The best thing to happen to James Bond in decades is the new game 007 First Light, helping to kickstart an ageing franchise. It is Bond’s first interactive outing in many years that rises above the mediocrity seen across more than 30 games spread over 40 years, barring GoldenEye 007, released in 1997 for the Nintendo 64. That game was a bolt from the blue first-person shooter, selling more than eight million copies and still beloved by a generation of gamers for its multiplayer shootouts. The new game also rekindles interest at who the next 007 actor might be on the big screen.
You play as a cocky crusader who can kick ass with considerable flair. At moments, 007 First Light shows signs that connect it to IO Interactive A/S’ previous work, Hitman, in which a bald assassin moves through large architectural sandboxes, discreetly dispatching his targets.
The success has been swift and startling. The game sold 1.5 million units in its first 24 hours, beating the record for the fastest-selling title IO has ever made, which is no small achievement for a studio whose previous triumph was the excellent Hitman reboot trilogy.
Part of that success stems from a bold creative choice: the protagonist is a younger Bond played by TV star Patrick Gibson, rather than Daniel Craig, who handed in his licence to kill after No Time to Die in 2021. Add cameos from the likes of Lenny Kravitz and Gemma Chan, and a central cast largely comprising fresh-faced television actors, and you have something that feels genuinely new.
To the tune of Gibson
Gibson is best known as the younger version of serial killer Dexter Morgan in Dexter: Original Sin. At 31, he falls between George Lazenby (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service), who was around 29 for his sole Bond outing, and Sean Connery, who was 32 in his first appearance, Dr. No. But he plays someone younger still. The Bond of First Light is 26 years old, more or less aligning with the character’s debut in Ian Fleming’s original novel, Casino Royale, published in 1953.
That youthfulness helps combat the creeping stasis that Hollywood has long inflicted on 007. Bond will, of course, return to a cinema near you — but how and when remains a mystery. In 2021-22, Amazon acquired MGM, the owner of the film’s distribution rights, raising hopes that the gaps between Bond films would shorten. Yet there is equal fear that the streaming giant might wring the iconic cinematic property dry.
Longtime producer Barbara Broccoli clashed creatively with the studio’s new owners before departing last year as the series’ steward, a role she inherited from her father, Albert R. Broccoli. She reportedly described Amazon executives, according to The Wall Street Journal, as “f**king idiots.” Whatever the future holds, Bond has around £6 billion in box-office receipts to his name and rarely stays down for long.
First Light was developed by Danish studio IO Interactive and is not based on any existing Bond film or likeness — it is a story entirely its own. It goes further than fans might have imagined, depicting the agent’s very first major assignment. This Bond hasn’t even completed basic spy training.
Amazon paid $8.45 billion for MGM, picking up a library of titles to move into its streaming service or reimagine, from Rocky to Legally Blonde. One property in particular is a crown jewel in the empire: Bond
The game opens with a mission gone wrong, Bond surviving a crash-landing behind enemy lines. He must track down survivors while an unknown voice handler feeds instructions into his earpiece. He has no idea who is guiding him, nor what kind of mission he is on. All he knows is that he must make it out alive.
Hitman is famously open-ended, but that has not stopped IO from embracing linear storytelling here, evoking the propulsive energy of adventure games like Uncharted. You inhabit moments that might pass as cutscenes in lesser games. An entire chapter is devoted to a training montage that weaves together getaway driving, stealth and gunplay in exhilarating fashion.
Wine cellars and Mauritanian market
As Bond rapidly acquires the tricks needed to survive, the spectacle escalates — gas tanks erupting, cranes collapsing, fist fights that carry real weight. Bond here is a barroom brawler, rough-edged and reactive, with Fleming’s authorial signature stamped across every exchange. The one-liners land with pleasing regularity. He is more action hero than suave gentleman, though the suaveness is never entirely absent.
The game also feels unmistakably modern. Bond is dropped into a world where technology companies are pushing artificial intelligence solutions onto everyone, yet he must trust his instincts and outmanoeuvre the bureaucrats at every turn.
The camera keeps its distance throughout, offering a wide peripheral view that lets Bond’s charisma fill the frame. In one memorable scene, he chats up a waiter, shimmies up a drainpipe, subdues a pair of guards, steals a chauffeur’s cap and slips into a wine cellar — all with the effortless ease of a man born to cause trouble in beautiful places.
First Light treats action as only one part of the Bond fantasy. He remains a social creature. A visit to a Mauritanian market and a stint in a luxury hotel both carry that aspirational shimmer the franchise has always traded on.
Crucially, IO Interactive never rushes the plot. Stealth options arrive gradually, unrestricted access to firearms takes even longer, and when the shootouts finally open up, the satisfaction is all the greater for the wait. The visceral thrill of mowing down dozens of enemies feels earned.
Few characters outside comic-book staples like Batman have had Bond’s cultural staying power. The main campaign runs to roughly 20 hours, with replayable side modes and future downloadable content expansions still to come. More than anything, First Light offers something the franchise has lacked for years — genuine momentum. And with it, the hope that Bond on film might not be far behind.