To celebrate the long-awaited arrival of 007 First Light, I've hunted out the best tie-in merch you can buy

To celebrate the long-awaited arrival of 007 First Light, I’ve hunted out the best tie-in merch you can buy

For Bond fans, it’s been a tough few years. Until this month, the last new Bond ‘thing’ was No Time to Die way back in 2021 — too long to be without everyone’s favorite sexist, misogynist dinosaur. But now, finally, there’s some new Bond to get stuck into… for gamers, at least.

Just a few days ago, 007 First Light finally went on sale on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S (a Switch 2 version is due later this year). This third-person shooter game from IO Interactive is being treated with the kind of fanfare usually reserved for the movies.

If you’re a Bond devotee, owning the game (the recipient of four shiny TechRadar stars in our 007 First Light review) is unlikely to be enough. You’ll be wanting some merch.

Below, I’ve rounded up the best options in the US and UK. I’ll say up top that UK shoppers have a much wider pool of merch to choose from right now. Aside from a range of somewhat uninspiring official T-shirts and a golden controller, fans in the US are limited to the game’s collector’s editions. You can choose between the Legacy Edition (with a rather poorly reviewed golden gun figurine and display stand) or the Collector’s Edition (with an unsettling life-size mask of First Light Big Bad Damien Webb), plus a handful of other physical collectibles and digital goodies with either bundle.

UK Bond-ites have the same special game editions to choose from, too — provided they haven’t sold out. What’s more, they can bypass the official tees because they have a range of premium 007-inspired apparel to choose from, courtesy of British menswear brand Orlebar Brown. You will need slightly deeper pockets, though, because you’d be able to buy 11 First Light official T-shirts for the price of one natty toweling short-sleeved shirt or pair of intimidatingly snug swim shorts from Orlebar Brown.

If you are a deeper-pocketed UK fan, perhaps you should just make your way to Omega and grab yourself a game-themed Seamaster dive watch, which bucks the trend of tie-in merch by being both subtle and stylish. If you’re feeling less flush, there’s always the special edition rum.