007 First Light: Needle's Eye walkthrough
Overview & Key Takeaways
With our thrilling adventure now in full swing, 007 First Light's campaign picks up in the aftermath of Bond's fateful run-in with MI6 in Against The Odds, as he begins his training to officially become the secret agent we know and love. The next step on our adventure will take us to the scenic island of Malta. Better known by me as the holiday destination my parents always floated going to as a kid before we'd inevitably end up in good ol' Cornwall, but 007's not here for an ice cream and a tan. He's here to complete his super spy training montage.
With our thrilling adventure now in full swing, 007 First Light's campaign picks up in the aftermath of Bond's fateful run-in with MI6 in Against The Odds, as he begins his training to officially become the secret agent we know and love. The next step on our adventure will take us to the scenic island of Malta. Better known by me as the holiday destination my parents always floated going to as a kid before we'd inevitably end up in good ol' Cornwall, but 007's not here for an ice cream and a tan. He's here to complete his super spy training montage.
In this walkthrough, we'll guide you through Malta and, by extension, the game's tutorial, giving you pointers on all of the espionage secrets we're about to learn.
In this guide:
To see this content please enable targeting cookies.
Manage cookie settings
In His Majesty's Secret Service
Before we can get to boot camp, we first need to head to MI6 for a bollocking. After a cutscene, follow Moneypenny as she leads you through the agency headquarters' reception and to an elevator, where you'll be whisked up to M's office.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun / IO Interactive
You'll be asked to wait here, at which point you can make idle conversation with Miss Ponsonby (although she's not particularly talkative). She'll eventually let you through to see M, who jet sets us off on our trip to become a 00 agent over in Malta.
Basic Training
Once the Malta section begins, you'll sit through a lengthy car ride with your new commanding officer, Greenway. Enjoy the sights as you're whisked down to the training camp, before stepping out of the car.
Collectible: Malta Postcard
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun / IO Interactive
Once you step out of the car, look for a table just past the drill sergeant that’s forcing his officers to do pull-ups. On this table, you'll find the Malta Postcard. Grab it to bag the only collectible in this chapter.
Follow Greenway over to the fighting ring around the corner from the car, and you'll initiate a cutscene.
Meet The Recruits
Once the cutscene's over, you'll be tasked with taking on the trainee agent in front of you. If you didn't end up throwing hands in the last chapter, your basic strike can be thrown by pressing X / SQUARE / LMB.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun / IO Interactive
Whatever you do, you're getting flattened by our new friend here, so attack wildly until Greenway steps in, initiating a cutscene where Bond meets his new bunkmates and learns he's not all too popular with them just yet.
First Lesson
After the cutscene concludes, you'll find yourself on a ramp with Monroe. Follow him to the bottom and onto the dirt track beyond, where your other trainer, Cressida, will pull up in an Aston Martin. Wait for the dialogue to end, then approach the car to hop into the driver's seat.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun / IO Interactive
Cressida will task you with getting around the track as fast as possible, essentially teaching us the game's driving mechanics. For the basics, RT / R2 / W key lets you accelerate, and LT / L2 / S key is your brake. You'll also want to pull off sick drifts, so to handbrake, you'll want to hit X / Square / SPACE.
Get a feel for the driving controls by cruising around the track, listening to Cressida's instructions. First Light's driving feels somewhat arcadey but still requires using your brake or handbrake for tight corners, so try not to constantly have the pedal to the floor and make sure to slow down when nailing a big turn.
First Drill
As the driving section ends, we'll cut straight to a series of drills, assembled into a quickfire montage. For the first drill, Monroe and Cressida will task Bond with grabbing a flag as quickly as possible.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun / IO Interactive
When you regain control, vault the wall ahead, hop the gap in front of you, then take a left and climb to the stone steps. Boost up the steps, hop the gap in their centre, then run and grab the flag as quickly as you can.
We'll then cut to a shooting range. When you regain control, aim your pistol with LT / L2 / RMB, then fire with RT / R2 / LMB, hitting the three targets further down the range.
Red is dodge, yellow is parry. The trick is to not activate your latent Sekiro skills and dodge into the red indicator as I did... many times... | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun / IO Interactive
We'll switch again to the fighting ring, learning the sidestep mechanic. When in a hand-to-hand brawl, you can dodge enemies by selecting a direction, then hitting A / X / SPACE. This is especially useful when you see a red glint appear over an enemy, indicating they're initiating a grab attack.
Trial it out on your opponent a few times, and he'll switch to attacks that create a yellow glint. This is your indicator to parry an attack, which you can do by hitting B / CIRCLE / Q key when the yellow glint appears. You can then follow parries up with a punch to do big damage.
The scene will cut again now, taking us to Bond doing push-ups. Spam the prompt indicated to get your set in, then we'll launch to another obstacle course.
This time, we'll need to complete the course in 30 seconds or less. When the clock starts, drop down to your left, sprint beneath the arch, vault the wall ahead, take a quick left through the hole in the wall, then vault through the window before grabbing the flag.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun / IO Interactive
Bosh, we’re right back to the fighting ring, this time learning the charge attack. Combine sprint with punch, so RB + X / R1 + SQUARE / SHIFT + LMB, to charge your foe with a shoulder barge.
No time to get to grips with it though, because a short cutscene later and we're back in the shooting range. Gun down the moving targets, and you’ll cut to a driving segment, so quickly adjust and nail those tight turns until you reach the finish line.
A few more push-ups, then we'll find ourselves in a shooting-range obstacle course. Drop down from the platform you start on and approach the crack in the wall below, then gun down the target lodged between the walls and squeeze through.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun / IO Interactive
A soldier with a paintball gun will begin shooting as you emerge, at which point the game will teach us to chuck an empty gun at a foe by aiming and pressing Y / TRIANGLE / G. You can then chain this throw into a disarming takedown by pressing X + A / SQUARE + X / X Key. When you have the soldier's gun, shoot the final target to his left.
One cut later, and we're back in the fight ring to learn how to grapple. Hold RT / R2 / E to grapple an enemy. From there, you can throw them by picking a direction and releasing, hit them with a knee strike using melee or charge them into obstacles by running.
With that, we’ll cut one more time, shifting to our final obstacle course. When the clock starts, hop across to the platform ahead, then over to the stone pillar. Pull out your gun and shoot the target on the platform above you, then jump to the platform it rose from.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun / IO Interactive
Burst through the blue doors at the back of the platform, and you'll emerge in front of two soldiers. Shoot the first in the leg to stagger him, chaining it into a disarming takedown, then shoot the second in the hand to disarm him.
A third soldier will emerge, so launch your gun at him, then take down the second soldier. When he’s out cold, run up the stairs behind him, climb the stone platform at the top, then cross over to the flag to complete your basic training.
Fight It Out
With our basic training complete, we'll watch a short cutscene that shows Bond and Monroe getting into one mighty scrap. During the sequence, Monroe will launch Bond into the bunkroom, triggering a sequence of QTEs. Hit them all to get back on your feet.
This guy learned his hand-to-hand skills from an Arkham knife goon, so be ready to parry three times to stun him. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun / IO Interactive
From here, put all your new hand-to-hand combat skills together to beat the ever-loving crap out of Monroe. The most important thing to note is that Monroe (like many enemies in First Light) can't be staggered by parrying a single strike. You'll need to chain three parries back-to-back-to-back to counter his offence.
Other than that, obstacles are your best friend, so chuck him into a few bunkbeds and make sure to lay in a few grapples to knee him in the face. Eventually, he'll grab you, initiating a QTE sequence that moves the fight down into a dining room.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun / IO Interactive
Once again, hit him with everything you've got until you get a cue to charge strike him, moving the fight to a shooting range and eventually a scaffolding tower. Same tactics apply, even in both of these smaller spaces. When you’ve hit Monroe enough, you'll come tumbling down onto a stone wall looking out over the sea.
Beat Monroe to a pulp for a little longer, and he'll cue a QTE sequence that ends the fight. The ensuing cutscene will bring Needle's Eye to a close, even if you do have a little more training to complete before you're field-ready.
With that, Bond will head back to HQ, where he'll become the co-owner of a swanky new flat and complete his most brutal training session yet in our next mission: A New Home. Looking for more specific help? Check out our 007 First Light page, where we've got guides for everything from beating all A New Home and All The Time In The World challenges to finding all Legacy collectibles and Mementos.
