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Single-player games' future never looked brighter, and I'm over the moon because of that. In an era dominated by live-service titles and battle royale fatigue, story-driven games keep reminding us why we fell in love with this medium in the first place, and 007: First Light is the latest and perhaps most dazzling proof of that. I’ll be honest here. When IO Interactive was announced as the developer, I had my reservations. A studio whose entire identity is built around Hitman making a James Bond game seemed, at first, like a formula for an overglorified Agent 47 reskin with a tuxedo slapped on top. I was wrong. Spectacularly, wonderfully wrong.
007: First Light is not only one of the most engaging games I have played recently, but it has also firmly positioned itself as my game of the year candidate, at least up to this point in 2026. IO Interactive hasn’t just delivered a competent Bond game; they have delivered a Bond game that understands the character at a level that even some of the films have failed to achieve. That is no small feat, and it deserves to be said loudly and clearly right from the start.
Story - The Origin Worth Telling
The story is, without question, the strongest suit of 007: First Light, though saying that feels almost unfair, because the gameplay matches it shoulder to shoulder in quality, making it almost impossible to declare a clear winner between the two. What IO Interactive has created here is a Bond origin story set in the modern day, a concept we have seen before in Casino Royale and the Daniel Craig era at large. But where those films had to work within the constraints of cinema, First Light has the luxury of time and interactivity, and it uses both to devastating effect.
The story is told through 17 chapters, and it is everything you could want from a 007 narrative: tense, layered, full of betrayals, shocking twists, and moments of true heroism that will make your pulse quicken. It follows a young James Bond, portrayed brilliantly by Patrick Gibson, who brings a cocky, impulsive, and deeply charismatic energy to the role as he rises through the ranks of MI6, earns his licence to kill, and unravels a conspiracy that runs far deeper than anyone anticipated. Gibson’s Bond is not an imitation of any predecessor; he is something entirely his own, and he is magnificent.
The supporting cast is equally flawless. M, Q, and Moneypenny are all present and written very well, feeling like genuine people and not convenient plot devices. The villains are memorable and menacing in all the right ways. And Bond’s strict and grumpy mentor Greenway, played by the always-reliable Lennie James, is a particular highlight, gruff, world-weary, and the perfect counterweight for Bond’s reckless brilliance.
The opening is admittedly slow, perhaps even a little underwhelming at first. Bond’s early chapters serve more as setup than spectacle, and it takes patience to push through them. But after the second major mission, set in a stunning Carpathian hotel in Slovakia, everything goes sky-high, and the game never looks back. From that point forward, 007: First Light grabs you by the throat and refuses to let go. The pacing tightens, the stakes escalate, and the writing reaches heights that I believe surpass even the greatest films in the Bond canon. That is not a statement I make lightly.
The one legitimate criticism I can point out of the story is its refusal to end. At least three separate moments in the game’s final act feel like natural conclusions, complete with the emotional weight and narrative closure you would expect before the credits roll, and then the game continues. It never feels frustrating, so to say, but those repeated false endings do weaken the impact of the actual finale somewhat. It is a minor drawback in otherwise exceptional storytelling, but it is worth noting.
Gameplay - Shaken, Stirred, and Endlessly Inventive
If the story had been the only thing First Light had going for it, it would still be a very good game. But the gameplay is where IO Interactive truly announce themselves as something more than the Hitman studio. The game operates across three different gameplay pillars that rotate and overlap among themselves with remarkable fluidity, and the genius of the design is that none of them ever outstay their welcome. Just as one begins to feel familiar, another takes over, keeping the game unbelievably engaging all the time.
The first pillar draws its obvious inspiration from Hitman, and IO Interactive make no attempt to hide it, nor should they. The levels in First Light are largely linear in terms of story progression, but each one functions as an endless playground of possibilities, a design philosophy taken directly from World of Assassination. You eavesdrop on conversations to uncover opportunities, investigate your surroundings, and approach objectives through whichever method suits your style. Multiple solutions exist for every problem, and the game rewards creative thinking with dedicated challenges for completing missions in different ways. If you have played Hitman, you will recognise the DNA immediately. What is impressive is how seamlessly it has been transplanted into a fundamentally different kind of game.
The level design itself deserves special mention. The influence of Hitman is visible in virtually every location. The Africa mission shares clear architectural similarities with the Marrakesh level; the Slovak hotel mimics the one from Shanghai, but the execution still feels very original. These are not recycled assets; they are refined ideas, applied with fresh purpose. And the Easter eggs scattered throughout, particularly one in the Vietnam level that genuinely made me laugh out loud, show a development team that clearly loves what they are doing. I will not spoil it. You need to find it yourself.
The second pillar draws from modern stealth games in the tradition of Splinter Cell and the likes, placing Bond in situations where silence and gadgets are his greatest weapons. Here, the famous Q-watch takes centre stage, equipped with tools for hacking, distracting, and quietly neutralising enemies. Some gadgets are non-lethal, some even kill, and all of them require batteries and chemical components found throughout the environment.
The third pillar arrives when Bond’s iconic ‘Licence to Kill’ flashes on screen, signalling that it is time to abandon subtlety entirely. These sequences are a spitting image of the ones from the Uncharted series, with gunplay that feels markedly better than anything Nathan Drake ever wielded. The shooting is responsive, weighty, and enormously satisfying. You begin with a service pistol that can easily be changed with weapons dropped by enemies: assault rifles, SMGs, shotguns, and more, and eventually acquire a signature sidearm that becomes your faithful companion through the game’s latter half. Parkour connects it all together; it is not as sophisticated as Uncharted’s climbing systems, but it is fluid and functional, and it serves the game’s pacing well without ever becoming an obstacle.
Visuals and Performance - Licence to Duzzle
Visually, 007: First Light is a gorgeous game. While it may not redefine what is technically possible in 2026, it is a masterclass in art direction and environmental design. The mission locations are richly detailed and atmospheric, with each one feeling truly alive. Hundreds of NPCs fill the game’s spaces, and they move, interact, and behave with a naturalism which many developers simply fear integrating in their games. The lighting and image quality are consistently impressive, with the game’s global locations. From European cities to African landscapes to dense jungle environments, everything is rendered with care and visual personality.
The face models deserve particular praise. The variety and quality on display here is exceptional, with Bond and the major cast members especially benefiting from detailed, expressive performances that translate flawlessly from motion capture to the screen, making the cutscenes look natural and cinematic, which, of course, adds to the game's overall visual quality.
Regarding performance, I ran the game on an RTX 3080 Ti paired with a Ryzen 9 5900X and 32 GB of RAM, targeting the highest settings at 2K ultrawide resolution with DLSS set to 'Quality'. Performance was generally good, ranging between 40 and 80 FPS most of the time. The only notable dips came in the Vietnam jungle sequences, where the density of foliage combined with demanding lighting and shadow calculations occasionally pushed the frame rate down to around 30. These moments were infrequent and brief, and the game never crashed once across the entire playthrough, which is very commendable for a modern AAA release at launch.
Sounds - The Name's Bond, and He Sounds Incredible
Sound design in a James Bond game carries a weight of expectation that would intimidate most developers, but IO Interactive handles it with true confidence, and for that alone, my hat's off. The iconic Bond theme is present, but luckily never overused. It arrives at the moments that earn it, which makes its appearances thrilling and not merely familiar or even tedious. The action sequences are backed by music that is strong and cinematic, and the overall usage of the music maintains the tension and atmosphere that the Bond franchise demands.
The weapon sounds deserve individual mention. Every firearm in the game has been given a distinct, punchy acoustic identity, and the result is shooting that feels physically powerful in a way that engages more than just your eyes. The difference between a silenced pistol and a shotgun at close range is not just visual; you feel it. Combined with the already-excellent gunplay, the sound design elevates the action segments to a whole new level.
And then there is the voice acting. Patrick Gibson leads a uniformly excellent cast, delivering a Bond performance that is original, charismatic, and entirely convincing as a younger, rawer version of the man we know. Lennie James brings wisdom and dry wit to Greenway in equal measure. The rest of the cast, from M and Q to the game’s villains, match that standard without exception. First Light sounds as good as it looks, which alone says volumes about it.
Conclusion
007: First Light is the Bond game the franchise always deserved and never quite managed to produce until now. IO Interactive have done something remarkable here: they have taken a character with a complicated video game history, stripped him back to his origins, and rebuilt him as a protagonist worthy of the medium’s best storytelling and design. The story is extraordinary, the gameplay is inventive and endlessly varied, the presentation is impeccable, and the whole thing is held together by a cast and a script that do justice to one of the most beloved fictional characters in the world.
The slow opening and the slightly overextended finale can be considered minor criticisms, but they are the kind of imperfections that only register because everything around them is so good. This is a game that demands to be played, a game that reminds you why single-player games matter, and a game that will be difficult to dislodge from the top of the year-end conversation. IO Interactive did not just make a great Bond game. They made a great game, full stop.
The Good
Gripping story that rivals the best Bond films- Three gameplay pillars that complement each other perfectly
- Exceptional level design with genuine replayability
- Outstanding voice acting and a memorable cast
- Fantastic sound design and a perfectly deployed Bond soundtrack
The Bad
Slow and underwhelming opening- The ending overstays its welcome
