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007 First Light review: A binge-worthy box-set of James Bond blockbusters

Prepare to be shaken and stirred.

A screenshot from 007 First Light, showing James Bond in a white tux wearing glasses.

IO Interactive

Published: Friday, 29 May 2026 at 3:30 pm

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A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Remember that feeling of turning on your TV on a Sunday afternoon to see that a random James Bond film was showing? As I’ve been playing through 007 First Light for this review, I’ve been thinking of those lazy days spent watching Bond on British terrestrial telly.

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On any given Sunday, the vibe of the film would be totally different to the last one you watched – different actor, different era, but something intangible under the surface that would make it feel quintessentially Bond.

Whether he’s embroiled in a hyper-modern techno-thriller or wandering around a retro-seeming resort, Bond is still Bond, and you know you’re in safe hands as you settle on the sofa to watch the film of the day to completion (with a thousand ad breaks along the way, of course).

Every time I started a new mission in the game, I would think of that feeling, and I’d notice a similar level of reassurance emanating from 007 First Light.

An official screenshot for 007 First Light, showing Bond in a black suit facing away from the camera. A mountain vista looms in the distance.

In 007 First Light, Bond embarks on his first mission as an agent. IO Interactive

The video game version of Bond, introduced here with Patrick Gibson dazzling in the role, has a varied array of quests to complete, but you can safely assume there will be lots to enjoy in whichever one you boot up next.

IO Interactive, the developers of 007 First Light, are best known for working on the Hitman games, where players would be given large sandbox levels and an assassination target to hunt down. How you completed the task was up to you, with creative kills being celebrated in the fandom, and you will see flashes of this freewheeling gameplay in 007 First Light.

However, just as Bond has a collection of gadgets at his disposal, this new game has other tricks up its sleeve – an early mission teaches you that Hitman-esque infiltration is only one option on the buffet table here.

Your initial task is to break your way into a posh hotel where a chess tournament is taking place. So far, so Hitman, and that feeling continues for a while as you chase an elusive enemy from room to room, choosing whichever options you like to get past security, locked doors and other obstacles in your way.

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But then, things take a bombastic turn towards proper cinematic action. When you finally reach your target, it’s not a case of silently taking them out – you’re soon caught up in a boss fight, a car chase, and a huge action set-piece that I won’t spoil for you here. In true Bond fashion, things go off the rails and you’re forced to duck and weave, roll with the punches and frantically chase down MI6’s desired outcome.

The first time I experienced this is when the game really started to coalesce for me. Admittedly, once you’ve seen that trick once, the quiet quiet BANG of going from stealth into action is less of a shock when it happens, but it’s still consistently fun as you make your way through the 10 missions that make up the main story.

That story feels like vintage Bond. While this is technically a new origin story for our hero, it doesn’t shy away from the iconic elements – the villain, the henchmen and the beautiful women are all present and correct as you chase a mysterious threat around the globe.

And with each mission sending you to a different place with new characters to contend with, it starts to feel like you’re not just watching one Bond film on that lazy afternoon, you’re actually binge-watching a varied selection of different Bond adventures. It’s a veritable box-set of blockbuster scenarios.

There’s a lot to love about the game. For one thing, the music, from the Lana Del Rey theme song to the original score by The Flight, is consistently great and never breaks the illusion that you’ve slipped into Bond’s shoes.

Another special shoutout should go to the 007 First Light cast, and their cut-scene director Martin Emborg. Gibson was a great choice for Bond, bringing the perfect mix of dry wit and sarcastic smarm, with just enough loveable charm thrown in to keep you rooting for him. The supporting cast, particularly Lennie James as mentor figure Greenway, do great work selling the story beats and making you care about the bits between the explosions.

The graphics are also consistently excellent, although I did suffer three hard crashes while playing through the game. For the most part, though, the checkpoints are frequent enough that I didn’t lose much progress.

One slight source of frustration is the level design, which feels excellent in some missions and underbaked in others (a mission where Bond infiltrates an empty office at night time felt like some budget had been cut behind the scenes).

Another qualm of mine is with the hand to hand combat, which admirably attempts to offer an Arkham-like system of dodges and parries, but fails to hit that same level of fluidity (I found myself dodging pretty much all the time, which didn’t feel very Bond-y, but did make the combat sequences wrap up quicker).

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The game is also somewhat stingy with its gadgets, only allowing you to bring a small selection of them with you on any given mission. This opens up a bit towards the end, when another gadget slot opens up, but even then, you still have to leave some things behind… which does get frustrating when you really want a smoke bomb, but you left them all at base.

The limited number of equipped gadgets does force you to think creatively, but again, taking some of the fun out of it, I ended up falling back on tried and tested solutions again and again (a poison dart that makes your enemies sick definitely got overused on my first playthrough).

The overarching story is reasonably satisfying, but some of the twists and turns were a little on the predictable side. But what’s interesting is that I enjoyed seeing them play out anyway, because the writing and the performances sell every moment incredibly well.

All these are minor quibbles, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this game to any Bond fan. If you want a globe-trotting adventure with truly bombastic action, plus a great cast and soundtrack, you should absolutely check this out. It's well worth a binge.

007 First Light is out now on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. We reviewed on Xbox Series X. You can order your copy now.

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Authors

Black and white cut-out portrait headshot of Rob Leane, smiling against a lime green background.

Rob LeaneGaming Editor

Rob Leane is the Gaming Editor at Radio Times, overseeing our coverage of the biggest games on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC, mobile and VR. Rob works across our website, social media accounts and video channels, as well as producing our weekly gaming newsletter. He has previously worked at Den of Geek, Stealth Optional and Dennis Publishing.

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