007: First Light

James Bond's triumphant return to gaming in 007 First Light proves to be one of 2026's best titles.

007 First Light is a great stealth-action experience packaged into a very strong exploration of Bond’s early days that’s both as charming and as intriguing as we hoped it would be. Its missions are set in maps that take you all around the world, and are always brimming with possibilities as you make your way around them. This one’s definitely among our favorites this year, and for good reason.

007 First Light is a superb adventure game that does so much more than simply coast on the popularity of its franchise.

No, 007 First Light isn’t a perfect game. The AI needs a ton of work. The audio issues are hard to overlook. And the online connectivity requirements remain one of IOI’s dirty, bad habits. But when it clicks, it’s a hell of a lot of fun. The combat is fluid and hard-hitting, the gunplay is super satisfying, the level design is impeccable, and it’s all wrapped up in a fun, Bond-origin story. It feels great to be a 00 again.

It's been nearly 14 years since the last James Bond game, 007 Legends, was released by Eurocom and turned out to be a spectacular failure that also ended the British studio. Gaming fans of the most renowned fictional spy in the world had to wait two entire console generations before IO Interactive came with its 007 First Light.

Although there hasn't been a new James Bond movie in almost 5 years, the franchise proves it's still strong with IOI's take on becoming 007.

Put on your sharpest tux and make yourself a martini (you know the right way), as there’s finally another James Bond game. 007: First Light has everything you’d want in a Bond adventure, with all the gadgets, cheesy puns, classic cars, and daring missions you’d expect.

Completing TacSim challenges earns players currency that can be spent unlocking new weapons and cosmetics for Bond, and this progression system makes the mode much more engaging. It also has online leaderboards, which add a competitive element to the otherwise single-player-only experience. Even more TacSim challenges are being added in the future, and I'll definitely be checking them out when the time comes.

007 First Light is perhaps the closest a game has ever come to making me feel like I’m starring in a Bond film. IO Interactive takes the stealth sandbox of Hitman, the intense thrills of Uncharted, and experimental spycraft of Batman: Arkham, and reshapes them into a globe-trotting cinematic spy thriller filled with covert missions, explosive action, and cool gadgets. While the immersiveness of the campaign occasionally lags, this stylish origin story still feels like a triumphant return for the most iconic secret agent.

While it doesn't pull up any roots, 007: First Light is a beautiful, cinematic action game that makes clever use of the IO formula. From the performance of Patrick Gibson to the iconic score, this is a game that tells a new story and basks in nostalgia in equal measure, giving James Bond a fresh angle in the process.

007 First Light quickly proves it's out to tell a new kind of Bond story by lifting the veil on MI6 headquarters and its personnel. The agency and Bond's peers are usually mysterious, a nebulous institution surrounding a few key characters, yet in First Light, you spend time with other recruits, get ample opportunity to amble around Q-Branch, ride the elevators of the Universal Exports front, and make small talk with the agency's poindexters and desk jockeys. It's such a thorough realization of MI6 that one of my favorite new characters, Basil from the accounting department, doesn't even need ...

Seeing IO Interactive at the helm of a new James Bond video game is like watching two pieces of a jigsaw perfectly slotting together. It’s a pairing that just makes sense given the Danish developer’s track record, having recently wrapped the Hitman: World of Assassination trilogy. Each game had players running a gauntlet of stealth missions, visiting stunning locales around the globe while switching disguises and employing a deadly arsenal of high-tech gadgets. In many ways, 007: First Light feels like an evolution of the Hitman formula, though it’s one that forges a new path for the studio, s...