007 First Light is getting a major free content update, with the new Extended Operations DLC now available for players looking to return to the critically acclaimed James Bond adventure.
The new DLC brings several highly requested additions, including New Game+, a demanding new 00 difficulty mode, a full Photo Mode, improved weapon handling animations and fresh TacSim content featuring the Aston Martin Valhalla.
Developed and published by IO Interactive, the studio behind the HITMAN franchise, in partnership with Amazon MGM Studios, Extended Operations expands the ways players can experience Bond’s latest adventure without adding an additional cost.
What Is Included In The 007 First Light Extended Operations DLC?
The free Extended Operations update focuses on replayability, challenge and additional ways to explore the world of 007 First Light.
Among the headline additions is New Game+, which becomes available after players complete the campaign on any difficulty. Once unlocked, players can restart the campaign from the beginning or from any completed checkpoint while retaining access to their unlocked outfits and gadgets.
That means Bond’s story can be replayed with greater freedom, allowing players to revisit missions while bringing previously unlocked equipment and outfits into the experience.
New 00 Difficulty Offers A Tougher Bond Challenge
Completing the campaign also unlocks the new 00 difficulty mode, designed to provide a considerably tougher test for experienced players.
The new difficulty affects several areas of gameplay, including combat, stealth and social encounters. Enemies respond more quickly to bodies and disturbances, while some guard types are replaced with tougher variants.
Gadget use is also restricted when Bond is within a guard’s line of sight, while combat becomes significantly less forgiving. Players face two-hit kills, tighter parry and side-step timing, and reduced agency during fights.
Players can still customise their New Game+ experience, however. Unlocked outfits and gadgets can be carried into replays on Easy, Normal and Hard, as well as the new 00 difficulty.
Aston Martin Valhalla Arrives In New TacSim Missions
One of the most notable additions is the previously teased Valhalla Protocol content, which brings the Aston Martin Valhalla into the game.
Set in the Slovakian Mountains, the new content consists of four missions featuring the high-performance Aston Martin. Players can drive the Valhalla during both day and night scenarios, with different challenges to complete.
The vehicle is also equipped with the weaponry Bond uses during the main campaign. These weapons can be used to eliminate targets, earn time bonuses and compete for the best possible result.
New Vietnam TacSim Mission Expands The Pearl
Bond also returns to The Pearl, the luxury resort in Vietnam, for another new TacSim mission.
The mission sends Bond into a heavily guarded villa to retrieve classified documents. Unlike the previous version of the location, the entire property is now part of the active gameplay space, including the rooftop.
The villa’s interior has also been redesigned, creating additional opportunities for stealth as players work their way through the location.
Extended Operations also expands the weapon selection available throughout TacSim missions, with the full arsenal from the main campaign now available.
007 First Light Finally Gets A Full Photo Mode
Photo Mode is another major addition to Extended Operations and addresses one of the most requested features from the game’s community since launch.
Players can freeze the action at any point and compose their own shots across the world of 007 First Light.
The Photo Mode includes controls covering UI visibility, character posing, camera transformation, lens adjustments, brightness, post-processing filters, backgrounds and logos.
That gives players plenty of control over photographs ranging from Bond at the Grand Carpathian’s chess tables to the neon-lit streets of Aleph.
Improved Weapon Handling And New Gameplay Changes
Extended Operations also introduces improved weapon handling animation fidelity, refining Bond’s movement and the way weapons behave while being handled.
There is also a new danger for Bond to contend with. Previously, enemies could be dispatched by being thrown from a ledge, but that move is no longer exclusive to Bond’s opponents.
Bond can now also be thrown from a ledge, meaning players will need to pay closer attention to their surroundings during encounters.
Ready to return to Bond’s latest mission? Discover what’s new in 007 First Light Extended Operations, from New Game+ and the brutal 00 difficulty to the Aston Martin Valhalla missions and expanded TacSim content.
