007 First Light puts players behind a young James Bond before the tuxedo and the license to kill. The game arrives for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC, and it earns its place as one of the year’s sharper spy stories.
Trailer, via IO Interactive.
Bond Before MI6
The story starts with Bond as a raw recruit, not yet the polished agent audiences know. That choice pays off. Watching him make mistakes, lose fights he should win, and learn control under pressure gives the character room to grow instead of just performing.
Missions and Movement
The mission design carries the game. Levels mix stealth, gunplay and chase sequences without leaning too hard on any single mode. A few standout elements:
- Infiltration levels that reward patience over aggression
- Vehicle chases that feel distinct from typical open-world driving
- Close-quarters combat that punishes button-mashing
Each mission changes pace enough that the game rarely repeats itself.
Combat and Its Limits
Combat is tight when it slows down. Melee exchanges have weight. Gunfights reward positioning.
But the game stumbles when it forces Bond into large-scale firefights against waves of enemies. Those sections feel borrowed from a different, blunter shooter, and they sit awkwardly next to the quieter, more deliberate scenes surrounding them.
Locations Around the World
The globe-trotting is where 007 First Light spends its confidence. Locations shift from tight interiors to sprawling exteriors, each rendered with enough detail that players linger before moving to the next objective. The variety keeps the tone from settling into a single mood for too long.
Performance on Every Platform
On PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, the game runs smoothly, with no noticeable slowdown during even the busiest sequences. PC performance holds up well too, provided the hardware meets recommended specs. Load times are short across all three platforms, which matters in a game built around momentum.
Voice acting throughout is a highlight. Bond’s growth is not just written into the plot; it’s carried in performance, with line delivery that shifts as the character hardens across the story.
The game’s few missteps are concentrated almost entirely in its combat set-pieces, not its writing or pacing.
007 First Light succeeds because it treats young Bond as someone still becoming himself. The world around him is detailed, varied and often tense, even when the shooting occasionally oversteps.
