'007: First Light' review — Not content with being one of the best stealth-action games in years, it also comes with a huge warning to the world

I had absolutely no expectations whatsoever for 007: First Light, which launches this week on Xbox Play Anywhere and Steam. I come away from this review with a potential pick for my personal Game of the Year.

I'm by no means a hardcore Bond fan, but I do have a fondness for the franchise. I have nostalgic memories watching the classics as a kid, from Goldfinger to GoldenEye (both movie and game). If you're a Brit, Bond is woven into the culture with everyone having at least some generalized awareness of its tropes and cliches.

I'm also, at best, a casual fan of IO, having long been impressed by Hitman, albeit from the sidelines, as a dabbler, and I'm by no means a stealth-assassin aficionado. Despite all of this, I came away from 007: First Light not only blown away by the game's raw quality, but also its thoughtful and authentic story delivery. IO has hit another level.

007 First Light: Gameplay Trailer - YouTube

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007: First Light takes what IO built within its dynamic open assassination sandboxes and deftly applies it to something more cinematic — while avoiding feeling overly linear or scripted. It pays raises a vodka martini to Ian Fleming's classic world in spades, remaining unapologetically British in delivery while pulling on contemporary real-world events that should be on everyone's radar.

007: First Light is an absolute masterpiece, and I am elated for the team at IO. There are some rough edges, but nothing a patch or two won't smooth out. I'm more than happy to recommend its beefy, 16+ hour campaign in full to players on Xbox and PC.

007: First Light review — Visuals, design, and performance

007: First Light runs on IOI's proprietary engine known as Glacier, giving 007: First Light a large variety of gameplay modularity and systems, wholly befitting of Bond. It's also not a bad looker, either, with impressive lighting and smoke detailing, and good shadows. I was a little disappointed with the overall performance compromises on Xbox Series X, however. Bond is best served on a high-end PC as usual.

007: First Light offers both performance and quality modes on Xbox Series X, although the frame rate is very poor on quality mode with the review build, with a juddery presentation. I suspect many, if not most, will use performance mode on Xbox Series X|S. In this mode, you do get a smooth 60 FPS throughout the whole game on the X with no noticeable dips, but the resolution takes a beating.

It dynamically scales to maintain pace with the target frame rate, which can result in pixelated presentation in some sequences. It's ultimately a minor gripe, though — and something I'm sure IO will optimize further in subsequent patches.

Clearly, the lion's share of 007: First Light's design work went into its characters. As a cinematic game, this was clearly the right choice. The main characters are evocative and give great performances, although the throwaway NPCs can look a little uncanny at times.

Glacier is still a great engine for creating immersive, realistic human spaces. Some scenes feature dozens of NPCs on-screen simultaneously (as was often true in Hitman), with key NPCs sporting their own behaviors and pathing. IO also continues its penchant for hefty detailing and realism, offering tons of reasons to explore the game's varied and sizeable playspaces.

007: First Light is a stealth game at its core, connecting Hitman-styled stealth sandbox action-puzzle environments between more Bond movie-style cinematic linear sequences. IO executes the blend of gameplay styles effortlessly, with great pacing between the game's bombastic action movie highs and more meticulous, analytical stealth segments.

Taking in 007: First Light's gallery of colorful characters, larger-than-life cinematic highs, and carefully crafted stealth sequences made me almost nostalgic at times. Structurally speaking, I more than once felt like I was a kid playing Metal Gear Solid again, and that's one of the best compliments I can give this game.

007: First Light review — Story and characters

Indeed, I can't praise IOI enough for the overall story delivery here. The quality of the digital acting and cinematic pacing is hard to nail by itself, but marry in the lofty expectations that come with a modern Bond experience ... and you've set yourself a pretty gargantuan challenge. IOI nailed it, through and through. 007: First Light is quite possibly not just the best Bond game ever made, it's also worthy of the best movies from the franchise's celebrated canon. Absolute cinema.

You play as a younger James Bond here. A RAF Aircrewman who found himself at the wrong place at the wrong time. Or perhaps, it was the right place?

Salvaging an MI6 mission gone awry, the rookie Bond ends up inducted into an MI6 training program for his valor and proficiency in the field. The program is set to revive this universe's version of the "00" elite agent program ... although why it was shuttered in the first place is a major plot point.

I won't spoil the game's overarching beats, but throughout 007: First Light, you meet an incredible cast of memorable characters with Hollywood-grade delivery and fantastic dialogue. All of the Bond franchise's signature tropes are not only retained, but celebrated. Everything from Bond's irritatingly charming witticisms, a mysterious femme fatale, spy gadgets from the eccentric Q, and M — almost as new in the job as you, and terminally frustrated by Bond's cavalier antics.

Lenny Kravitz' bombastic crime lord Bawma, and others (spoilers), felt like an attempt to draw on some of Bond's larger-than-life classic villains. Yet, the overarching story 007: First Light tells feels scarily poignant and closer to home than I think many will be prepared for.

007 celebrates many different angles of Bond in a way that only a video game can — offering different Bond styles throughout its various systems, cinematic moments, and characters. Despite all of this, it never feels incohesive, which is incredibly impressive. 007: First Light, for its story alone, is well worth a place among the franchise's biggest and most celebrated movies.

Bond in 007: First Light is as green and reckless as they come, but he gets humbled pretty quickly. His maturity grows throughout the game, shadowed by the cold veteran Greenway, a former "00" relegated to a pencil pusher due to a notoriously botched op.

The way James' relationship and camaraderie grow with the supporting MI6 cast throughout the game was one of 007's high points for me, but what I enjoyed even more was how IOI delivered a contemporary narrative that should feel very relevant to anyone paying attention.

I don't want to spoil where the game takes some of these ideas, but 007: First Light also serves as a pretty stark warning about very, very real risks many of the world's biggest governments are already taking with certain companies and individuals ... I suspect those warnings will not be heeded.

In any case, like any great Bond movie, 007: First Light will run you through the whole gamut of human emotions, and I was fully invested throughout the whole show.

007: First Light review — Gameplay

I generally don't see myself as having the patience for stealth games like Hitman, but 007: First Light offers a vast variety of gameplay styles and opportunities to meet players where they are. Combat is not a "last resort" in 007: First Light.

Indeed, 007: First Light draws inspiration from the Batman Arkham games for its fist fighting. Dodge, parry, grab, and then execute form the basis of combat. But there's also so much more here.

First Light's close-quarters combat is incredibly dynamic, offering contextual opportunities that feel ripped straight out of the movie. What's all the more impressive is that it never feels overly scripted. James will dynamically use the environment to his advantage in combat, and you can throw objects and reach for other tools to stun and incapacitate foes on the fly. Run out of bullets? Throw your gun at them, too.

Oftentimes, I find games tend to put their focus on one specific style of gameplay, but First Light's gunplay is also incredibly robust. You can only wield guns and kill enemies in certain situations, when your "License to Kill" is active — James is bound by the law after all. Thankfully, there's a whole army of terrorists and mercenaries standing between Bond and his goals, with plenty of opportunities to cause mayhem and chaos.

James has various resources he can use in combat. The Q-Watch gadget lets you hack environmental details and set traps, luring enemies or stunning them for a quick stealth take down. You'll also gain focus points for successful actions and activities, which lets you slow down time during gunplay, Max Payne-style, for some slow-motion flourishes.

However, it also lets you use your spy craft persuasion tactics. You can walk up to a group of guards and confidently warn them that you're the IT guy here to check out a faulty server. If you have enough focus points, they'll buy the bluff temporarily at least. However, some smarter and more perceptive guards may be more difficult to persuade ...

The game also has more than its fair share of Hollywood-style set-piece moments. I found myself driving a garbage truck through packed London streets at one point, as mercs swarmed with silenced (and not so silenced) machine guns. There are obligatory car chases, parachute-free skydives, and other unexpected Bond-style "improvisations."

I played the game through on Normal difficulty across around 16 hours of playtime for the campaign. It also has some Metal Gear VR missions-style test levels you can try out, complete with leaderboards for skill expression. I want to also add that it had some of the best tutorial segments I've seen in a game, woven in as slick training montages.

007: First Light felt impeccably polished throughout. I was never disengaged or rushing to completion, even in the slower, stealthier segments — it was often here the characters and world-building shone the most. A huge variety of gameplay locations, gameplay styles, unique activities, set-piece moments, logic puzzles, investigations, platforming, and, honestly, exploration opportunities never left me wanting.

007: First Light review — Conclusion

I am rooting for 007. For one thing, it's becoming rare that we get games like this these days, particularly so at this level. It's even rarer that we get a game based on an existing IP that utterly nails the source material. It's rarer still that a AAA developer can stray from its bread-and-butter comfort zone and reach even higher — while also thoroughly succeeding.

007: First Light is as spectacular a game as it is a true Bond story and experience. The plot, the characters, the gameplay variety and pacing ... when you zoom out, the needle IOI had to thread makes for nothing short of a Herculean task. I hope the market rewards them in droves.

This is quintessential James Bond at its absolute best. Yes, I think there's room for optimization on console, and I have experienced a crash or two; the minor issues I experienced on my run didn't even come close to detracting from the overall package.

The fresh take on the franchise gives IOI a huge amount of runway for future installments (hopefully), and offers an angle underexplored by the movies themselves. It pays thoughtful homage to the franchise's iconic tropes without coming across as forced or ham-fisted, while also putting its own uniquely IOI mark on the legendary canon.

For anyone who has ever loved action-leaning stealth games, cinematic action games, or frankly, James Bond, all up — 007: First Light is absolutely essential.

007: First Light launches on May 27, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC. It's also part of Xbox Play Anywhere for Xbox consoles and the Xbox PC store.

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