007 First Light Review | The Best Action Adventure Game of 2026
IO Interactive Took the Hitman Formula, Added James Bond, and Redefined a Genre
REVIEWS
MattGhostie
6/2/20264 min read
007 First Light holds up beautifully to the first impressions. IO Interactive has created something astounding, and it's exactly what I want to see from action adventure games moving forward.
Going into this console generation it became clear that visuals were reaching diminishing returns leading devs to look elsewhere for advancement. What IO has done here is leverage complex, interesting level design and make the AI genuinely interactive in a way that makes the whole game feel responsive and immersive in a way only a few games have achieved.
Wide Design That Funnels Into Focus
Linear action adventure games have earned a reputation as corridor shooters. You move from set piece to set piece with combat and story mixed in, and it can wear on you which leads them to be on the shorter side.
What's brilliant about 007 is that it uses wider level design that then narrows into funnels. You start with exploration and space to breathe, testing what the game will let you do. Then it funnels you into action, high octane sequences, boss battles, and cooldown moments before each mission ends. It's reminiscent of Uncharted 4, but feels like an evolution of that design mixed with Hitman's sandbox sensibility. That combination invites replays and a sense of creativity I don’t usually find in this genre.
A Story Worth Caring About
This is an origin story. Bond starts as a non-MI6 operative and enters training to become part of the 00 program leading to the weakest part of the game for me. The beginning hours are somewhat unevenly paced after an exquisitely formulated prologue, but in my opinion, the initial training sequence and the mission that follows take up a bit too much time and could have been trimmed. Thankfully once you're past that, the game hooks you completely, easily engrossing you in the british spy fantasy.
The character work is also phenomenal. Greenway has become one of my favorite characters in any action adventure game, and Moneypenny is equally fantastic. The dialogue is sharp, the performances are outstanding, and the facial animations match the quality of the voice work perfectly. This feels exactly like the first adventure for Bond should, setting him up to learn and grow into the super spy we know he'll become. It leaves you wanting to see what comes next for this version of Bond while still having enough of a satisfying conclusion to make the initial journey worth it.
Combat That Rewards Experimentation
The hand to hand and shooting combat are both snappy and surprisingly deep. The Tactical Sim missions, which are replayable arcade style levels, reveal just how much depth is built in here. I didn't even know there was a melee combo system until I got into those challenges and discovered that timing and button holds can create predictable animations that chain together reminiscent of the legendary fighting system in Sifu.
The variety of tactics is impressive too. Shooting enemies in different areas causes different reactions. Legs and hands respond distinctly from center mass. It shows just how much thought went into these systems, and there's clearly room to build on it further with additional moves, weapon variations, and gadget interactions. I would encourage any player to mess around with the combat sandbox to try and create your own John Wick mini flick.
Where the Gadgets Really Shine
Stealth is where the gadgets and level design truly excel. They encourage experimentation, and about ninety percent of the time when you think of a solution, the game rewards you for executing it. You can skip entire combat encounters through stealth and instead of feeling like you found a game breaking bug, IO moves the game forward in a way that feels entirely natural. You can confuse enemies, move them around, set them up for different takedowns, and basically anything you can think of works, all leading to interesting and unique scenarios carried out by your Bond.
Social stealth was a true highlight for me. Interacting with NPCs, eavesdropping, pursuing leads, using disguises. It all works, and it's all encouraged by the challenge system which shows you every path available and the ones you missed. All these complex systems feed directly into replayability for a game that's around fifteen hours for a standard playthrough.
The Technical Reality
Unfortunately, performance did get a bit rockier as I progressed. More frame drops in graphically intensive scenes and about three crashes total, which is a bummer but hopefully something that gets patched. Load times were also inordinately long for PS5, especially when using chapter select or reloading encounters.
The Verdict
Ultimately, the strengths far outweigh the weaknesses, and they show how much IO has to build on with future entries. What will stick with me is how IO translated the Hitman trilogy into a narrative driven experience with excellent acting, awesome pacing, and genuine story delivery while also creating a very competent action game. One that relies less on setups and more on encouraging you to approach the game however you want. Upfront action, social stealth, espionage, whatever engages you most.
This is absolutely a game of the year contender. For me, it's probably the frontrunner right now because it feels like the most well rounded experience I've had all year. It shows just how much room the action adventure genre has to grow when it commits to smart level design and the depth of mechanics on display here.
This is what the genre should aspire to be.
