TL;DR

Parry button: Circle on PlayStation, B on Xbox, Q on PC.
Watch for the yellow flash on the enemy — press the parry button once when you see it.
Do not mash the button — panic mashing does nothing. Time one press with the flash.
Yellow flash = parriable attack. Red flash = charge attack — sidestep instead, parry won’t work.
A successful parry either blocks the attack or throws the enemy and leaves them open.
After a parry, follow up with a takedown or a grab and slam to finish the fight quickly.
If an enemy is blocking or parrying, stop punching — use a Grab to break their stance instead.
The parry window is more forgiving on lower difficulties and tightens on harder settings.

How to parry in 007 First Light is one of the first things you need to understand if you want to survive the game’s frequent hand-to-hand brawls. Combat in 007 First Light is fast and aggressive. Enemies gang up on Bond, mix in heavy unblockable attacks, and will wear you down quickly if you just stand there trading punches. The parry system is your main tool for turning a defensive situation into a clean offensive opening. This guide covers every button input, how to read the visual cues, what to do after a parry, when parrying fails, and the tips that will make the timing click faster.

For help with the broader combat system, difficulty options, and how they affect parry windows, also check our 007 First Light all difficulty settings guide.

Table of Contents

Parry Button Controls – All Platforms

The parry button is different depending on what platform you’re playing on. Here are the default bindings:

PlayStation (PS5): Circle
Xbox: B
PC: Q (can be rebound in settings)

You also have a separate sidestep / dodge input, which is used for attacks that cannot be parried:

PlayStation: X
Xbox: A
PC: Space + a directional key

Both tools are important. Parrying is the better option in most situations because it stops the damage, staggers the attacker, and immediately gives you a counter-attack window. Sidestepping only moves Bond out of the way — you don’t get the counter opportunity. That said, there are moments where sidestepping is the only correct choice, which we’ll get to below.

How to Parry in 007 First Light – Step by Step

Step 1 – Watch for the Yellow Flash

Every parriable attack in 007 First Light is telegraphed by a bright yellow glow that appears on the enemy just before their strike lands. As the glow intensifies, a small cross shape will appear inside it. That is your timing cue. The moment you see it clearly, press the parry button once.

The key word is once. A single well-timed press is what works. The game reads the input based on timing, not how many times you press the button. If you spam it in a panic, the input gets lost and the attack lands.

Step 2 – Press the Parry Button at the Right Moment

You don’t need to press the parry button the instant you see the yellow glow start. Wait for the glow to peak — when it’s at its brightest and the cross shape is clear — and press it then. On lower difficulty settings the timing window is quite generous. On higher difficulties it tightens considerably, so accurate reads matter more.

A successful parry does one of two things:

Blocks the attack — completely negates the incoming hit with no damage to Bond.
Counter-throw — Bond throws the enemy off balance, leaving them staggered and vulnerable to follow-up attacks.

Which outcome you get depends on the enemy type, their attack, and the exact timing of your press. A perfectly timed parry is more likely to result in a counter-throw that creates a bigger opening.

Step 3 – You Can Even Parry Attacks From Behind

One thing that surprises many players: you do not need to be facing an attacker to parry them. If a guard tries to hit Bond from behind while you’re punching a different enemy, you can still parry the unseen strike — as long as you press the button during the yellow flash window. The game tracks all incoming attacks regardless of Bond’s facing direction.

What to Do After a Successful Parry

A parry staggers the enemy and gives you a brief counter window. Don’t waste it — commit to one of these follow-up options immediately. The stagger doesn’t last long, and if you hesitate the enemy recovers their guard.

Option 1 – Takedown Combo

On PlayStation, press X and Square simultaneously after a parry to execute a takedown. This is the fastest way to remove a single enemy from the fight cleanly. On Xbox the equivalent is pressing both face buttons together. This is the go-to follow-up when you’re in an open space and want to end the encounter quickly.

Option 2 – Grab and Slam

Press R2 on PlayStation or RT on Xbox (E on PC) to grab the staggered enemy. From a grab, you can do two things: hold the button and follow up with punches, or press and release the grab button to throw them. The real power here comes from positioning — if you’re near a wall, a desk, or any hard surface, you can drag the grabbed enemy and slam them against it for a fast knockout. This is slower than the takedown combo but deals heavy damage in tight environments.

Option 3 – Strike Combos

If neither of the above fits the moment, you can chain regular strikes after a parry. The stagger window gives you two to three free hits before the enemy straightens up. A perfect parry may extend this to four. Use the attack button (Square on PS5 / X on Xbox / left mouse button on PC) to land them. You can experiment with different button sequences to discover additional combo strings after a parry.

Option 4 – Reposition

Sometimes in a multi-enemy brawl, the smartest move after a parry is to use the stagger window to create distance or move to a better angle. Don’t feel locked into attacking — controlling your position against multiple attackers is just as valuable.

When Parrying Does NOT Work

Two situations will make a parry completely useless. Know both before you start a fight.

Red Flash – Charge Attacks

Some enemies telegraph a heavy charge attack with a red glow instead of a yellow one. Pressing the parry button against a red-flash attack does absolutely nothing — it will not block the hit. When you see red, sidestep immediately using X (PlayStation), A (Xbox), or Space + direction (PC) to get out of the way. Red attacks are the game’s way of forcing you to move, not block.

Enemies Who Are Blocking or Parrying

If an enemy is in a defensive stance — holding their arms up or actively parrying your attacks — they are not attacking. There is nothing to parry back. Keep pressing the parry button here and you’ll just be wasting inputs while they absorb your punches. Instead, switch to a Grab. Hold the Grab button to lock onto the blocking enemy and follow up with strikes, or press and release it to throw them and break their defensive stance entirely. Once they’re off balance, normal attacks and parries become effective again.

Parry Tips for Multi-Enemy Fights

Enemies in 007 First Light do not take turns. Multiple attackers will come at you at the same time, and this is where the parry system gets harder to manage. A few tips that help:

Focus on one flash at a time. When multiple enemies are attacking, identify the one whose yellow flash appears first and parry that one. Don’t try to chain parries against two attackers simultaneously — it’s a reliable way to get stunlocked.
Sidestep the attacks you can’t parry. If the timing overlaps or an enemy is mid-charge, dodge out rather than forcing a parry.
Use the environment. Position yourself near walls and objects before a fight starts. A grab-and-slam after a parry can knock out one enemy instantly, immediately reducing the number you’re dealing with.
Don’t try to parry everything. Against a boss throwing a long combo, it’s sometimes smarter to sidestep the first two hits, parry the third, and counter during the gap. Selectivity beats trying to parry every single strike.
Never stand still and trade hits. Even on easier difficulties, passively eating punches while occasionally swinging back will get Bond killed fast. The parry system exists to break enemy rhythm — use it.

How Difficulty Affects Parry Timing

The parry window in 007 First Light is directly tied to which difficulty you’re playing on. On lower settings, the yellow flash window is wide and forgiving — you have more time to react and your timing doesn’t need to be precise. On higher difficulties, the window shrinks significantly, meaning you need faster reactions and more accurate reads of the attack animation.

If you’re struggling with parry timing, dropping to a lower difficulty to practice the rhythm is genuinely worthwhile. The muscle memory you build transfers directly to harder settings once you’re comfortable. For a full breakdown of what each difficulty changes, see our 007 First Light all difficulty settings guide.

Parry vs Sidestep – Which Is Better?

Both have their place, but parrying is the stronger defensive tool in most situations. Here’s why:

Parrying stops incoming damage completely, staggers the attacker, and gives you an immediate counter window.
Sidestepping avoids damage but creates distance — you still need to close back in to attack, costing time.
Blocking (if available) reduces damage but does not stagger the attacker, so they can keep swinging.

Parrying is more efficient. But for red-flash charge attacks or when you’re overwhelmed by multiple attackers at once, sidestepping becomes essential. The best approach is to use both — parry yellow attacks, sidestep red ones, and dodge when the situation gets too chaotic to read cleanly.

Where to Practice Parrying

The best place to build parry timing is in the early chapters of the campaign, where enemies typically attack one at a time and the yellow flash is easy to read without distractions. Don’t rush through these sections. Use them as a training ground to get the timing into muscle memory before the game starts throwing multi-enemy brawls at you.

The Fight Pit in Chapter 10 is also an excellent place to practice — you face multiple waves of enemies in an enclosed arena, which forces you to get comfortable with both parrying and the grab system under pressure. For more on that section, check our Fight Pit and Hammer Time challenge guide.

You can also check the combat tutorials in the options menu at any time to review the controls and see demonstrations of each mechanic.

More 007 First Light Guides

007 First Light is available on PlayStation, Xbox, Steam, and Epic Games. Developed by IO Interactive.

How to Parry in 007 First Light – Timing, Controls and Counter Attacks

Parry Button Controls – All Platforms