The judge told jurors: “He is entitled to the same fair trial as everyone else.”

A jury has been sworn in to hear the trial of former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, who is accused of a series of alleged historical sexual offences.

The prosecution will deliver the opening address at Newry Crown Court on Wednesday.

Donaldson, 63, has pleaded not guilty to 18 alleged offences.

READ MORE: PSNI warning to public as Jeffrey Donaldson trial set to beginREAD MORE: Who is Jeffrey Donaldson’s barrister? The KC described as ‘possibly the best of our generation’

The charges include one count of rape and allegations of indecent assault and gross indecency, and span a time period between 1985 and 2008 involving two alleged victims.

Donaldson arrived at Newry Courthouse in Co Down shortly after 9am wearing a blue suit with a white shirt and green tie.

He was met by his solicitor John McBurney, who accompanied him into the court building.

Police had erected metal barriers at the court entrance prior to his arrival to cordon off the waiting media.

At the start of proceedings, Donaldson replied “yes” when asked by trial judge Paul Ramsey if he was ready for his trial.

He then sat in the dock with his arms crossed, flanked by two court staff, while the process of jury selection began.

Addressing potential jurors, the judge said Donaldson is “well known in public life here in Northern Ireland”.

He added: “He is entitled to the same fair trial as everyone else.”

The judge said the allegations against Donaldson were “of a sexual nature”.

A list of witnesses in the trial was then read to potential jurors.

The judge said the trial was expected to last between three and four weeks.

The jury was then sworn and was told the trial would begin with the prosecution’s opening address on Wednesday.

Donaldson’s wife Lady Eleanor Donaldson, from Dublinhill Road, Dromore, Co Down, denies several charges of aiding and abetting her husband’s alleged offending.

READ MORE: In pictures: Sir Jeffrey Donaldson arrives at court for first day of historical sex offences trial

The 60-year-old is facing a trial of the facts, not a criminal trial, after judge Ramsey ruled her unfit to stand trial on mental health grounds.

The trial of the facts will test the evidence in the case but cannot result in a criminal conviction.

It will be heard by the same jury, with proceedings against both Donaldsons running simultaneously as part of one overall trial process presided over by judge Ramsey.

Jeffrey Donaldson, a former long-standing MP for Lagan Valley, was arrested and charged at the end of March 2024.

He resigned as DUP leader and was suspended from the party after the allegations emerged.

Weeks before his arrest, he had led the DUP back into devolved government at Stormont after a two-year boycott of the powersharing institutions.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter.

Compensation claims made to the local authority increased by a whopping 141 per cent in 2025/26 compared to 2024/25.

Claims to Perth and Kinross Council for damage done to vehicles by potholes more than doubled last year with the council blaming “increasingly wet winter weather” taking its toll on roads.

Compensation claims made to the local authority increased by a whopping 141 per cent in 2025/26 compared to 2024/25.

And a quarter of last year’s claims related to roads in just one of the council’s 12 wards – Kinross-shire.

At the March 2026/27 budget meeting, an additional £15 million was allocated to improve Perth and Kinross roads, bridges and pavements.

Announcing the investment, SNP council leader Eric Drysdale said it was “the largest ever level of investment this council has made – creating capacity to accelerate improvements and respond swiftly to weather-related problems”.

However, Cllr Dave Cuthbert has yet to see any evidence any of the big spend in his own Kinross-shire ward.

The Independent councillor has seen figures – released in an Freedom of Information request and shared with the Perthshire Advertiser – which suggest Kinross-shire roads have the worst potholes.

PKC received 86 claims in 2024/25, rising to 207 in 2025/26. So far, it has paid out a total of £735.89 for two claims in 2024/25 and a total of £2172.21 for seven claims in 2025/26.

The local authority has denied liability for 75 claims in 2024/25 and 24 in 2025/26. Two claims in 2024/25 are still being reviewed, as are 181 from last year.

Cllr Cuthbert said: “Kinross-shire had 25 per cent of the claims for Perth and Kinross last year.”

Cllr Cuthbert has himself forked out around £400 to repair damage to his car – which he has not submitted a claim to the council for – caused by potholes in Kinross, where he lives.

He said: “I had to replace the full front suspension at huge cost and then a burst tyre. I don’t know which potholes were responsible – because there are so many on my road.”

Cllr Cuthbert said he has also heard of a local cyclist who has had to replace tyres on his bike three times recently because of potholes.

He added: “It’s even more dangerous for cyclists when they hit a pothole because they can get injured.

“One of the potholes on Bowtown Road in Kinross is 75cm in diameter and 35cm deep.”

Perth and Kinross Council said it assesses each claim on an individual basis and that one particular section of the A977 in Kinross-shire – mentioned in “several” claims – has been earmarked for resurfacing as part of the council’s £15 million investment.

A Perth and Kinross Council spokesperson said: “Increasingly wet winter weather in Scotland continues to take its toll on roads across the country. We understand the frustrations of motorists, which is why a significant investment in the Council’s roads network was agreed in the 2026/27 budget, set in early March 2026.

“The £15m additional funding runs over a three year period from 2026/2027, and will be used for road surface repairs, footway repairs and maintenance, and repairs to bridges and culverts.

“We continue to carry out routine inspections on our road network so we can determine its condition and where repairs and improvements are most needed in the interests of public safety.

“Each public liability claim we receive is assessed on an individual basis.

“Where payouts are made, these may not occur within the same financial year as the claim was originally submitted so figures for the most recent financial year may be subject to change.

“Several of the claims in Ward 8 relate to a short section of the A977, which is included in our resurfacing programme for the current financial year.”

For Klement, a self-professed “pessimist” who has lived in the UK for 10 years, the research was never about protecting anyone from heartbreak, or winning big on a bet.

Rather, he hoped to reveal the absurdity of trying to predict outcomes.

“This started as an exercise in showing the world a hubris of economists who think they can forecast stuff that they actually have no clue about,” Klement said.

“And now it’s become an exercise in how, if you’re lucky often enough, people will think you’re a guru.”

After his first prediction came true when his native Germany won the 2014 World Cup, Klement imagined running the numbers again in 2018 would expose it as a fluke.

But he predicted correctly with France in 2018 – then again with Argentina in 2022.

“Because I was right three times in a row, people now think that this model is unbeatable and that I obviously will have to be right as well next time,” he said.

It is true that World Cup success is partly determined by known “systemic” factors, such as national population, wealth, climate and Fifa world rankings.

But Klement urges readers of his quadrennial forecast – growing in popularity with each successful prediction – to take its contents with a pinch of salt, since such factors only tell part of the story.

“The other 50% is luck,” he adds.

“Every match – especially when you have these high-quality teams playing against each other that are very similar in skills and quality – it really depends on the form of the day, a ref call, a piece of luck in the sense of hitting the post versus the ball going in.

“Things like that are completely unpredictable.”

Each time the tournament approaches, Klement’s model offers a welcome diversion from his day-to-day work: “In particular in 2026, when there are so many crises, wars and things going on, it is something that makes me feel good and hopefully the readers feel good and gives them a little bit of a distraction from all the kind of bad stuff that is going on in the world.”

But with each accurate prediction, the weight of expectation mounts on Klement, who works as a strategist at investment bank Panmure Liberum.

In the office, Klement faces enquiries from fellow economists around, for instance, how Dutch Tottenham midfielder Xavi Simons’ ACL injury will impact the model?

So in spite of his many disclaimers around the integrity of the forecast, Klement is braced for the tournament kick-off in June.

“I’ve got several colleagues who bet some money on the Netherlands in response to me publishing that note,” he said.

“And if the Netherlands get eliminated from the World Cup, I think the next day I have to work from home.”

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The former Cardiff winger was left with just two packs of nappies on his driveway after the theft

A former Welsh rugby player is appealing for information after his car was stolen from outside his house.

Aled Summerhill, who scored 32 tries in 95 appearances for Cardiff between 2014 and 2024, posted on social media that his Mercedes had been taken from outside his house in the Tonyrefail area as he appealed for help in finding it.

It would appear the car was taken in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

In a Facebook post, the 31-year-old said: “Tonyrefail area be vigilant some scruff bag stole our car last night from the drive.

“Grey Mercedes A class. KS17 HMX.

“Left us the babies nappies from the car though.

“If any one has seen or heard anything please let me know.”

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In a statement by South Wales Police, they confirmed they are “investigating the theft of a Mercedes A-class from an address in Tonyrefail.

“The car is believed to have been stolen between 6pm on Monday May 25 and 8:00am on Tuesday May 26.”

Summerhill left the Arms Park club after decade at the end of the 2023/24 season, after being offered reduced terms to stay in the Welsh capital.

Given the financial uncertainty in Welsh rugby, Summerhill admitted at the time that he was taking a gamble in leaving Cardiff, but remained determined to continue his career in professional rugby.

Initially, the former Wales under-18s international had been interested in a move to either Japan or France.

However, he admitted last year that he decided to look closer to home after his wife became pregnant.

Recently, Summerhill has taken up a new role as one of the Welsh Rugby Union’s regional engagement officers for the Rhondda area.

Follow all of our channels to ensure you stay up to date with the latest Welsh rugby news. Sign up to our free daily newsletter here and our WhatsApp channel here for all the breaking news.

“Heading to Europe? We’ve got you.” That was the initial response when I asked Trainline about a journey from Leicester to Paris on 1 June.

Logistically, the trip is simple. A one-hour East Midlands Railway nonstop to London St Pancras International. On arrival, through the ticket gates, down the escalator and straight into the Eurostar check-in area. So, Trainline, what timings and fares can you offer?

Not so fast, says the normally cooperative app. “You have to split your booking into two parts.”

The Trainline instructions are:

Yes: in the year 2026, Europe’s leading rail retailer cannot sell tickets from British cities outside London to Paris. Not only that, but the prospective passenger must work counter-intuitively. They are supposed to commit to a Eurostar train for the second half of the journey before organising the first leg – with no coherent picture of costs and connections from their starting point.

Until three decades ago, life was much easier for the international rail passenger starting in the UK. So says “The Man in Seat 61”: international rail guru, Mark Smith.

“It was simple, but not necessarily competitively priced,” he has been telling The Independent’s daily travel podcast.

“For almost the whole of the 20th century, right up until the 1990s, you had a kilometric tariff – a very simple mileage, kilometre-based tariff in every country.

“Every national rail operator gave every other national rail operator two things: a table of distances between all their border points and stations, and a set of tariffs for how much dosh they wanted for 100, 200, 300 kilometres.

“Using this, every national rail operator, including British Rail, could compile a set of through fares from, in our case, London, to any major cities they liked: Rome, Seville, Moscow, Helsinki, Stockholm.”

The fare was simply calculated by adding together the legs of the journey: the British Rail price for the boat train to Dover, the Sealink ferry crossing to Calais, the fare across France to the Swiss border, and so on.

Tickets were valid for two months, and fully flexible. You could break your journey anywhere during the ticket’s validity.

“If you wanted a reservation, that was separate – you had to call on the French or German computer based in British Rail at Victoria,” recalls Mark – who, in a previous life, actually ran that London terminus for BR.

There was just one price – which was fine while airlines were charging ridiculous prices, such as £200 one way from London to Nice.

But then along came easyJet and dynamic pricing, with fares as low as £39 from Luton to the French RIviera. (Today the same journey can be made for £1 less if you are flexible about departure dates.) By controlling costs and adjusting prices according to demand, the airline could make a profit and entice passengers away from trains to planes.

“Those fully flexible fixed-price tickets were dinosaurs,” says Mark. “The railways had to adopt their own yield-managed dynamic pricing. So you need to book each train in that train company’s ticketing system to find whatever the price is for that train.”

“That’s how we’ve got the fragmentation today. There are no through tickets from London to Rome. It’s a Eurostar ticket to Paris, an Italian or French ticket from Paris to Milan, then a Trenitalia ticket or Italo ticket from Milan to Rome.

Starting this summer, EU President Ursula von der Leyen is seeking to make seamless international rail travel a reality.

“One journey, one ticket, full rights”, is the headline from Brussels. “To create a smoother travel experience for passengers and advance the EU’s climate objectives, the Commission proposes measures enabling single-ticket bookings across multiple rail operators.

“In the event of missed connections during multi-operator rail journeys, passengers with a single ticket will benefit from new, full passenger rights protection, including assistance, rerouting, reimbursement and compensation.”

In other words: if you buy multiple tickets together in a single transaction – for example through Trainline – you would be considered from a passenger rights’ point of view to have a through ticket. Were you miss to a connection because of delays earlier in the journey, you could switch without penalty to the next available service.

The Man in Seat 61 cautions: “Before we get a bit carried away and thinking there’s someone who is going to set a through ticket and through price from Stockholm to Barcelona, that’s not going to happen.

“A journey from Stockholm to Barcelona will still be composed of the price from Stockholm to Copenhagen, the price from Copenhagen to, Cologne, the price from Cologne to Paris, and the price from Paris to Barcelona. But the idea is twofold. First of all, there will be a better exchange of information allowing you to book this series of tickets seamlessly.

“Secondly, it’ll be a sort-of-virtual through ticket. At the moment, if you buy three tickets to get from A to B to C to D, you are protected for a missed connection and a delay within each ticket, but not where tickets change over – which is, of course, precisely where you need the protection.”

Mark has concerns that these virtual through tickets will be primarily sold through independent rail retailers such as Trainline and Rail Europe, which may not be able to include all the options the operators offer – such as reserving a space for a dog or a bike, or choosing a specific seat. But he deems the concept “undoubtedly a good thing”.

Due to our bold decision to leave the European Union, the new rules will not apply to journeys starting in the UK. So, back to that Leicester to Paris ticket.

I carried on to see what the fares would be. The good news: one Eurostar train from London to Paris is available for £114. The bad news: it’s the final departure, arriving in the French capital barely half an hour before midnight. Want to arrive in Paris before 9pm? Cheapest ticket, £180. Yes, one way, and that’s without the ticket from Leicester.

At this point a rational traveller from the “City of Kings” to the “City of Light” will probably opt to hop off a southbound stopping train at Luton Airport Parkway and fly instead. EasyJet has a choice of two flights Paris under £50: one at lunchtime, one early evening.

Airlines must be constantly grateful to face such lacklustre competition from European rail operators.

Read more: Does the HS2 reset mean anything new for the railways?

Coronation Street’s Paula Wilcox has made it clear she’d be up for returning to the ITV soap.

The actress, who is 76, joined the cast in 2020 as Tim Metcalfe’s (Joe Duttine) mum Elaine Jones.

Shortly after Tim was born, Elaine left the family home because of the abuse Geoff Metcalfe (Ian Bartholomew) was inflicting on her.

Previously called Phillipa, Elaine was prevented from leaving and taking Tim with her. She divorced Geoff, changed her name, and eventually settled in Bolton.

Elaine made her way to Weatherfield after reading the article about Yasmeen Nazir (Shelley King) attacking Geoff and being imprisoned afterwards.

With time, Elaine connected with Yasmeen, who was also being abused by Geoff. Elaine gave evidence against their abuser in court, helping to exonerate Yasmeen.

After Geoff’s death, Elaine spent a great deal of time rebuilding her relationship with Tim. She chose to leave the cobbles in 2023 for Scarborough, after discovering partner Stephen Reid (Todd Boyce) had taken out a life insurance policy in her name.

Due to the fact Elaine hasn’t been killed off, it gives her the opportunity to pop back to Weatherfield to see Tim and Sally Metcalfe (Sally Dynevor) at any time.

And it’s something star Paula Wilcox would definitely be up for doing!

‘If there’s a terrific storyline, I’d love to go back. I loved working with Joe and Sally’, the actress told the Mirror.

‘They were so good, so much fun and so clever. There’s no reason why Elaine couldn’t come back. She’s still Tim’s mother after all. He can’t get rid of her!’.

Tim and Sally may need all the support they can get soon, as a new storyline will begin for them.

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Producer of the show Kate Brooks recently teased the drama that lies ahead for the beloved characters.

‘There’s a massive story for Sally and Tim that comes to the to the fore, and it’s a story that tests them as people, test them as a couple, but tests them as foster parents as well’, she explained.

‘It’s a bit of a curveball, and it comes from slightly left field, but absolutely upends their lives. It’s how they navigate that situation going forward. Sally and Tim are so beloved, and I just adore them. And it’s seeing them in a slightly different position than what we’ve seen them in before. 

Kate also revealed: ‘That story will also dovetail further down the line with a Christina story. Christina and George are a really great, strong couple in the show. It’s those friendships alive. There’s a connection there as well.’

With fans speculating that the plot may involve Tim discovering that he’s the father of a child his abuser Trisha gave birth to, could Elaine make a return in an attempt to support her son?

MORE: Coronation Street’s Olivia Frances Brown ‘splits’ from TV star fiancé

MORE: EastEnders serial killer starring in ‘whodunnit’ before soap return

MORE: ‘Absolutely devastated’ Antony Cotton pays tribute after friend dies

A teenage boy was arrested but has been bailed pending further enquiries

A teenage boy suffered a head injury during a fight in a town on the Cambridgeshire border. Hertfordshire Police were called to High Street in Royston at around 9.40pm on Sunday, May 24, following reports that a teenager had been hit with an object described as a hammer during an altercation.

A 17-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of GBH and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place. He has now been released on bail pending further enquiries.

The police are now investigating the incident and are asking for anyone with information to come forward. You can report anything through the force website by quoting 41/48085/26.

You can also call 101 if you do not have access to the internet. You can report anything anonymously through Crimestoppers by calling 0800555111.

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The creators of Hitman bring James Bond back to the world of video games, with a wholly original story starring a younger version of the world’s most famous superspy.

At time of writing there’s still no real clue as to who is going to be the new cinematic James Bond. Dune director Denis Villeneuve will helm the next film but we’re worried that he’s not the right man for the job. He’s an exceptionally skilled director but there are many facets to Bond and we’re not sure there’s a single joke in any of Villeneuve’s films – unless you count unironically paraphrasing Life of Brian in Dune: Part Two.

There have been so many clones and parodies over the years it’s easy to lose track of what makes the Bond film series work, with Hollywood increasingly pushing it into being a straight action franchise. But developer IO Interactive, best known for the Hitman series, clearly know exactly what makes Bond tick, with 007 First Light proving to be considerably more entertaining and authentic than many of the recent movies.

It’s pointless to say that Patrick Gibson, who portrays Bond in the game, should also be the new movie version of the character, because he’s too young, but his performance, and that of the rest of the cast, is superb and the centrepiece of what is one of the best licensed video games of all time.

The premise of First Light is that it’s not in continuity with the movie series, but it does take considerable influence from it, and to a lesser degree the original novels, including the music, the traditional intro sequence, and the relationship between Bond, M, Q, and Moneypenny. Although the latter is actually Bond’s superior, since he starts the game as a twentysomething naval recruit, before fate brings him to the attention of MI6.

As has been clear since the game was first unveiled, this has nothing whatsoever in common with the classic GoldenEye 007, but shares quite a bit of DNA with Hitman. It’s a third person action game where the majority of levels take place in small open world areas, where you have an objective but are rarely given any specific instructions on how to achieve it. Although there’re also shorter, linear action sequences and some that are a mixture of the two, where you’re spoon-fed instructions in a more Red Dead Redemption 2 style fashion or engage in some Uncharted style platforming.

As an example of a more open-ended section, at one point you’re trying to get into the VIP room at a club, which has several solutions, including sneaking around in the vents, picking up an unattended tray of drinks and pretending you’re a waiter, or eavesdropping on a conversation that gives you a clue as to how to bluff your way in. Sometimes you can just punch or shoot your way through but not usually, and certainly not in this case.

There are no side quests as such but you can find and do other things not directly connected to your mission, which can open up new dialogue options or, for example, an extra way to sneak up on enemies when a fight breaks out.

The game makes a clear distinction between areas where you’re free to do whatever you want and those that are restricted, and you’ll get thrown out if you’re discovered or attacked if it’s somewhere you really shouldn’t be. In most cases you don’t have authority to use your gun unless the enemy opens fire first, so while there are plenty of more linear action sequences a lot of the time you’re relying on your wits and not your Walther PPK (which is never referred to as such, despite a lot of licensing for other products, including a pleasing variety of classic British cars).

Surprisingly, you can’t move bodies, but otherwise the stealth is slick and enjoyable, as you use a Q-watch to hack machinery and CCTV cameras, as well as temporarily disorientate people or laser open padlocks. There’re a few other gadgets too, but you can only bring a set number with you at a time, and there’s generally less reliance on them than you might think.

Despite being a relatively minor part of the game, the melee combat and gunplay are very good, with the former based on a simple colour-coded system of dodging and countering incoming attacks. It feels very physical and all the levels are impressively destructible, as you electrocute goons by slamming them into servers or smash them into mirrors and see the picture frame next to it sway in sympathy.

One shoot-out in a museum gallery, dominated by blood red lighting and the shadows of ancient statues, is so visually impressive it’d be a shame if they didn’t copy it for a future movie. While a later boss fight, where you’re trapped in a shed filled with fireworks, is also visually clever in a very cinematic way.

We didn’t expect much from the car sections, since that’s one thing IO has no experience in at all, but they’re actually good fun – especially when you commandeer a bin lorry and smash it through the heart of Kensington, Blues Brothers style. There’s a wide variety of different vehicles too, including an escalation of the bin lorry concept later in the game that comes with a wonderful musical moment.

It’s relatively uncommon, but you’ll also get into full-blown gun battles and over-the-top Bond set pieces, filled with explosions and implausible plans, like chasing a cargo plane in an airport ladder truck. That’s a chase that ends up with you climbing aboard and fighting on the wings… before you use your watch to hack the aircraft controls, allowing you to bank it left and right – crushing enemies beneath boxes – while you’re still fighting.

Despite how well everything works this is not a pure action title. Instead, it’s a game that takes its time with everything, leaving you plenty of opportunity to experiment with level solutions, but also to talk to other characters and soak in the ambience. Gibson’s performance is praiseworthy on several levels, not least because his Bond walks around with a permanent smirk on his face. He’s a cocky, overconfident smartass (just as Bond always is) and yet you still like him and actually feel sympathy for him.

The game keeps the background lore of him being an orphan but it’s vague when it comes to exactly how posh he’s meant to be – although his irresistibility to women is as strong as ever and while the game isn’t sexually explicit it doesn’t shy away from Bond’s womanising. He goes through a lot in the story and it’s impressive that IO takes the time to show his reaction to things like his first kill and how he’s affected by the deaths of his allies (including a line about preferring to repress his emotions rather than cry, which clearly isn’t just a joke).

Bond feels more like a real person than he does in most films and it’s encouraging that the game understands that it’s the dialogue and character interactions that are the most important element in a movie, even an action orientated one. However, at times it does feel like it’s going a bit too far and the pacing can be very languid. Video game Bond already does a lot more actual spy work than his movie counterpart but there’s a surprising amount of casually wandering around and solving puzzles, even at very late points in the story.

First Light is absolutely not a reskinned Hitman and one of its many qualities is how unpredictable and varied it is. One level involves almost Zelda-esque puzzle-solving, while one-off set pieces and action scenes can come out of nowhere at any moment. It’s all done so impressively cinematically too, with a fantastically well-coordinated training sequence that may count as the best training level ever seen in a video game, as it builds up the characters as well as your understanding of the game mechanics.

The game in general is very good at slowly building up the tension, as missions segue from banter and observation to increasingly tense exploration and infiltration, before inevitably ending in violence. Although it is surprising that there’s no sort of score or rating after completing a level, as there would be in Hitman, so while there are achievements for things like not being spotted, the game doesn’t judge you for cheesing it through a level or being a terrible spy.

On a technical level the facial animation is very good and while we did experience two crashes there were no graphical bugs at all, just a few questionable actions from patrolling enemies. Instead, the only real technical problem is the mammoth load times after you die, which feels like you’re back in the PS1 era, reading the data off a CD.

We don’t want to spoil too much of the story, but while you perhaps don’t see quite enough of the main villain he is good. The game is also agreeably unflinching in its criticism of AI, which becomes a major plot point. On a pedantic note, we were also pleased to see the game avoided too many Americanisms, although we’re not quite sure how IO (who are Danish) managed to use the word trainers instead of sneakers but couldn’t stop themselves from labelling a toilet as a ‘restroom’ – in a building purposefully filled with jingoistic British iconography.

Overall, the script is good, although trying to give Bond a one-liner for almost every situation means the hit rate is predictably low. There are some good one though, such as when he’s asked over his earpiece for his status and he replies ‘Happily single.’ There’s also some clever playing around with the classic ‘Bond. James Bond’ quote. The music throughout is excellent too, keenly aware of the expectations of the franchise but sensibly holding back on both the theme tune and the title song by Lana Del Rey, until just the right moment.

If you’re a Bond fan then this is a dream come true, with endless subtle references to the movies and lore, but it’s significant for more than just being a good licensed game. It’s one of the most ambitious and cinematic action adventures of the generation; one that manages to combine dialogue, exploration, and action seamlessly and with only minimal cut scenes (which is a purposeful dig at Metal Gear, because in some ways First Light is reminiscent of a less pretentious Hideo Kojima production).

All of a sudden, it feels like IO Interactive may have been selling themselves short for only focusing on Hitman in the last few decades, because 007 First Light is an exceptional piece of interactive entertainment, that deserves to have a significant influence on the industry at large.

Formats: PC (previewed), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC
Price: £59.99
Publisher: IO Interactive
Developer: IO Interactive
Release Date: 26th May 2026 (Q3 2006 for Switch 2)
Age Rating: 16

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