007 First Light Reviews Are In — An 88 on Metacritic Makes It the Best Bond Game in 30 Years

IO Interactive has done it again. The Danish studio that spent a decade perfecting stealth assassination with the Hitman World of Assassination trilogy has turned its full attention to James Bond — and the results are outstanding. 007 First Light launched yesterday on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, and the critical reception has been nothing short of spectacular.

With an 88 on Metacritic based on over 50 reviews and an 89 on OpenCritic with a 97% recommendation rate, 007 First Light is being called the best James Bond game in over three decades — perhaps since GoldenEye 007 on the Nintendo 64 back in 1997.

What Critics Are Saying

The consensus across outlets paints a vivid picture: this is a stealth-action game with genuine Hitman DNA wrapped inside an emotionally grounded Bond origin story. Youre not playing the suave, seasoned 007 from the films — this is a younger, rougher Bond just earning his double-0 status, and that framing gives the game a surprising amount of emotional weight.

Critics praised:

• The stealth mechanics — sandbox-style levels that reward creativity and planning over brute force
• Production values — cinematography, voice acting, and score that hold up against the films
• The origin story — a pre-00 Bond that feels fresh rather than retreading familiar ground
• Globe-trotting variety — locations that each have a distinct visual identity and mechanical flavor

Its the kind of game that makes you wonder why it took this long for someone to get Bond right as a video game.

Some Caveats Worth Knowing

Not everything is perfect at launch. Several reviewers flagged performance trade-offs on base PS5 and Xbox Series X — not unusual for a modern AAA title, but worth knowing before you buy on console. There are also some known bugs that IO Interactive has acknowledged on their support forums.

The good news is that IO Interactive has an excellent post-launch track record. The Hitman trilogy received years of patches, seasonal content, and quality-of-life improvements after launch. Expect similar attention here.

One other note: the Nintendo Switch 2 version is delayed to Q3 2026, so Switch players will have to wait a little longer.

Why This Matters

Bond games have had a rough couple of decades. After the golden era of GoldenEye, The World Is Not Enough, and Agent Under Fire in the early 2000s, the franchise largely faded from gaming relevance. Attempts to revive it — like Blood Stone and the 2010 GoldenEye reboot — were decent but never recaptured the magic.

007 First Light is a genuine course correction. It proves that with the right studio, the right creative vision, and genuine respect for the source material, a licensed game can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with original IP. For IO Interactive, this is also a huge statement: after finishing the Hitman trilogy, they channeled everything they knew about stealth, sandbox design, and world-building into a franchise that desperately needed their expertise.

Should You Play It?

If youre a fan of the Hitman trilogy, stealth-action games, or just want a polished cinematic single-player experience — absolutely. A 97% recommendation rate on OpenCritic does not lie.

If multiplayer is more your speed, it might not be for you. But for everyone else, 007 First Light is the Bond game weve been waiting 30 years for.

Available now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. The Switch 2 version arrives in Q3 2026.