'007 First Light' Review: James Bond's Triumphant Return

Author's Note: The author was provided a PlayStation 5 code by the publisher for the purpose of this review.

Before the initial reveal of 007 First Light late last year, if you had told me that IO Interactive would be the next video game studio to tackle a James Bond title, I would've easily believed you, actually. The studio's work on the Hitman series has been remarkable, giving players a huge but intentionally designed sandbox to play in and work to assassinate targets in creative ways as Agent 47.

When 007 First Light was first revealed, it seemed the general consensus was that the game could possibly just be Hitman with a James Bond skin with sprinkles of the long-dormant Uncharted series. However, what if I told you this game is barely anything like either of those games and is a truly unique experience? First Light has the narrative quality of some of PlayStation's library, like The Last of Us and God of War, but the open-ended gameplay and level of choice and player expression found in games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

In a lot of ways, 007 First Light is for James Bond what the Batman Arkham games were for Batman.

Sure, 007 First Light shares a lot of DNA with the Hitman series, but it is so much more than that, and even with the skeleton of Hitman clear as day in First Light's gameplay, UI, and level design, IO Interactive has achieved something truly remarkable with First Light that makes it stand as its own separate tour de force.

Despite some issues with the game's largely uninteresting antagonists and more-than-necessary forced "walking and talking" set pieces, 007 First Light makes up for those shortcomings in its total package. From its clever writing and story twists to its outstanding presentation to its often oppressive-but-manageable enemy encounters, and, of course, its over-the-top action sequences, 007 First Light is not just the best James Bond game ever made, it is one of the best games of 2026 so far.

Become the Legend

007 First Light is, essentially, the origin story of James Bond, a legendary character that has appeared in novels, short stories, films, and video games since his creation in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming. Bond, played by actor Patrick Gibson, is 26-years-old in First Light, with the story beginning as Bond, a rookie Naval air crewman, is left on his own in Iceland after his aircraft is downed, with most of his crew dead.

From there, Bond displays a series of reckless but heroic rescues, ignoring direct orders, and his skills are noticed by the British intelligence agency, MI6, leading to Bond being recruited into the newly revived 00 program by M, a career diplomat who was recently instated as the head of MI6. What follows is a globe-trotting adventure to many corners of the world and a deeply personal story for Bond, the other 00 recruits, and his supervisor and mentor, John Greenway, on top of a larger threat to national security.

For an origin story, the concept of the story is not particularly original, and the training missions near the beginning of the game offer their fair share of clichés, but it's not the uniqueness of the story that carries First Light--it's the sharp writing and compelling relationships. The slower opening hours of the game give time for Bond, the other recruits, Greenway, M, Q, Moneypenny, and all the other characters to develop naturally.

The opening missions of the game are intentionally slow, easing the player into the mechanically dense gameplay side of First Light, but also into the mind of a 26-year-old Bond. This isn't an experienced spy. He's reckless, a little naïve, and doesn't have the answers to all of the problems presented in the game's roughly 16-hour story, so he has to rely on others. Yet, this is still clearly James Bond. IO Interactive has done an exceptional job at capturing the younger, more arrogant version of the character while also drawing a mental timeline for the player of how this 26-year-old could possibly become the best spy in the world. The womanizing, suave, shaken-not-stirred smooth talker is in there, but he just hasn't reached full maturity yet.

However, First Light is not solely focused on Bond, and there is a lot of (though not evenly distributed) focus on the people around him who help him become the agent we have seen in countless movies and video games before.

One relationship I was particularly fond of is the one between Bond and Greenway. They go together like oil and water at the start of the narrative, with Greenway even recommending to dismiss Bond from the 00 program on more than one occasion. With no spoilers, their relationship is one of the most memorable of any Bond story.

All of the training eventually leads to a suspension of training in favor of field service to find the former 009. What transpires after that is a series of twists and turns that stop this espionage story from feeling overly familiar.

Bond, the other 00 recruits, Greenway, Q, Moneypenny, and almost everyone else get moments to shine in the story, even if Bond takes his rightful place as the star of the show. That is what the story of First Light gets so right--Bond is a flawed human surrounded by people who are also flawed humans--and mistakes happen, and what we do from learning from our mistakes is how you grow into something stronger, as Bond will do down the timeline in his later years and missions.

Speaking of the timeline, the game takes place in 2026, so there are a lot of modern references, tools, gadgets, weapons, and a certain story element that seems to be an eerie commentary on the overreliance on AI that our real world has seemingly come to. With the modern setting, some Bond purists may be upset that this game does not follow the traditional Bond timeline, but, for me, it didn't bother me in the slightest.

One thing that did bother me, however, in the game's narrative was the antagonists. There are a fair few of them, so none of them get a lot of development or screen time. On top of that, for the most part, their motivations and backstories are relegated to collectibles, environmental documents, or objects that you can pick up and read or examine to get more information.

With the focus on Bond, and him being our primary point-of-view character, there really isn't a way to get the villains any more fleshed out than what is presented here, but still, I don't think it would've hurt the game to cut back on one or two of the villains and expand the roles of the other ones.

The tagline and in-game menu for the story is appropriately named "Earn the Number," and Bond certainly does just that with the amount of conspiracies, shootouts, explosions, and heroic moments that Bond has in the incredible narrative. The characters, even some of the minor NPCs, feel like real people, and even though the villains are a little disappointing, everything else presented in the game's story is so well thought out and executed that it's just a minor blemish on the game at worst.

Earn the Number

There are two modes of play in 007 Fight Light: Story and Tactical Simulations. The story is the main focus, while the Tactical Simulations give players a chance to put everything they think they understand about the game's mechanics to the test once they complete the game. Again, very similar to Hitman and the Batman Arkham games.

Story Mode gameplay is essentially divided into these components: exploration and investigation, stealthy infiltration, license to kill shootouts, and then a huge action set piece, which usually ends the mission. Almost all of the main missions in the game are structured this way, which would normally make the game feel repetitive by the third or fourth time you do it. However, this is IO Interactive, and the studio has taken its learnings from the Hitman games to create a familiar formula for the gameplay loop but give players the tools to approach each mission in any way they see fit.

For example, in one mission, you are tasked with obtaining $100,000 to get into an auction. There are several different ways to earn that money. You can pick up hints from eavesdropping on conversations in the busy market or talk to merchants to get a trail of breadcrumbs to follow. I was surprised to learn that almost all of that is actually optional. How you go about earning the money (or not) is up to you and your spy skills as James Bond.

Using the environment and Bond's assortment of gadgets, of which you are typically only allowed to carry two with you at the start of each mission, you can play out almost every investigation and combat scenario in multiple ways. Do you want to stealth the whole thing? Go for it. Do you want to break stealth and use James' fists and the excellent Arkham-inspired melee combat instead? You can do it. Do you want to rely on using your gadgets, picking up batteries and refills for them, and getting as creative as possible with your spy knowledge? You can do that, too.

The gameplay isn't quite as open as the Hitman games, but it's definitely more player-driven and choice-based than most action games. Additionally, while there aren't a ton of shooting segments (this is primarily a stealth-adventure, after all), 007 First Light has some of the smoothest gunplay and action combat I have played in recent memory. Shooting an enemy to disarm them, throwing your weapon at them, and then using them as a human shield and charging them off a cliff is so satisfying to pull off.

Much like the Arkham games, I would actually recommend fans turn up the difficulty for 007 First Light. Personally, I found the game on the Intended (normal) difficulty to be a tad too easy, especially the few boss fights, a couple of which are also seemingly inspired by Arkham. On the hard mode, the game forces you to think like a spy and use all of the tools at your disposal, creating an exhilarating experience. Challenging but doable. On the Intended difficulty, you really don't feel that much in danger, even when the game's excellent AI is boxing you in and throwing grenades to force you out of cover.

In between the sandbox gameplay moments are a lot of story moments and conversations. They do break up the action nicely and create an open-and-close gameplay loop to let players have freedom, but also still be James Bond on a mission; however, I do think there are a bit too many "walking and talking" sections for my liking. Almost nothing interesting is happening gameplay-wise when those segments occur; they are unskippable, and while they do offer much-needed insight into the story, character relationships, and occasional exposition, I wish these narrative bits could have been delivered more organically.

Still, their presence emphasizes inexperienced James Bond's reliance on his companions, so it isn't too big of a deal on a first playthrough. Without them, Bond would spend a lot of time in silence. However, the game's high gameplay replay value might be undercut for some fans with the more drawn-out narrative segments on repeat playthroughs. Not a huge deal, but one worth noting, and luckily, the strong narrative is worth experiencing.

Finally, the jaw-dropping action set pieces shouldn't be talked about because the mere allusion to some of them would spoil some of the greatest moments in the game. They are intense, almost all of them offer something unique to the gameplay loop for the end of each mission, and all of them are visually and technically stunning.

Shaken, Not Stirred

Once credits roll, players will have access to the Tactical Simulation mode to ditch the narrative and play in the gameplay sandbox and test their wits and skills. This unique mode is very fun, and offers a leveling and unlock system similar to the Raid Mode in Resident Evil Revelations 1 and 2 or the challenges in the Arkham games.

There are two different modes of play: Escalation and Operations. At launch, there are only five escalation maps (two of which are tutorials) and only two Operations. More are coming post-launch. Luckily, they offer just as much replayability as the main campaign and offer their own set of unique challenges, including increased enemy variety and different enemy locations.

Completing the map and completing challenges earns you currency that you can then spend to buy weapons, gadgets, and costumes. You can then make your own loadout and head into any of the Tactical Simulations. Something worth noting is that all of the unlockables in the game, at least for now, are only for the Tactical Simulation mode and do not carry over to the story mode. No golden tuxedo James in the campaign, unfortunately. All of the gadgets and weapons are also present in the main campaign, but they must be unlocked for use in the Tactical Simulation mode separately.

Additionally, and this is not a complaint, but something that might be of concern, players will need to have a consistent online connection to have full access to the Tactical Simulation mode and all of its unlockables.

If there were any concerns about performance, rest assured, the game runs really well, too. On the base PS5, I played about half of the game in Quality Mode and the other half in Performance Mode. The Quality Mode is a solid 30 FPS, while the Performance mode is a solid 60 FPS with very little, if any, frame drops throughout the entire game, and the game looks gorgeous either way. Small details, like an enemy guard becoming scared, causing them to become shaky, are prevalent throughout, too, and the game's expansive action set pieces rival the quality found in any of the Bond films.

Final Score: 9/10

007 First Light, in a lot of ways, feels like IO Interactive's magnum opus--the game the developer has been inching towards for years. With one of the best Bond stories in history, a stellar cast of characters (minus the villains), a clever blend of stealth and action, and a ton of replayability, 007 First Light is the first true Game of the Year contender for 2026, in my opinion.

Even with some underdeveloped side characters and villains, and a few too many forced gameplay additions (like Quick Time Events) that could've just been cutscenes, 007 First Light more than makes up for those small grievances with its engaging combat, smart enemy AI, and immersing the players as a young James Bond.

007 First Light does not just feel like a new lease on life for James Bond, but it also feels like the rebirth of IO Interactive as a story-focused developer, and I cannot wait to see what IO Interactive has in store for 007 after he earns his number.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 26, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 8:00 AM.