007 First Light — Review

Score: 8.3/10

When IO Interactive was announced as the studio taking on James Bond, the reaction was near-unanimous: of course. This is a developer that spent an entire trilogy building lavish international playgrounds full of campy villains, exotic disguises, and improvised assassinations — Hitman was always Bond-adjacent by design. The only real question was whether IOI could translate that expertise into something that felt like Bond rather than Agent 47 in a dinner jacket.

The answer is yes, mostly. 007 First Light ends a fourteen-year drought since the franchise's last, largely forgettable video game outing, and it does so with a confidence that makes the wait feel almost justified.

A Young Bond Worth Following

The origin-story angle is the game's smartest decision. This Bond is a recruit in MI6's training programme — less assured, more impulsive, and still assembling the person he'll eventually become. It gives the writing somewhere to go beyond "competent man does competent things," and it sidesteps the awkwardness of trying to write a definitive version of a character six actors have already played.

Patrick Gibson carries it well, and the supporting cast is uniformly strong — Lennie James as Bond's mentor, Lenny Kravitz in a memorable turn as a mysterious antagonist, and a broader ensemble that gives the whole thing the feel of a playable film. IOI absolutely nails the tone: never too self-serious, never mugging for laughs, landing in the space where the best Bond films operate. Crucially, the story is wholly original and requires no prior knowledge of the films or Fleming's novels, which makes it far more accessible than most licensed tie-ins.

Stealth and Combat Are Excellent

This is where the Hitman DNA pays off most obviously. The levels are dense sandboxes with multiple approaches, letting you sneak, manipulate, improvise with gadgets, or simply let everything collapse into chaos and fight your way out. Crucially, the combat is good enough that blowing your cover doesn't feel like a failure state — plenty of stealth games punish you with combat you'd rather avoid, and this isn't one of them.

The Q Watch is a genuinely clever central gadget, letting Bond interact with electronic devices throughout each environment and opening up approaches that reward observation and patience. Combined with equipment loadouts that meaningfully change how a level plays, there's real replay value here — the kind of levels you finish and immediately want to run again differently.

That said, IOI has stepped away from Hitman's fully non-linear design in favour of something more guided and cinematic. The comparison most reviewers reach for is Uncharted, and it fits — this is a linear, narrative-driven action game with sandbox pockets inside it rather than a pure sandbox. Whether that's a gain or a loss depends on what you wanted from an IOI Bond game.

Presentation Is a Genuine Highlight

Visually, this is one of the better-looking games of the year. Facial animation and character models are excellent, environments are dense and heavily populated, and the lighting work is consistently strong. The globetrotting structure — jungles, city streets, the usual Bond parade of glamorous locations — gives the art team plenty to work with and they deliver across the board.

Technically it holds up well too, running smoothly on both console and high-end PC without the stuttering that plagues too many releases. A handful of minor issues persist, but generous checkpointing means nothing costs you much progress.

The Driving Is the Weak Link

Every review of this game arrives at the same complaint, and it's fair. The vehicle sections are the least accomplished part of the package — handling is serviceable but floaty, and the sequences themselves feel slow and heavily scripted in a way that drains the tension out of what should be showstopper moments. Car chases are fundamental to the Bond fantasy, and these land as box-ticking rather than spectacle. It's the clearest area IOI needs to address before the inevitable sequel.

Elsewhere, enemy AI can be inconsistent, and some mechanics are simplified relative to what Hitman veterans might expect. Neither is a dealbreaker, but both keep the game a step below the studio's best work.

The Verdict

At roughly fourteen to fifteen hours, 007 First Light is a well-paced, confidently made action-adventure that understands what makes Bond work and translates it into something genuinely fun to play. The stealth and combat are excellent, the writing and performances give it real personality, and the origin-story framing earns its place rather than feeling like a hedge.

The weak driving sections and occasional AI wobbles keep it from the top tier, and players hoping for full Hitman-style level freedom should temper expectations. But as a return for a franchise that's been absent from gaming for over a decade, this is a strong, confident first outing — and a foundation worth building on.