007 First Light hits 88 on Metacritic and 1.5 million copies in 24 hours

The game that finally gets James Bond right did not come from Hollywood. IO Interactive, the independent Danish studio behind the Hitman trilogy, has delivered something the franchise’s film adaptations have never quite managed: a playable origin story that earns every twist. 007 First Light puts you in control of a 26-year-old Bond, a Royal Navy air crewman who has not yet earned his licence to kill, and makes you feel what it costs to get one.

IO Interactive applies the Hitman philosophy to a character who is still improvising. Where Agent 47 is a perfected weapon, Bond in First Light is learning. Players choose between going loud, with cover-based shooting and a Focus meter that allows slow-motion disarms, or going silent using gadgets, environmental takedowns, and the Q-Lens overlay to track patrol routes. Neither approach is penalised; both receive equivalent mechanical depth. A stun mine placed near a breaker box, a parry that ends with Bond slamming a contact into a glass table, a tranquiliser dart fired through Icelandic fog: the individual moments work because the system behind them is coherent, not just spectacular.

The story opens with a downed aircraft over Iceland, Bond’s first serious field mistake, and propels him into a fast-track MI6 training programme that quickly exposes a conspiracy at the agency’s core. Patrick Gibson plays Bond as someone trying to be colder than he actually is, supported by Kiera Lester as a younger Moneypenny and Lennie James as handler John Greenway. The writing resists the franchise’s traditional smirk and gives genuine weight to the mentor-student dynamic. Gemma Chan and Lenny Kravitz round out an ensemble that holds the narrative together across multiple locations. An original theme by Lana Del Rey and composer David Arnold sets the register from the first frame.

Critics responded with scores rarely seen for a licensed game. 007 First Light carries an 88 on Metacritic and an 89 on OpenCritic, placing it above every entry in the Hitman trilogy and among IO Interactive’s highest-rated work by any measure. Players matched the critical response: the game sold 1.5 million copies in its first 24 hours, according to publisher figures. The last Bond game to generate this kind of cross-platform critical attention was GoldenEye 007 in 1997.

The campaign is not without gaps. Vehicle sequences, a Bond franchise staple, feel like a concession to genre expectation rather than a coherent extension of the on-foot design. They are functional, but rarely as interesting as the stealth missions surrounding them. A handful of second-act chapters feel underbaked compared to the tightly constructed opening hours, where stealth and storytelling interlace cleanly. Prospective buyers should also note that the Nintendo Switch 2 edition has been confirmed but not yet given a firm date, and that the campaign runs approximately 15 hours.

Post-campaign, the Tactical Simulations mode adds substance the initial playthrough does not fully advertise. Replayable versions of core missions with additional modifiers, leaderboards, and a progression loop give the stealth mechanics room to breathe well beyond the credits. IO Interactive has confirmed post-launch TacSim expansions, suggesting the game is designed to be revisited rather than finished and shelved.

007 First Light is available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, priced at $69.99 for the standard edition and $79.99 for the Deluxe. The Nintendo Switch 2 edition is confirmed for Q3 2026 with no specific date announced. IO Interactive develops and publishes the title independently, with Amazon MGM Studios holding the Bond licence.

Tags: action, gaming, james bond, PlayStation 5, 007 First Light, IO Interactive