Guns, Gadgets and Girls!
The wait is finally over! It has been 16 long years of waiting for a new, standalone James Bond story console game. The last true Bond game was James Bond 007: Blood Stone, released in 2010. There have been other Bond games released after that, but remakes and the monstrosity that was 007 Legends were not ‘new’ James Bond story experiences like Blood Stone was.
But finally, a new Bond story in a new Bond game has arrived with IO Interactive’s attempt at the dashing legendary spy of the silver screen and Ian Flemming’s books with 007 First Light.
Make no bones about it, this game is stunning! I am a true Bond fan myself, but because I am, that means I will be super critical of anything that doesn’t feel right in a game or movie set in the Bond universe. However, the fact of the matter is, not only have IO Interactive nailed the James Bond experience, but they have surpassed my expectations beyond what I thought possible. This gaming origin story version of James Bond is incredible and better than many of the film series’ attempts. Combine that with a highly entertaining and incredibly polished game, and you have something very special indeed.
The story starts with a young James Bond as part of a helicopter crew, taking some SAS soldiers on a secret mission to Iceland. Things go wrong, and Bond, compelled by adventure and a sense of duty, carries on with the mission himself. When he does, this gets the attention of MI6 to put Bond into their newly re-formed 00 program as a potential spy.
What transpires over the next 20 hours or so is a thrilling but extremely well-written, action packed, globetrotting tale worthy of a film all by itself. To add to this, the acting performances of the cast is outstanding, especially Patrick Gibson as Bond.
The character development with the game’s writing is incredible. If you view the natural progression of the young, non-assuming but slightly cocky James from the beginning of the game to the confident and accomplished 00 by the end, you will be amazed. It is a remarkable achievement in writing by the team.
The writing and narrative felt mature, flowed smoothly, but also felt down to earth. It had life, humour, anger, passion, but above all, it felt like the way Bond (and his supporting cast) would react and respond. The team dropped in many lines and scenes from the films as little Easter eggs and wove them seamlessly into the game with natural authority.
Bond fans would have noticed them, and nothing felt forced, nothing felt awkward. It all felt natural.
For example, in one little scene, Bond and a colleague get out of a car and split up. As Bond starts talking to the other character via the earpiece he has, he touches the ear. I at home started to say to my TV screen, “Don’t touch your ear!”, as I remembered a scene depicting this very same thing from Casino Royale. Before I had even finished talking to my TV screen, Bond’s partner in the game started saying, “Stop touching your ear!”.
In another scene, Bond leans against his car while waiting in a car park, and the camera angle to show this in the game was a direct copy of the iconic picture of Sean Connery doing the exact same pose against his Aston Martin DB5.
In another scene, Bond has to get into an event and is invited as a Mr. Beech, but he corrects the person to say that he is actually Bond. Another moment from the film Casino Royale.
Yes, these moments and examples I’m explaining are extremely subtle and easily missed, but to a Bond fan like myself, they mean the world. The developers have truly cared for and respected the IP, which is highly appreciated and welcomed.
The gameplay for 007 First Light was also extremely polished and a welcomed surprise. It really felt like the creative juices in the team behind the Hitman games had been unleashed. The Hitman games have been, in some ways, the closest thing to a Bond game of late, and apart from agent 47’s lack of personality, slap a dinner jacket on him with a wig, and you could be playing a Bond game.
Before playing, I was concerned that IO Interactive would lean too much into what they have done so well in the past with the Hitman games and be too stealth-heavy. There are many ‘Hitman-esque’ sections of gameplay where you do have to stealth your way through a situation, but it wasn’t long before something else happened. Chases or driving sequences. Gunplay or melee combat. Boss fights or cinematics. Each chapter literally takes you on a ride of all the above and not necessarily in the same order. The game really does keep you on your toes all the way to the end.
As to be expected, the stealth sections were marvelous. It was these sections where players can use Bond’s gadgets and be creative in distractions or kills to get from one side of the map to the other without being noticed.
The gunplay sections were also very satisfying. Bond can not only shoot enemies for headshots or the environment to blow things up for kills, but he can also shoot NPCs’ hands to disarm them or legs to immobilize them.
The driving sections were, to be honest, the weakest sections of the lot, but they were still incredibly fun and thrilling to take part in, albeit at times, far too short. Chase sequences, again, were thrilling, with big explosions and distractions going off while you were chasing someone on-foot, and they were a lot of fun.
Boss fights were a little bit of a mixed bag as some required players to use the gadgets and environments at hand to defeat the enemy, and they were very tense affairs, but then we come to the real standout star of the show, the very surprising and excellent melee combat.
The melee combat obviously could occur at any time in the game with NPCs or boss fights, but all were fantastic experiences. It was far more nuanced than it first appeared too. Punch, parry, dodge, are all normal, but combining those moves with push, grapple, and charge mechanics, as well as the fact that different enemies had their own attacks themselves, this added a new layer of tactical awareness. Where the melee combat really excelled was in the cinematic, brutal, room-shattering way you could dispatch enemies using the environment around you. Land a couple of hefty punches, charge at the staggered enemy, grapple them into a bookshelf or over a worktop, and every bit of the room’s contents you were in contact with would go flying and crashing with the enemy too. Cups smashed on the floor, glass shattered, and books fell out the cupboard. Do the same into electrical boxes, and the enemy gets a shock. It was so much fun!
Many scenes of melee gameplay felt like fight scenes you’ve seen in the films. Although not Bond, I remarked to myself, some of the fight scenes felt like Jason Bourne moments from the Bourne films. The point I’m really making here is that melee fighting feels brutal, savage, hefty, slightly difficult when surrounded, but immensely rewarding and good fun to play.
To enhance the gameplay experiences, the graphics and especially the audio were fantastic. Graphically, I have seen better fidelity, textures, and detail in other games, but this is not far from that. The game’s lighting is superb and especially noticeable in darker areas, like tunnels or foliage. The character clothing textures and skin tones does appear a little devoid of depth, but the game’s artwork with motion blur and particle effects looks stunning. When explosions go off, debris scatters everywhere, and it was easy to see what was happening, even when a lot was going on.
The game’s audio elevated not only the actions sequences but the normal moment-to-moment gameplay as well. Guns sounded powerful, punches landing felt destructive, footsteps, echoes, engines, all gave depth and realism to the moment.
It was when an iconic Bond theme kicked in during an exhilarating on-screen moment that really caught my eye, or more to the point, my ear. It was amazing how the music, when it kicked in at just the right moment, got my own real adrenaline going just that bit more. I really felt the game quite literally at times in my heart rate, which is why I’ve mentioned the experience this game delivered so much.
So, when you put all the above together with such confidence and accomplished polish as the developers have here, it’s hard not to be amazed by the game as a whole.
One of the aspects I really enjoyed was I could play the game to how I was feeling at that time. In some gaming sessions, I wanted to stealth my way through a level, play around with the environments and discover new routes, for which I could. Other times, I just wanted to shoot or fight my way, which was equally as fun and rewarding. The choice is yours!
The biggest take of all, though, is how natural and “BOND” everything felt as a whole. The stealth segments, in the style of the Hitman games, didn’t feel like you were playing as Agent 47 but as Bond in an intelligence-gathering sequence. When you got what you needed through being sneaky, an inevitable fight, chase, or shooting scene was sure to follow.
Bond, being the dashing, charming cad he is, also has his way with the ladies. Furthermore, he had some superb one-liners that made me laugh out loud. So, all in all, it felt refreshing, new, fun, exciting, authentic and very, very “Bond” as a whole.
Lastly, and something that will go under a lot of people’s radar, is the other part of the game no one is really talking about: the Tactical Simulation challenges. In the main adventure, you unlock a VR training area where you are tasked with completing levels but by completing certain specific tasks.
On the surface, this doesn’t look like more than just an area to get a bit more content for your buck. However, when I completed the game, a window appeared on my menu screen of what is “coming soon” as a playable level in TacSim. Without any spoilers, this looks like a lot of fun. The developers are looking to add content to the game in a road map moving forward beyond the game’s launch, and this TacSim section is how they can bolt new content in.
The sky could be the limit here. If they so choose, they could even bolt in re-playable scenes from any Bond film of the past as part of the TacSim. It’s a space most certainly to keep an eye on.
I’m struggling to find fault with this game. Nothing outstays its welcome, everything feels polished and confident. There really weren’t any major weaknesses in 007 First Light other than I would have wanted a little more driving sections as part of the story, simply because the few sections you do get are so much fun.
The world and the experience the developers have put together felt natural, smooth, authentic, fun, and very “Bond”. It’s exactly the kind of Bond game I have spent years yearning for. Not only do I think this is the best Bond game ever made, and we can finally put GoldenEye 007 to one side now, but this is also one of the best games ever made, period.
It’s easily a Game of the Year candidate, and it should be up for many awards in lots of different categories. The one thing that really shines, though, is Patrick Gibson as Bond. His version of Bond in this game is so convincing and so good, there is already an online petition to have him play as the next James Bond in the film series. If that doesn’t highlight just how good he is and how this game comes across to critical Bond fans like myself and many others, then I don’t know what will.
So, for The Living Daylights, don’t say Dr. No on passing up an opportunity to Thunderball your way to a new, excellent gaming experience. The World Is Not Enough, and you might Die Another Day if you don’t have A View to a Kill of 007 First Light’s James Bond On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. With this game, you’ll have a grandstand seat For Your Eyes Only of MI6’s top, legendary agent and his GoldenEye. Acquire his Licence to Kill, get a little Octopussy on the side, and still Skyfall onto his feet.
So, there is No Time to Die like the present. Don’t let the Spectre of lost opportunity pass you by. From Russia with Love, You Only Live Twice! Don’t Quantum of Solace wishing you had just listened to The Spy Who Loved Me, who told you that you don’t need a lot of Goldfinger or Diamonds Are Forever to play it. Live and Let Die the demons of the previous poor Bond game that had The Man with the Golden Gun in it. If you go out and purchase 007 First Light Tomorrow Never Dies, you’ll be over the Moonraker that you didn’t spend your time out for dinner or at a Casino Royale, but you were indoors, playing 007 First Light on your gaming console.
In other words, 007 First Light, the game, is quite simply a stunning gaming experience that I highly recommend.
Developer: IOI Interactive
Publisher: Amazon/MGM Studios
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC and NW2 (late 2026)
Release Date: 27th May 2026
