On May 27, 2026, IO Interactive, the developer behind the Hitman video game series, will unleash the next hotly anticipated game starring the legendary superspy, James Bond, titled 007: First Light. The upcoming action-adventure tells an original story, based on the novels and short stories by Ian Fleming as well as the beloved film series. 007: First Light focuses on a 26-year-old, sometimes reckless James Bond, as he undertakes his first mission to earn his 00 status and change MI6 forever. We’re extremely excited to play IO Interactive’s new Bond game, and can’t help but hope for the best for another chance to take control of the iconic and suave ladykiller.
Still, the end of May feels like tomorrow and an eternity away at the same time. The wait until First Light‘s release also has our brains spinning about the James Bond games of yesteryear. Which games had the best gameplay, set pieces, death-defying missions, or inspired gadgetry? Which 007 games never saw the light of day? Like Octopussy, which Parker Brothers canceled in 1983 after its publisher, Atari Inc., went bankrupt following the failure of its E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial game. Or, who remembers James Bond 007: The Duel? Released on the Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, and Game Gear, this Elevator Action-ass platformer gave players control of Bond as he jumped and shot his way through a series of Bond-related locations. The gameplay was janky AF, but it was fast-paced, fun, and it was all we had back then, dammit! Well, there were lots of Bond games, but you know what I mean. Let’s get to the list!
5) James Bond 007: Blood Stone
Any James Bond game released after 2006’s Gears of War owes much to Epic Games and Microsoft Game Studios’ cover-based shooter. Developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Activision, James Bond 007: Blood Stone is a third-person shooter with an original story set between Quantum of Solace and Skyfall. The game features MI6 uncovering a plot by international terrorist Greco to conduct a suicide attack on the G-20 leaders while attending a summit at the Acropolis structure in Athens.
James Bond 007: Blood Stone‘s story is a fine complement to Bond’s film franchise, with plenty of intrigue, deception, and spot-on character interactions that make it feel like it belongs in the overall canon. Still, it’s the gameplay that brings all the boys to the yard, as Blood Stone features fast, frenzied cover-based shooting mechanics, and a focus system that lets players store energy for devastating, cinematic attacks. To mix things up, Blood Stone incorporates fast-paced, action-heavy sequences while piloting Bond’s gadget-fitted car. Blood Stone comes from the same team that made Blur and Project Gotham Racing 2, giving these sections of the game a fantastic sense of speed and danger around every turn. While there are better Bond games, if you’ve still got your PlayStation 3 and a few extra bucks lying around, you could pick this one up on the cheap for some slick spy-related action.
4) 007: The World is Not Enough
After the release of 1997’s GoldenEye, gamers thought they’d seen the last of great Bond-related games on the Nintendo 64. However, in 2000, Eurocom and Electronic Arts unleashed The World Is Not Enough, a first-person action shooter that, some say, is better than Rare’s legendary GoldenEye. These people have had one too many martinis (shaken, not stirred), but everyone’s entitled to their (informed) opinion. Regardless of your preference, 007: The World Is Not Enough is a stellar successor to GoldenEye, with engaging hide-and-seek shooting, maze-like level design that kept surprises hidden around most corners, and a focus on gadget-heavy gameplay that deviates from the was-rinse-repeat run-and-gun gameplay. While The World Is Not Enough is a tad slower than GoldenEye, the emphasis on stealth and completing story-based objectives that feel authentic to the franchise makes it a must-play for anyone willing to navigate one of the worst controllers of all time, the N64 controller.
3) James Bond 007: Nightfire
There’s nothing like starting your James Bond game off with a bang, and James Bond 007: Nightfire doesn’t waste any time thrusting you into the fray. The game begins with a high-speed chase, periodically switching between a third-person racing simulator and a first-person on-rails arcade shooter like L.A. Machine Guns or Godzilla: Kaiju Wars. It’s an intense start for another entry in Electronic Arts’ James Bond game-making history.
The game also sets itself apart from other Bond games by giving players something they rarely have: choice. In Nightfire, players can execute “Bond moves,” providing the superspy with alternate routes of attack, such as stowing away inside the back of a truck to infiltrate an enemy-choked compound, or sneaking into a control room to disable security systems. While these gameplay methods don’t seem like much by today’s standards, giving players options of attack and level manipulation was a significant boon for the Bond games.
James Bond 007: Nightfire provides players with one of the best examples of immersion, with set pieces that make you feel like you’re in a Bond movie, such as the short-but-sweet snowmobile level. While Kimberly Davies’ Allura McCall pilots the vehicle, Bond unleashes hell on his enemies with a helicopter gun that could blow the nads off a gnat from any distance. As you race down slopes, crash through a busy restaurant, and launch the ride into a loaded chopper, the sequence feels exhilarating, even by old-school gaming standards. There are plenty of reasons to revisit Nightfire, especially after a few martinis in the comfort of your own home.
2) James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing
Bond fans often grouse about Pierce Brosnan’s turn as 007, but there’s one aspect about the Brosnan era that’s impossible to deny: It made for some great video game adaptations. Released in 2004 by EA Redwood Shores and Electronic Arts, and written by Bond screenwriter Bruce Feirstein, Danny Bilson, and Paul De Meo, James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing delivers a tight package of Bond-inspired action with many of the bells and whistles fans come to expect from the time-honored franchise.
The developers of James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing went to great lengths to ensure the game’s quality by having Pierce Brosnan, Judi Dench, and John Cleese reprising their roles, with Heidi Klum, Shannon Elizabeth, and Willem Dafoe’s characters featured throughout the interactive adventure. The game’s plot finds Bond coming to grips with the dangers of nanotechnology. When the wondrous tech falls into the wrong hands, it’s up to Bond, his MI6 team, and a handful of other allies to prevent an oncoming disaster. The game surpasses other Bond video game adaptations by delivering some of the franchise’s most explosive action yet, making players feel like they’re part of a blockbuster 007 film. While the running around is stiff, the gameplay is tight, with motorcycle chases, death-defying free-fall leaps of faith, precision shooting, and high energy that keeps the game moving at a brisk pace while making players feel like the fate of the world is truly at stake.
1) GoldenEye 007
You all saw this one coming. The top spot in a list of James Bond-related video games is like the Highlander: there can only be one. And so it is that the one and only, the GOAT, GoldenEye 007, rises above the rest like a bullet straight to our nostalgia-filled hearts. If you owned a Nintendo 64 in 1997, you owned a copy of Rare’s GoldenEye 007. I’ll never forget the weekend my friend’s stepmother surprised him with a Nintendo 64 and copies of Star Fox 64 and GoldenEye 007 while I was visiting. We played non-stop until we were certain the system would overheat, the GoldenEye 007 cartridge melting from overuse. Luckily, that never happened, because like Ford’s old slogan, the Nintendo 64 was “build strong to last long.”
Developed by Rare and published by Nintendo, GoldenEye 007 finds Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond preventing a criminal syndicate from using a satellite weapon. While the game is finely polished for the time, and excels at making players feel like Bond, it’s the multiplayer that stands the test of time. Because we didn’t have online capabilities on the N64, players needed to get creative to keep their locations hidden from opponents, going so far as to tape a cardboard divider in the center of the television to discourage prying eyes. Sitting far too close to the TV, we’d spend countless hours hunting enemy agents, shouting and shoving one another while mastering the N64’s janky controls.
When we needed a break from the multiplayer mode, we settled for the mission-based single player campaign, comprised of tasks like recovering stolen objects, mowing down enemies, rescuing hostages, and using high-tech gadgets to make villains’ lives miserable. There were no health pick-ups, but a body armor upgrade could mean the difference between life and death in a pinch. An incredible amount of work went into the making of GoldenEye 007 to give Bond fans the ultimate superspy simulation. Many consider GoldenEye 007 one of the greatest games of all time, and certainly one of the best the Nintendo 64 had to offer. Long live the king!
What do you think about our list of James Bond 007 video games? Which games do you prefer? Are you looking forward to 007: First Light? Let us know in the comments section below.
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