007 First Light Review: IO's Bold Take on Young Bond

After more than five years of secrecy, 007 First Light is finally stepping out of the shadows. Danish studio IO Interactive — the team behind the modern Hitman trilogy — recently dropped a thirteen-minute gameplay deep-dive, a Lana Del Rey theme song, and a full set of platform performance details, giving fans the clearest look yet at how the first light studio plans to reinvent the world's most famous spy for a new generation.

Here's our early 007 First Light review, based on the first major footage from PC Gamer, the BBC's reveal coverage, and the freshly confirmed technical specs from Pure Xbox.

What Is 007 First Light?

007 First Light is the first major James Bond game in over a decade, produced under license from Amazon MGM Studios. It is also IO Interactive's first ever fully original third-person action title, marking a major departure from the top-down sandbox style of the World of Assassination trilogy.

Crucially, this is not an adaptation of any film or novel. IO has stated repeatedly that this is a fully original James Bond origin story — a younger, less polished 26-year-old version of James Bond on his first mission as a Double-O recruit. The "First Light" in the title refers to MI6's internal codename for the moment a fresh agent earns their licence to kill.

The 13-Minute Gameplay Reveal

The footage shown to press in May 2026, broken down in detail by Kotaku and PC Gamer, gave us the first proper hands-off look at how 007 First Light actually plays. Below are the standout takeaways.

A Reckless Recruit Steps Into the World of Espionage

Irish actor Patrick Gibson voices this younger James Bond, and he's recognisably 007 but rougher around the edges. He's cocky, occasionally reckless, and clearly still earning the suit. Cinematic director Martin Emborg has described Gibson's performance as bringing a "built-in impatience" — the exact energy a reckless recruit needs as he takes his first real steps into the world of espionage.

Gadgets, Stealth, and IO's Signature Sandbox

Anyone who has played a recent Hitman game will immediately recognise IO's design DNA here. The mission space is a layered, multi-route sandbox. Each stealth section gives Bond a range of options: he can talk his way past guards using social-stealth dialogue choices, swap into disguises, hack security systems with a Q-issued wristwatch, or, when the situation calls for it, deploy lethal force with a silenced PPK.

What's new compared with the Hitman series is the third-person camera, a cover-based shooting system, and far more dynamic hand-to-hand combat — including melee takedowns that feel closer to the Bourne films than anything Agent 47 ever did in a World of Assassination mission. Iconic vehicles also make their debut: art director Rasmus Poulsen confirmed that drivable cars are a first for IO Interactive, headlined by an Aston Martin chase that anchors one of the reveal's biggest set-pieces of explosive action.

Story, Cast and Setting

According to BBC and Variety reveal coverage, 007 First Light is set across multiple breathtaking locations — including an Italian coastal villa, a snowy Eastern European compound, and a high-rise in Asia. The plot follows Bond on the hunt for a rogue agent (codename 009), and forces him to team up with his reluctant mentor Greenway — voiced by Walking Dead alum Lennie James — to expose a conspiracy that threatens MI6 from within.

The ensemble cast is one of the strongest ever assembled for a video game:

• Patrick Gibson as the young James Bond

• Priyanga Burford as M

• Alastair Mackenzie as Q

• Kiera Lester as Miss Moneypenny — reinvented as a field analyst who actively supports Bond on missions

• Lennie James as John Greenway

• Noémie Nakai as DGSE agent Charlotte Roth

• Gemma Chan as Dr. Selina Tan, MI6's Head of Tactical Simulation

• Lenny Kravitz as the villainous arms dealer Bawma

The official 007 First Light theme song, also titled First Light, was surprise-released by Lana Del Rey in April 2026, co-written with longtime Bond composer David Arnold.

Performance, Frame Rates and PC Specs

Thanks to Pure Xbox, we now have a clear picture of how the game will run across consoles, plus the PC specs needed to push it.

Xbox Series X and PS5

Both flagship consoles offer two graphical modes: a Performance Mode targeting 60 frames per second at a dynamic 4K resolution, and a Quality Mode running at native 4K and 30 fps with ray-traced lighting and reflections plus IO's new volumetric smoke system.

Xbox Series S

The smaller Series S has been confirmed at 60 fps in Performance Mode at a dynamic 1080p, with a 30 fps Quality Mode also available. This parity is excellent news for Series S owners.

PC

A PC version with uncapped frame rates and full DLSS and FSR support is also confirmed, available day-one on Steam and the Epic Games Store. Recommended PC specs target an RTX 3070 or equivalent for 1440p/60 fps with high settings.

Release Date and Platforms

007 First Light launches on 27 May 2026 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, with a Nintendo Switch 2 version following later in summer 2026. Sony hosted a dedicated State of Play presentation that revealed key gameplay and narrative details, while Xbox showcased its own deep dive shortly after.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do players feel about the story in 007 First Light?

Player reaction to the story has been mostly positive, with the younger, less polished James Bond resonating as a refreshing change from the polished agent of the films. Hands-on previews highlighted the script, performance capture, and ensemble cast as standout elements, and forum discussion on ResetEra and Reddit has repeatedly praised IO's decision to build a fully original Bond rather than adapt an existing film. The angle of a reckless recruit hunting down a rogue agent (the missing 009), guided by his reluctant mentor Greenway, has been described as the most character-driven Bond plot in any video game to date. The mixed-reception Lana Del Rey theme song is the only narrative-adjacent element that has split fans down the middle.

How does 007 First Light compare to previous James Bond games?

007 First Light is the first major James Bond game in 14 years, following 2012's poorly received 007 Legends, and almost every preview has framed it as the most ambitious entry since GoldenEye 007 on the Nintendo 64. The biggest difference from previous Bond games is structural: where almost every past 007 title was either a direct film adaptation or a "lost entry" in a film actor's run, First Light is a fully original story with its own canon. It is also a third-person action-adventure rather than a first-person shooter, which immediately distances it from GoldenEye, Nightfire, and 007 Legends. IO Interactive itself has been careful to say the game is "completely different" from GoldenEye, leaning into sandbox stealth, social infiltration, and drivable iconic vehicles rather than corridor shootouts.

What were your initial impressions after playing 007 First Light?

Based on the hands-on previews we and other outlets attended, our initial impressions are very positive but cautiously so. The standout system is the License to Kill mechanic: Bond cannot use lethal force on a target until the target draws a weapon first, at which point the rules flip and the full sandbox of takedowns opens up. It's an elegant piece of game design that uses Bond iconography to teach the player how stealth and action coexist. Hand-to-hand combat feels weighty and contextual, the breathtaking locations are stunning, and the cast's performance capture is genuinely cinematic. The caveats: the gunplay is less interesting than the melee, some stealth sections felt more linear than IO's Hitman missions, and minor audio issues were flagged in early builds. Overall, it feels like a confident new James Bond game rather than a reskinned Hitman game.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of 007 First Light according to critics?

The hands-on preview consensus from IGN, PC Gamer, Eurogamer, and others points to a clear list of strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths:

• The License to Kill system as a smart marriage of Bond lore and game design

• Strong story, ensemble cast and performance capture

• Sandbox mission design inherited from the Hitman series, with a range of options for stealth, dialogue and lethal force

• Satisfying hand-to-hand combat and explosive action set-pieces

• Stunning audiovisual presentation, especially during cinematic sequences

Weaknesses:

• PC Gamer warned that the more linear, choreographed structure echoes Hitman: Absolution — a direction that didn't suit IO last time

• Gunplay is functional rather than thrilling

• Some critics felt the game plays it safe and may end up "too Hitman for half of players and too little Hitman for the other half"

• The late distribution of review codes (only days before the 27 May launch) has raised questions about day-one polish

• The PC version's last-minute addition of Denuvo DRM has drawn complaints from PC players

Are there any standout levels or missions in 007 First Light?

Yes — even from preview coverage alone, a few missions have already emerged as fan and critic favorites. 007 First Light spans roughly 12 missions across the globe, with confirmed locations including Iceland, Slovakia, London (Kensington), Monaco, Tokyo, and Dubai.

• The Grand Carpathian Hotel (Slovakia / Iceland opening): Bond's first proper field assignment, set during a high-stakes chess tournament where he tracks rogue agent 009. Previews describe it as the game's tutorial in spycraft — teaching stealth, social infiltration and gadget use without firearms. Some critics flagged the Iceland opening as a touch overlong, but it sets the tone effectively.

• The Kensington Gala (London): Almost every hands-on preview, including those by PCGamesN and Space4Games, calls this the clear standout of the early game. Set inside a London museum during a corporate gala, it blends classic stealth, social deception, a boss fight, a choice-based interrogation scene, and a full sandbox-style infiltration — IO at its most confident.

• Dubai (late-game finale): Reported as the game's most demanding sequence, with multiple approach paths, every gadget and combat skill on the table, and a vertical skyline backdrop that delivers the kind of explosive action set-piece Bond films are built around.

Beyond the campaign, players can revisit favorite missions in TacSim mode, which adds additional modifiers — similar to Hitman's Escalations — letting you re-run levels with new restrictions and challenges. Total play time lands around 20 hours for the main story, or up to 40 hours with all extras.

Early Verdict

Based on what's been shown so far, IO Interactive looks like exactly the right studio for this job. The systemic stealth pedigree of the Hitman series, paired with a more cinematic adventure presentation and additional modifiers like drivable cars, melee combat and ray-traced lighting, makes 007 First Light one of the most exciting next-gen releases on the horizon.

We'll deliver a full 007 First Light review the moment the credits roll — but if the 13-minute reveal is any indication, the world's most famous spy may finally have the great video game he's deserved for decades.