam Deck HQ: Verified status
• Den of Geek: views on the game
• Metacritic and OpenCritic