Alright, I’ll be straight up here. I didn’t play 007 First Light natively on the Steam Deck. I’d been following this game since it was announced and by all reports, the experience on the Steam Deck is pretty poor at best. Luckily, one of the Deck’s biggest strengths is that it’s dynamic. I also own a PlayStation 5 and make use of streaming for more demanding titles that don’t run well on the Deck, aren’t supported or are exclusive to the PlayStation 5. Initially, I was happy to wait and see whether it became further optimised or maybe a Steam Deck build was released like Baldur’s Gate 3. But the more gameplay I watched and impressions I read, the more I wanted to play it. I’m rarely someone who buys games at full price and I’m usually more than happy to wait for a sale, but I kept thinking back to how much value I got out of Hitman: World of Assassination and that gave me the confidence to pull the trigger on the PlayStation store and experience First Light through streaming instead. While that means I won’t be talking about native Steam Deck perfromance, it didn’t stop me from appreciating everything else the game had to offer.
007 First Light was released in 2026 by IO Interactive. We follow James Bond in a modern day setting. We’re introduced to Bond as a Royal Navy aircrewman who joins a Special Air Service team on a retrieval mission in Iceland. The operation ends in disaster after the team is ambushed, leaving Bond as the sole survivor. His actions, partially guided by an MI6 handler, earn him a place in MI6’s newly revived 00 program. Under the demanding mentorship of veteran MI6 agent and former 00 operative John Greenway, Bond races through months of brutal training alongside a team of fellow aspiring 00 agents. Their first field operation ends in catastrophe after an attack by mysterious assassins leaves several agents dead and exposes a conspiracy that reaches far beyond the rogue operative MI6 believes is responsible. Refusing to accept the official story, Bond and Greenway launch their own investigation that uncovers a trail leading to influential technology entrepreneur Sir Nicholas Webb, the elusive thief Isola Vale and a powerful AI system whose mistakes are being covered up at any cost. As Bond pushes deeper into the conspiracy, he’s forced to question who he can trust while proving he has what it takes to become 007. Honestly, it’s as Bond as any of the films.
IO Interactive clearly understood the brief, 007 First Light needed to earn its place alongside the films and it absolutely does. The tone is set almost immediately, Patrick Gibson’s Bond has clearly been exceptional his whole life, and he knows it, which is exactly why a lowly aircrewman somehow turning a catastrophic ambush into a triumph lands without needing much explanation. Gibson manages to play Bond’s overconfidence well enough that when things go sideways, you really feel it and he handles the shift convincingly. Lennie James as Greenway for me is an absolute standout. He delivers a mentor who keeps his tough exterior firmly in place right up until the moments where it matters most. His relationship with Bond is the emotional core of the story and it helps hold it all together. Priyanga Burford’s M is as convincing as Judi Dench. I stand by that statement and I appreciate the modern take on the character. At times, you actually believe she might pull Bond’s license, you know she probably won’t but it feels like it’s on a razor’s edge. Kiera Lester as Moneypenny also gets a bit more room here than in the films as Bond’s assigned MI6 handler. The whole thing works together really well because First Light understands that the best Bond stories run on the principle that nobody is quite who they claim to be. The rogue agent thread that sets the conspiracy storyline in motion feels completely at home in the franchise’s mythology.
Hitman’s fingerprints are all over 007 First Light and I don’t think IO Interactive were particularly trying to hide them, although it would be incredibly unfair to call this Hitman in an expensive tuxedo. They’ve built a cinematic and surprisingly forgiving version of Hitman’s sandbox formula which suits Bond’s improvisational confidence considerably better than it would Agent 47’s clockwork-like precision. The levels are largely linear, but they’re generously spaced out with enough room to explore, eavesdrop, gather intel and decide how you’ll approach each situation before things inevitably go sideways. You can blend in, bluff your way past suspicious guards with Bond’s characteristically unearned confidence, hack electronics, plant traps or just… wait. The environment often provides you with an opportunity if you remain patient. Alastair Mackenzie’s Q brings exactly the finely calibrated eccentricity you’d expect from the character, supplying a rotating suite of high-tech gadgets that interact with each environment in consistently satisfying ways. Spending time in Q-Lab between missions is also incredibly enjoyable, rather than feeling like a dressed up loading screen. When stealth inevitably fails you, combat takes over naturally and has some of the most enjoyable gunplay I’ve experienced in a long time. Responsive controls and brutal hand-to-hand takedowns make every encounter feel exciting. First Light isn’t trying to be Hitman and that’s one of the biggest reasons why it works.
The intention behind 007 First Light was to clearly to make a game that feels like a Bond film and IO Interactive have achieved it so thoroughly that the line between the two occasionally disappears entirely. The opening credits sequence recreates the classic silhouetted figures, gun barrel transition and sweeping musical style with enough fidelity that even social media briefly mistook the reveal for a legitimate theatrical announcement. Accompanied by Lana Del Rey’s title track, co-written with Bond film veteran David Arnold, it’s a sequence that could have easily been lifted directly from one of the films and it’s one of the strongest Bond openings in years. That same cinematic commitment carries through every stage of the game. Car chases unfold with the confidence of a Friday night at the cinema, brutal beatdowns lands with exactly the right weight and style the franchise always promised and even the quieter stealth sections carry that unmistakable 007 atmosphere. The musical score, composed by The Flight, manages to blend John Barry’s original orchestral DNA with a modern electronic edge that perfectly suits a James Bond growing into the legend he’ll eventually become. The music evolves alongside him, allowing Bond to earn his signature themes as the story progresses rather than handing them over right at the very beginning.
Streaming 007 First Light from my PlayStation 5 rather than playing it natively on the Steam Deck is not how I typically operate at Dad with a Deck, but I think it was absolutely the right call for this game and I don’t have a single regret. What IO Interactive have built is not just the best James Bond game ever made, which is a surprisingly low bar, but it’s a legitimately outstanding action game that earns its place in a pretty crowded year on its own merits. It respects your time without feeling rushed, delivers on its premise at almost every opportunity and leaves you wanting considerably more in the best possible way. Hey, DLC, where are you? For time poor players picking their battles carefully, First Light is exactly the kind of game worth paying full price for. More importantly, it feels like the beginning of something rather than a one-off success. Patrick Gibson’s Bond already feels like a character worth following for the next decade and IO Interactive have laid the foundations for what could become one of the best modern franchises. 007 First Light is absolutely unreal. Go play it. Go play it now.
Verdict:
007 First Light is everything a modern James Bond game needed to be. First Light combines confident storytelling, exceptional gameplay and movie-like cinematic presentation into an adventure that feels every bit as authentic as the films while confidently establishing its own identity. It’s not just the best James Bond game, it’s one of the year’s standout action games.
Overall Game Rating: 10/10 – Licence To Kill
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