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Following months of public interest in its performance, new James Bond game 007 First Light has been shown running at 60fps on PS5 Pro for the first time. Developer IO Interactive took to social media yesterday to share an action-packed two-and-a-half minute clip from one of the game's early levels.
IO also clarified that the game can also run at 60fps on base PS5, with players being given a choice of a 30fps quality mode and 60fps performance mode. It's not clear whether the same options will be afforded to the Xbox Series X/S versions, though normally Xbox Series X mirrors PS5 in terms of available modes and Series S tends to either do the same or adopt a single 30fps mode.
The game's initial State of Play reveal early last year included somewhat choppy performance even on the more cinematic 30fps mode, so seeing the game run at a relatively stable 60fps is a relief. The base PS5 will face a sterner test - or degraded visuals - but that 60fps mode could still be the ideal choice in the more combat-focused sections of the game.
As well as having relatively meagre performance in its early showings, First Light also had a bit of a PC specs boondoggle when the initial recommended requirements listed 32GB of RAM and 12GB of VRAM for 1080p 60fps gameplay. That was later revised, but seeing a Ryzen 5 7600 or Core i5 13500 listed as a requirement for 60fps gameplay made the prospect of a 60fps mode on a considerably weaker console CPU seem a little far-fetched. It'll be interesting to see whether console performance is able to hit 60fps consistently, or whether players will need to lean on VRR support with frame-rates in the 48 to 60fps range on PS5.
Beyond the performance element, what we've seen from First Light has been impressive. The game looks to combine IO's previous strengths in the Hitman franchise with more bombastic Uncharted-style setpieces, with large levels and distant backdrops, driving sections, and plenty of physics interactions.
First Light arrives on 27th May for current-gen consoles (apart from Switch 2, which arrives later this summer) and PC, so we don't have too long to wait before we see the game in action for ourselves.