007 First Light

Truly, its peak. I wasn't even a large bond fan, but I am now!

The game really is brilliant because it managed to transfer to blockbuster vibe of the movies into it, which is a first (at least for me). So, if somebody else is watching you play, that person can actually enjoy a great movie! Another plus, is that I can play it on my 4K TV (with medium settings) completely smooth and responsive with my average PC (GTX 4060). If I may point out one scene that throw me out of this awesome flow, it was the fight against Murto in the art gallery, because it felt extremly staged and I just wanted to throw something at him and fight him. But the game had a fix idea of how it had to be done, it felt just too contrived.

Bugged and runs poorly otherwise good game

8/10

007 First Light: An Honest Review After Finishing the Campaign I went in expecting a decent licensed game with a Hitman skin painted over it. What I got was one of the best James Bond stories told in any medium in years, wrapped around gameplay that actually understands what makes 007 fun to be, not just watch. This is my honest take after finishing the full ~14-hour campaign. The Story: Bond Done Right IO Interactive clearly did their homework. First Light gives us an origin story — a young, unproven Bond still earning his 00 status — and instead of retreading the "how he got his scars" cliché, it builds a genuinely layered spy thriller: conspiracies inside MI6, betrayals that land because the writing takes time to earn them, and a plot that stays topical without becoming preachy. It doesn't feel like fan service. It feels like a real Bond film that happens to be a game. Patrick Gibson as Bond is the anchor that makes all of it work. He's the first "new" Bond since Daniel Craig, and rather than doing an impression, he plays the role entirely on his own terms — arrogant, impulsive, a little too pleased with himself, and completely believable in the quieter, more vulnerable moments too. His one-liner delivery is genuinely funny, which matters more than it sounds like it should; a Bond game lives or dies on whether the wit lands, and here it does, consistently. The supporting cast — M, Q, Moneypenny, Greenway — all pull their weight instead of feeling like exposition dispensers. Small but telling detail: even the game's guard-bluffing dialogue is dynamic. I hit a rare crash and had to replay one sequence, and the line Bond used to talk his way out of trouble — and even his accent doing it — was completely different the second time. That's the kind of unnecessary craftsmanship that tells you the team cared about more than just hitting a checklist. Gameplay: Hitman's DNA, But Its Own Animal You can feel the Hitman: World of Assassination pedigree everywhere — lavish locations, oddball villains, a love of unconventional spycraft — but First Light isn't Agent 47 in a tuxedo. It's more linear than Hitman's sandbox chaos, with scripted story beats you have to hit, but the path to those beats stays wonderfully open. An early mission has you needing to get into a chess tournament: eavesdrop on a reporter to find a stashed press pass, disguise yourself as staff, or just climb the building and go in through a window. It's a lighter, faster version of Hitman's opportunity system, and it works. The gadgets are simple but purposeful — a Q-Watch for manipulating electronics, a camera that stuns, a dart-shooting fake phone — and you're limited to three per mission, so loadout choices actually matter. I'll admit I leaned on the same two or three "safe" tools once I found what worked, but nothing in the kit felt like filler. The best design decision, though, is what happens when stealth fails. Getting caught doesn't mean an automatic firefight — Bond can talk his way out, bluffing a guard with confidence and a straight face. It's a genuinely clever "not quite last resort" state that keeps the tension of stealth without punishing a single mistake with a reload. When gunplay does kick in, it's cinematic in a way Hitman's combat never was: grabbing a guard into a fire extinguisher, disarming the next one mid-explosion, throwing an empty gun to stun someone else, all in one fluid sequence. It's the rare game where what you do with the controller is just as cool as what cutscene-Bond does when he takes the wheel back. My one real complaint on the gameplay side: the driving sequences aren't good. They're infrequent enough that they don't sour the experience, but the actual feel of the cars doesn't match the polish everywhere else — it's the one part of the Bond fantasy the game hasn't quite cracked yet. Presentation: This Is What "AAA" Should Look Like Visually, it's a genuine showcase — the kind of game you point to when someone asks what a current-gen console can actually do. Level design is IO's strongest suit and it shows: every location is a maze of side rooms, alternate routes, and details most players will never even find. The score is used with real precision, and the theme song — "First Light," performed by Lana Del Rey — is the best Bond title track I've heard since Adele's "Skyfall." That's not a compliment I hand out lightly. The One Structural Gripe By the time I'd unlocked all of Bond's gadgets and abilities, the campaign was already wrapping up. It's a strange pacing choice for a 14-hour game — the toolkit finally feels complete right as the credits are approaching. I'd have happily taken a longer campaign, or better yet, DLC-style follow-up missions in new locations, to actually play with the full kit. Given IO's history of supporting Hitman with years of additional content, I hope that's exactly where this is headed. Verdict 007 First Light might be the best Bond game ever made, and it's a genuine contender for game of the year. It nails the fantasy — spectacle, humor, romance, tension — without ever feeling like it's coasting on the license. The driving is weak and the gadget unlock pacing is backwards, but those are minor scuffs on something this confident. If this is IO's opening move as the new stewards of Bond, I'm already in for whatever comes next. Sources referenced: 007 First Light review: IO nails the James Bond fantasy with a globetrotting epic (VGC) 007 First Light Review: From Combat to the Story, Bond is at His Best (But Why Tho?) 007 First Light review: "Bond's greatest game to date" (GamesRadar+)

very very good yes oh yesyes im coming

Mandioca at Best, hyped by Paid Influences and Media Melts as per..short and sweet. Make sure you get it cheap and not buy from Steam,, Epic or any other rip off outlet Its worth about £30..Can't wait for Amazon's DLC.. Jerome.. Jerome Bond the Black Trans pmsl

This is purely a love letter to bond in so many ways and also a reimagining and rebranding for a modern era at the same time. It's hard to quantify how, but it just is, that's the feeling.

Pretty good game !

Amazing