No Mr Bond, I expect you to Game

Update on 14-Jun-2026:

If you look at the fundamental blueprint of a James Bond film, it reads like a master design document for a video game. You have the globe-trotting exotic locations, the bespoke high-tech gadgets, the explosive vehicle chases, and the quiet tension of infiltrating a heavily guarded compound. On paper, this is a franchise that should have effortlessly dominated the gaming landscape for years. The medium of video games was practically built to simulate this exact brand of escapist power fantasy.

Yet, looking back over the decades, it is genuinely baffling how under-served this iconic property has been. Sure, there were a few fleeting moments of brilliance (I never played Goldneye though), but for the most part, the gaming industry seemed completely incapable of capturing the true soul of Ian Fleming's creation. There are plenty of games that are very Bond-like in their construction, but nothing has ever given us a proper Bond experience in recent times.

Then I booted up 007 First Light. You know the feeling when you start a new game attached to a massive cultural license. You brace yourself for the inevitable disappointment of a shallow corporate cash grab, especially given the Amazon ownership and takeover of the brand. Yet, within the first five minutes of the opening sequence, I realized I was in the hands of absolute masters. The developers at IO Interactive have not just made a competent game. They have delivered the absolute best piece of James Bond content we have been gifted in a very, very long time.

Playing this game is like slipping into a comfortable pair of slippers. It is like those times when watching a Bond movie at Christmas was the tradition you knew was coming every year, and you looked forward to it. Sometimes it feels slightly stiff for exactly one second before you realize it was constructed entirely for your personal agility and style. The respect this game shows you as a player is immediate and profound. The introduction and tutorial setup are a masterclass in intuitive design. Instead of bombarding your screen with intrusive text boxes or treating you like a complete novice, it elegantly and quietly guides you into the shadows of MI6.

What follows is a proper, spectacular Bond story. It is a narrative dripping with international intrigue, unexpected double crosses, and the kind of high-stakes espionage that feels incredibly authentic to the cinematic legacy. The key characters deliver stellar, grounded performances. They breathe genuine emotional weight into a script that could have easily leaned into parody but instead remains gripping from the title sequence straight through to the credits. Naturally, being a Bond story, if you don't know who the bad guy is when they are first introduced, then you are not paying attention. It's not original, but no Bond story ever really is.

Of course, a spy thriller lives and dies by the strength of its core mechanics. I am happy to report that First Light gets the delicate mix of stealth and action perfectly right. In so many stealth titles (looking at you early Assassin's Creed games), getting spotted meant staring at a frustrating fail screen. Here, you are never severely penalized for a clumsy footstep or a blown cover. When your quiet approach inevitably goes south, the game seamlessly pivots into a high-octane shooter. Or if you are lucky, you can bluff your way out of it. You adapt on the fly, swapping your silenced pistol for a scavenged assault rifle, and it all feels completely organic. You genuinely feel like a highly trained operative improvising in real time when a carefully laid plan goes entirely wrong. It's only at this point that some of the controls get in the way, especially on mouse and keyboard. There are lots of YouTube videos of people disarming baddies, getting their guns and throwing them, but it's too many buttons to push. That said, the missile watch is good fun every time. Also, the driving SUCKS, though you are mostly on rails for it.

Visually, the entire experience is an absolute triumph. The art direction is simply fabulous. Legendary set designer Ken Adam would shed a tear looking at these sprawling, brutalist villain lairs. Every environment captures that grandiose, classic aesthetic perfectly. Accompanied by a soundscape that nails every metallic click of a fresh magazine and every swelling brass note, the immersion is absolute.

My single-player campaign wrapped up in around 18 hours, but I did die a lot. There's a solid campaign here though, and it's well worth its runtime. The post-game challenges are incredibly robust. They are absolutely worth doing, and the fact that the developers are actively extending them keeps our licenses to kill active long after the main plot ends.

If you are on the fence, please hear me out. Do not wait to play this. It is a phenomenal return to form, it respects your time, and it is worth every single penny of the asking price. We finally have a spy experience that lives up to the immense weight of its own legend.

THE VERDICT

Visual Design 10/10
Fabulous art direction that perfectly captures the grand, classic aesthetic; Ken Adam would be proud.

Sound Design 9/10
Grounded performances from key characters and a rich, immersive soundscape.

Gameplay 8/10
A fluid, brilliant mix of stealth and action where you are never penalized for breaking cover. it is not a driving game though

Longevity 7/10
I finished the campaign in 12 hours and the extended post-game challenges add great value.

Fun Factor 10/10
Do not wait to play this; it is incredibly satisfying and entirely worth the full price of admission.

OVERALL 9/10

Update on 10-Jun:

I think I am quite close to the end of the story, and without spoilers it's been a Bond adventure. Almost a Bond greatest hits. It also looks in places like the Bond movie that Christopher Nolan wanted to make when he made Inception. Certainly my Ken Adams mention holds up true. There's a lot to like, though it is not a perfect game. Driving definitely needs work, though thankfully there is not a lot of it. The shooting is good, but the controls (at least the mouse/keyboard controls I am using) need work to get the best out of all the options. It's a bit fiddly to press ALT then a button to use a watch power when in the midst of combat. I also cannot remember the button combination to wrench the gun out of the hands of a baddie, or to throw it at their head. I look at Youtube videos of people doing this with envy, but I am not a good enough gamer to play these sort of games with a controller.

That said, it definitely looks and sounds like a Bond game. It has a Bond story, and the usual Bond highlights.

I never played Goldeneye in its pomp, and when I did later I didn't get the appeal. So this, for me, is the best Bond game there is

I've now played quite a bit. It's so very good. I would class it as Hitman-lite, but that would be doing a disservice. The game wants you to play stealth and clever, but doesn't penalise you if you have to go loud. It also has open levels that direct you nicely to the point but allow you to get there through multiple paths. To me this is good design. Speaking of which, based on the locations, Ken Adams has been channeled a lot in the production design. I think he'd be smiling at this one a lot.

Carry on Bond

Very early on, done the prologue and the wider tutorial. I couldn't stop smiling at the cut to proper Bond intro (including the made-for-the-game song).

So far the only let down is the driving controls, but that's often the case with third person games with a driving mode, it's not Forza after all.

I've just completed the first "main" mission, and I have to say it's a lot of fun. I do not usually like stealth games, but this one is not bad. Probably because it's not too punishing on normal difficulty when you get spotted. The fighting mechanics are a bit rough, it clearly wants to be a mix of Bond toughness with a Batman Arkham style flow, but it doesn't quite work as well. Or I am just rubbish at it of course.

A strong start young Bond, a strong start.

I've been expecting you, and there's more to come. But no Mr Bond, I do not expect you to die