We're about to release our first James Bond game in 10 years, and it sounds like a huge payoff. 007 First Light reviews are starting to ramp up ahead of its release later this week, and all signs point to this being one of the best games of the year so far.
The reviews for First Light are glowing.
IO Interactive's first crack at a Bond game currently has a score of 89 on OpenCritic and 88 on Metacritic, putting it up there with some of the best-reviewed games released in the first five months of 2026. It's as high as Forza Horizon 6, which currently leads the pack, and is on par with Pokemon Pokopia and Resident Evil Requiem, which previously topped the list at various stages this year.
“007 First Light is the best start to IO Interactive’s entirely new interpretation of the James Bond universe,” GameRant wrote. Here, Dalton Cooper gives the upcoming Bond game a 4/5. Gamingbible's Olly Smith gave IO's latest offering a 9/10, writing, “007 First Light has an exquisite taste for slick spy action and blockbuster storytelling, and is a perfect match for what a Bond game should be, but it's hardly that.”
Best bond since GoldenEye
First Light is not only one of the best games of the year so far, but one of the video game studio's best Bond efforts. Although there hasn't been a Bond game since 2012, there were a number of attempts to make good games in the late 1990s and early 2000s, largely thanks to the success of GoldenEye 007 on the Nintendo 64.
Ultimately, no game released in the years since the N64 classic has matched GoldenEye's legacy. In fact, it took until First Light for anything to come close. With a Metacritic score of 96, GoldenEye will almost forever be the highest-rated Bond game. But at 88, First Light is second best. To be on the same level as Everything or Nothing, which scored 83, its score would have to drop significantly.
IO has admitted that they are looking forward to returning to Hitman after First Light, but has also already confirmed that they would be very interested in developing a First Light sequel if this first game does well enough. Of course, review scores don't always translate into sales, but this is a good start and a strong indicator that people will really like the game.
- released
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May 27, 2026
- ESRB
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Teen/Blood, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence, In-Game Purchases
