007: First Light - 007 Out Of Ten (Review)

007: First Light

Released: May 27th, 2026

Developer: IO Interactive

Publisher: IO Interactive

Systems: PC, PS5 (reviewed), Switch 2, Xbox Series

007: First Light has the best tutorial I think I’ve ever seen, certainly the only one I’d be happy to play through multiple times. A slickly edited training montage garnished with fun character development, it perfectly sets the tone for what’s to follow in a campaign that expertly balances style and substance. 

Taking place in its own continuity, First Light is an origin story for Britain’s favorite sex haver, portrayed here as a brand new MI6 agent and potential member of the freshly rebooted “00” program. Patrick Gibson puts in a great performance as a younger version of the character - charismatic, cocky, but a little naive at this point in his career. He’s supported by a great cast of characters, including the usual crew of Moneypenny, M, and Q, as well as an obligatory Bond Girl and hate magnets for villains. Bond’s relationship with John Greenway, played by Lenny James, is a particular highlight, one of the more heartfelt versions of the old “cynical old’un hates the new guy” routine. 

What makes the story truly interesting is its contemporary narrative threads. 

Modern stories about AI concern me - even some of the less positive portrayals work to normalize the alleged inevitability of such poisonous tech - but the game’s themes are rather convincingly justified. First Light touches upon AI’s worrying flaws without the apologia and middle grounding such narratives usually throw in. I won’t delve into spoiler territory here, but suffice to say I agree with a lot of the points that come in during the late game. 

Specifics aside, the whole campaign is full of what makes Bond, Bond. I won’t claim to be a diehard fan of the series, but I enjoy the films enough to expect several key elements - classy social events, fabulous locations, absurd action spectacles, and quality one-liners. While not present in equal measure, each component gets repped to some degree, and it’s a pleasure to revel in them. 

There might be no better choice than IO Interactive to develop a high budget James Bond game. A lot of what made IO’s Hitman series so great works fantastically here, albeit with investigation taking the place of assassination. Missions come with multiple methods of completion and can involve disguise, stealthy infiltration, or simple violence, though they’re not quite the sandboxes found in Hitman. This is for a good reason, what with the tighter narrative focus, and it’s made up for in plenty of other ways.  

Despite being less open ended, there are still plenty of ways to complete a single objective. Environments are full of options for navigating hostile territory, and taking note of one’s surroundings rarely goes unrewarded. You can learn hints by eavesdropping, pickpocket people for relevant items, and make use of gadgets in various entertaining ways. Gadgets, by the way, border on game-breaking when used right, and I’m perfectly fine with that. 

The Q-Watch is a mandatory bit of kit. It allows Bond to remotely hack a whole host of electronics to distract and eliminate guards. Radios lure targets, air conditioners blanket an area in obscuring smoke, TVs distract and electrocute their victims, there are many ways to mess with folks. Hackable items and enemy positions are all highlighted when using the Q-Lens, which is basically your classic Detective Vision feature. 

Up to two other gadgets may be brought along, each unlocked as the campaign progresses. They offer unique methods of distraction and neutralization - smoke grenades, blinding lasers, concussion mines, that sort of thing. I particularly enjoy the dart that induces temporary nausea, causing a target to wander off with an upset tummy. Gadgets are useful for both stealth and open fights, and while the suite of options aren’t as imaginative as I’d like, Q’s offerings definitely do the job. 

If toys aren’t doing it for you, you can try to simply blag your way through a situation with the characteristically perfect Bluff ability. This allows Bond to simply walk out in front of enemies and talk his way past them - provided they’re susceptible and he has enough arbitrary use points. Bluffing’s also helpful if you’re caught trespassing, and there’s an option to feign surrender for an early combat advantage. It’s both a handy tactic and a great roleplaying device, exactly the kind of ability James Bond should have. 

Many missions begin in large crowded areas where all your infiltration capabilities come into play, and I wish First Light gave such places more attention. Beyond Bluffing, there isn’t much in the way of social manipulation, and big crowded events become less of a playground and more of a backdrop. The only consequential dialogue segments are a handful of vaguely defined interrogations where you choose the vibe of your replies. Bluffs are cool and all, but they’re ultimately a one-button ability with few other ways of emulating James Bond’s legendary charisma. 

Similarly, I was surprised by the lack of disguises, at least from what I could discover during my playthrough. In fact, I only found one disguise in the whole thing, and while there may be more of them, traditional stealth mechanics are the central way to progress by an overwhelming margin.  

None of my wants take away from the overall quality on offer. Controls are incredibly smooth and responsive whether creeping, smacking, or shooting. Melee combat feels particularly good, borrowing from both the Uncharted and Arkham series to create something that flows very nicely. Guns aren’t as enjoyable, especially when firefights are extended into sloggy sequences, but you still have amusing ways of negotiating them, able to disarm enemies and lob your empty weapons into their faces. Just make sure you’re always aggressive and on the move, because mobs love to outflank you, toss grenades around, and gleefully punish those who rely too much on cover. 

It wouldn’t be Bond without ridiculous stunt sequences, and First Light absolutely nails them. There’s a battle on top of a moving plane, several setpiece-laden car chases, and climactic hand-to-hand battles that end up destroying half of the environment. There’s a bunch of memorable, over-the-top action scenes, most of which put a big smile on my face. 

Production value is expectedly high. Impressive crowd scenes, gorgeously detailed environments, and expressive character animations deliver a consistent level of Hollywood sheen, backed up by terrific actors and music. IO confidently eschews the usual Quality/Performance presets on PS5 Pro, managing to run things at a smooth 60fps without compromising on the graphics. A rare treat for big budget console outings. 

First Light joins a spate of recent games that evoke the seventh generation in different ways, joining such releases as Romeo is a Dead Man and Pragmata. It borrows from the Xbox 360 era with pretty much all of its gameplay mechanics, rarely doing anything new but doing everything incredibly well. With its driving, shooting, punching, and lurking, it juggles many different systems and manages to do so intuitively and responsively. It’s been polished to a mirror sheen, with only the occasional NPC pathfinding bug or wonky physics glitch popping up.

I blitzed through the whole story in a few days, getting hooked as soon as the cold open was over and the authentic Bond-flavored musical introduction kicked in. 

007: First Light is a high quality experience that easily supplants GoldenEye 64 as the quintessential Bond game. Delivering every required component of the classic spy series and delivering a truly relevant storyline, it’s the very picture of what one might call a romp. Now that the origin tale’s out of the way, I’m very much looking forward to seeing more from this particular take on James Bond.

8.5/10