007 First Light ships with three difficulty modes that change how forgiving combat, stealth, and gadget usage feel from the opening Iceland mission onward. The choices are Novice, Intended, and Purist, and you pick one at the start of a new save.
The three difficulty modes
Each setting tweaks enemy damage, gadget cooldowns, and how aggressively the AI reacts when Bond is spotted. The story, mission structure, and the five main locations (London, Iceland, Monaco, Tokyo, Dubai) stay the same across all three.
| Difficulty | Best for | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Novice | Story-focused players | Enemies go down quickly, gadgets have no cooldown, and Bond can absorb more punishment in fistfights and shootouts. |
| Intended | First playthrough, balanced challenge | The developer-recommended tuning. Enemies hit hard in groups, gadgets follow normal cooldowns, and stealth pays off without being mandatory. |
| Purist | Veteran stealth players | Enemies deal heavy damage, gadget and resource use is tighter, and getting caught in open combat is often fatal. |
Novice
Novice is the easy mode. Enemies fall faster, and Bond's Q gadgets, including the Q Lens, watch laser, and hacking tools, can be used back-to-back without waiting on a cooldown. Fistfights are more forgiving, so missed parries with Circle or sidesteps with X are less likely to end a run.
Choose this if you want to move through the campaign primarily for the origin story and the set pieces, like the Iceland helicopter crash opening or the Kensington gala, without grinding against tougher encounters.
Intended
Intended is IO Interactive's recommended setting for a first run. Enemies are brutal when they gang up, which matches how the combat system is designed around chaining punches, parries, takedowns, and gadget interrupts. Gadget cooldowns are in effect, so you have to think about when to burn a watch laser or a hack.
This mode rewards the Hitman-style improvisation the game is built around. On the Kensington gala level, for example, eavesdropping, impersonation, pickpocketing distracted NPCs, and using the poison dart all become genuinely useful rather than optional flourishes.
Purist
Purist is the hardest setting and is available from the start. Enemies deal significantly more damage and react faster when Bond is spotted, which makes loud approaches risky on every mission, including the Hard-rated Iceland Infiltration and Tokyo Shadows, and the Expert-rated Dubai Heights finale.
Resource and gadget usage matters more here. You will want to scout with the Q Lens, use takedowns (X and Circle together) on isolated targets, and pickpocket key items rather than fight through Watchers. One bad fistfight against a group is usually enough to end the attempt.
Which mode to pick
If you played IO Interactive's Hitman: World of Assassination on its higher difficulties and enjoyed planning each move, Purist will feel familiar. If this is your first IOI game, Intended is the safer entry point because the systems, like the Q Lens, watch laser, hacking, parries, and takedowns, are designed around that tuning curve.
Novice exists for players who care mostly about the Bond origin narrative, the cinematic chases, and seeing the five global locations without repeated combat retries.
Can you change difficulty mid-game?
The difficulty is selected when starting a new campaign. If a setting feels wrong after the opening Iceland mission, the cleanest fix is to restart on a different mode before you commit hours to S-rank attempts or collectible runs. Missions can also be replayed individually from the mission select menu on any difficulty.
007 First Light launches on May 27, 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S, with the same three difficulty options available on every platform.