IO Interactive’s 007 First Light has finally given James Bond fans the origin story they’ve been waiting for. By stepping away from any specific actor’s likeness and crafting a younger, rougher-around-the-edges recruit, IOI was free to build a world steeped in the entirety of James Bond history.
But as the developers behind the Hitman series, IOI couldn’t resist packing the game’s sandbox environments with brilliant inside jokes, film nods, and deep-cut literary references. If you’ve been busy earning your Double-O status, here are some of the cleverest Easter eggs you might have missed during your first play through.
We saw plenty, but some of these have been highlighted by others that have been sharing them online. 007 First Light is dense with all of these little nods.
Not all Easter eggs relate to James Bond, though. There are some great nods to other sources, too!
Here are 10 of our favourites.
1. The Legendary “Allan, Please Add Details” Post-It Note
IO Interactive has revived one of its oldest, most beloved studio memes. Dating all the way back to 2006’s Hitman: Blood Money. Where a missing texture description famously read “Allan please add details”. The studio has routinely poked fun at a certain developer’s placeholder slack.
In 007 First Light, when you are tasked with breaking in and searching through rogue MI6 agent 009’s safehouse stash, take a close look at the wall covered in chaotic investigation post-it notes. Tucked among the clues are several frantic, polite pieces of paper reminding “Allan” to finally add the details.
2. Q-Branch’s Vintage Prop Museum
When you finally get to wander around Q-Branch’s Wearables department, it feels less like a modern lab and more like a high-tech museum dedicated to the franchise’s history. IOI packed the shelves and workbenches with iconic relics from classic James Bond cinema:
- The Dagger Shoes: On a testing table, you can spot the infamous poison-tipped blade hidden in the sole of a shoe, a direct nod to Rosa Klebb in From Russia With Love.
- The Inflatable Ski Suit: Tucked in a corner is the avalanche-protecting inflatable jacket popularised by Pierce Brosnan in The World Is Not Enough.
- The One-Man Alligator Sub: If you listen closely to a pair of Q-Branch scientists gossiping near the workshop, they can be heard complaining about a storage room they uncovered containing a “dangerous looking 60s jetpack” and Roger Moore’s ridiculous alligator-shaped submersible.
3. A Deep Literary Rivalry: The John le Carré Nods
Ian Fleming and John le Carré are the undisputed titans of British spy fiction, but they were also famous ideological rivals. While Fleming favoured the glamorous, high-stakes action of James Bond, le Carré preferred the gritty, bureaucratic, and morally gray world of real-life intelligence.
IOI cleverly bridges this gap with two dialogue Easter eggs delivered by M. At one point, M notes, “Maybe 009 wants to come in from the cold,” a legendary reference to le Carré’s masterpiece The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Later, M mutters, “There is a spy on top of British Intelligence,” mirroring the exact, chilling line from the film adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
4. The World of Hitman Bleeds In
It wouldn’t be an IOI game without a few nods to Agent 47. Beyond the gameplay structure itself, the developers left several tangible Hitman fingerprints scattered around the missions:
- The Sanguine Special: During the A Night Out mission at the London nightclub, approach the bar and listen to the bartender offer a customer a “Bare-Knuckle Boxer.” Fans of Hitman (2016) will instantly recognize this as the favorite cocktail of fashion mogul and fashion-show target Viktor Novikov.
- The Disguise Artist: In Chapter Three, Bond participates in a high-stakes hotel chase tracking down a mysterious target named Murto. In classic Hitman fashion, every time Bond loses sight of him, Murto knocks out an innocent civilian, stuffs them in a closet, and pops up somewhere else wearing an entirely new outfit.
5. Blofeld’s Feline Legacy
Ernst Stavro Blofeld might not be pulling the strings in this particular origin story, but his presence is felt.
When infiltrating Nicholas Webb’s luxurious penthouse office, you’ll encounter a heavy amount of cat imagery. If you inspect the desk closely, a small, elegant statue of a white Persian cat serves as the hidden interactive switch required to open a secret security panel. It’s a gorgeous, subtle nod to cinema’s most famous cat-stroking mastermind.
6. The “Shaken, Not Stirred” Drunk Mechanic
If you spend enough time exploring the subterranean garage in the Switzerland level, you can overhear two mechanics working on a vintage silver Aston Martin DB5. One of the mechanics is visibly slurring his words and leaning heavily against a tool wrench.
If you wait around long enough, his sober colleague will snap at him: “I told you to stir the coolant mixture, James, not shake it! Look at you, you’re an absolute mess.” The drunk mechanic merely hiccups and mutters something about it “tasting better that way.”
7. Bawma
Though not officially a legacy collectible, when wandering around Aleph’s black market, you can find a box containing prosthetic gold fingers, belonging to Lenny Kravitz’s Bawma.
This is obviously a reference to Goldfinger, and its big bad, Auric Goldfinger.
Sticking with Bawma, he also owns a Jaguar Type 00.
There’s a long lineage of Jaguar cars appearing in James Bond films, but interestingly, James has only ever driven them on one or two occasions.
They almost exclusively belong to villains.
8. Celebrity Cameos
JackSepticEye appears as the staff member running the cloakroom desk at the London nightclub in A Night Out, giving James Bond a stamp to access the VIP upstairs lounge.
Chase & Status appear as themselves DJing in the elevated DJ booth at the same nightclub in A Night Out, playing two unreleased tracks during the mission.
Shroud appears after Bond wins the fight contest in The Past Never Dies, stopping him near the exit stairs to congratulate him on his fighting.
Khaby Lame appears as a tourist near the Tranquility Cave during Time to Die in Vietnam. When James Bond asks him for directions, he responds with his signature deadpan expression and silently points to the sign right in front of them.
Dimitri Vegas appears as a DJ in the Aleph black market VIP area during The Past Never Dies, complaining about his glitching decks. Talking to him triggers a scripted request to fix the generator.
9. Mission Impossible
James Bond uses the name “Kittridge” as a bluff, referencing the CIA director from Mission: Impossible.
Mission Impossible, is in many ways a US take on covert action. Seeing the nod here is a nice touch. Especially as it’s a natural-sounding bluff that James uses when trying to get past some NPCs.
10. Ladies Man
When you get into your apartment and do a bit of snooping around, you can find some sticky notes on a mirror. These little reminders are fun, and show that James Bond is still quite the ladies’ man, with four different numbers of women to call back.
While the names may seem random, they actually belong to various singers who have sung theme songs over the years. One of the most notable is Adele, who sang the theme song to Skyfall.
The other names belong to Carly Simon and Tina Turner — two other theme song singers from over the years. James better be sure to call them back as soon as possible.
James Bond is back
Whilst we’re clamouring for a new film, it’s arguably better that we’ve had one of the best James Bond games ever. It can be added-upon and there’s likely so much more to discover.
It’s been a long time since James Bond fans have eaten this good, and well….we haven’t been as into a Bond game since GoldenEye. So it’s been a while….
