Game Review: 007 First Light

It’s hard to believe the last time we had a mainline James Bond video game was in 2012.  If you’re familiar with the time Activision had the exclusive publishing rights to the British super spy’s video games then you’ll know their output was notably underwhelming.  Their games in the franchise were clearly influenced from Daniel Craig’s action-driven movies and as a result they mainly published games utilizing his interpretation of the character in adaptions of existing movies as well as some original titles.  After 007 Legends crashed and burned, EON and MGM Productions stripped Activision of the publishing license and the property went onto hiatus for 14 long years. Thankfully, this wasn’t the end of the long, storied history of James Bond video games as when all hope seemed lost, one Denmark-based studio reported for active duty to resurrect the character in a bold and unique fashion.  

If you’ve played any of IO Interactive’s video games, then you’ll know there isn’t likely any studio more suited to adapt the world of James Bond into an authentic experience. Their most well-known property is the Hitman franchise, a series of video games which task you with playing as a cold and calculated assassin called Agent 47 as he infiltrates a number of extravagant locales and sets up elaborate plots to kill his targets.  Their most recent interpretation of the character within their World of Assassination trilogy showed the developers ability to construct intricate sandbox levels with a key focus on player freedom in how they approach and execute their missions. Anyone could tell you how much these games whether intentionally or not, emulated the core vibe of the world of James Bond and it seems IO caught onto that as well.  They approached EON and MGM with a pitch to develop a James Bond game which wasn’t based on any existing interpterion of the character and had stealth and action in equal balance.  It seems their prior work and dedicated approach was enough to win the executives over as they were given the green light to proceed. 

Titled 007 First Light, this 3rd person, action-adventure video game worked to tell an original tale of the earlier days of James Bond as he works to acquire his 00 status with MI6.  IO were clearly dedicated to realizing the core identity that defined the franchise with the use of a larger-than-life narrative and locations across the world as the foundation for their levels. Wanting to hone in on the core identity of James Bond’s role as a suave spy, the game offers players a cinematic adventure which gives the player the ability to approach encounters through stealth and action together.  The decision to tell an original narrative tailored around a younger Bond along with the focus on a mesh of stealth and action gameplay clearly worked though as 007 First Light was a critical and commercial success when it released on May 27th 2026.  Critically the game aggregated a respectable 87 average score from the games media on OpenCritic and the game sold a whopping 2.7 million copies within the first week of release.

The narrative of 007 First Light takes place in a modern day setting in which Navy aircrewman James Bond ends up enlisting under MI6’s 00 secret agent program after proving himself as a commendable candidate after an SAS mission in Iceland forces him to act after their helicopter is shot down.  Impressed by his quick thinking and determination, the head of MI6 titled ‘M’ assigns Bond to take the 00 program under the tutorage of a reluctant mentor called John Greenway. Despite Greenway’s misgivings with Bond’s cocky nature, James works well with his fellow candidates and is brought on to their first assignment together as they are tasked with apprehending rogue agent 009 in Slovakia. This mission will lead Bond down a winding thread which will unearth the dark underbelly behind the structure of British Intelligence and the sinister forces working to maintain their control over it.  This will lead Bond across the world to locations like Mauritania, London, Vietnam and even Antarctica on a mission to earn his save the world and earn his 00 status in the process.

First Light’s narrative is definitely one of its finest elements on account of its ability to easily capture the essence of a James Bond story while tying it down to the modern world in some smart and interesting ways.  Framing it as an origin story is easily its more defining aspect too as apart from Daniel Craig’s Casino Royale we really haven’t experienced any kind of story which tackles how Bond started out.  Patrick Gibson does a lot of the heavy lifting with his portrayal of a younger Bond, you see a lot of the defining characteristics in his interpretation with the sharp wit and abundant overconfidence. It also helps that the mission he is sent on produces all of the key hallmarks you’d come to expect out of a traditional James Bond story with the fancy gadgets from Q-branch, high-stake action sequences on land, sea and air and so many one-liner quips that would make Roger Moore proud.  Grounding all of it is a modern day setting which smartly utilizes modern innovations like AI infrastructure as a key talking point for the backbone of its threat. 

On the gameplay end, First Light smartly balances the sandbox simulation formula that IO are most proficient at alongside the cinematic action sequences you’d come to expect from Uncharted. The balance is definitely more skewed towards the sandbox gameplay than the action but you can tell IO went to the extra effort to make it feel a little more dynamic compared to the pure simulation style that Hitman provides.  Bond as a character is able to analyse his environment to pick up on opportunities to achieve his core objectives. There’s more than one opportunity available to you too which gives the player more agency in deciding how they want to approach the situation.  Alongside the opportunities, you’ll also be able to equip yourself with a loadout of gadgets that will give you more than one way to overcome a situation.  Smoke bombs, sleep darts, laser watches, concussive camera; it’s fair to say Q-branch will give Bond a lot of tools to take on his missions in whatever manner he likes; whether discretely or forcibly. 

When you’re not playing around in the sandbox, you’ll be thrown into more action-orientated segments and IO do a great job in making these emulate the very DNA of your typical James Bond action sequence.  Whether it’s intense shootouts, quick hand to hand scuffles, fast paced car or boat chases; this game really has a fun variety of sequences to dive into.  Bond’s combat abilities are a lot more defined in comparison to Hitman too.  It was noted that IO went the extra mile to make the combat and action encounters a lot more fluid and responsive and you can really tell how much versatility there is in the design of the gameplay. As a result, you honestly get the best of both worlds, you get the expansive sandbox gameplay for the more open-ended segments but when the circumstances call for it, you can rely on the sharp and responsive action and combat. The ability to shift the gameplay up consistently and seamlessly really goes a long way to emulate the core identity of James Bond and IO absolutely nailed it. 

On the presentation side of things, IO really know how to use the Glacier engine to their advantage. If it wasn’t obvious from the way Hitman 3 looked then First Light will likely be the clear defining point on it.  The vast locales that Bond visits on his journey to become a secret agent are given all their distinct detail and beauty thanks to the rendering capability of the engine.  You really get a sense of the scale and beauty layered in so much of the environmental design behind this game.  Character design also stood out for me, there’s a great level of precision in the motion and facial capture for the models that you get a clear indication of emotional expression and inflection from the actors playing these characters.  British musical duo The Flight also served as the composers for First Light and they do a grand job providing a score which feels original as it relies on a more electronic baseline for its core but also excellently emulates the orchestral score that is so identifiable with the world of James Bond.

When IO announced all those years ago, they were working on a new 007 video game, I was confident that these were the right people to handle the job. The Hitman franchise was easily able to provide similar ideas and vibes at times so it made sense they’d want to throw their hand into making a fully licensed adaption in the series.  The end result of that aspiration is now clear to see as First Light is everything, I wanted it to be in terms of gameplay and visual design.  It’s approach to tell an origin story for Bond within the confines of a modern setting works excellently to allow the studio to establish their own impression in the series.  If you had to pry a criticism out of me it would probably be the fact that the game did suffer from the odd technical glitch every now and then, especially when it came to texture loading and maybe I would have liked more grander set pieces than what we ultimately got. I think though what’s here is commendable enough that it delivers on the key blueprint the game intended to offer and there really hasn’t been as good a James Bond game like this a long, long time.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐