007 First Light shows video games are better summer blockbusters than movies

A license to thrill (Sony Interactive Entertainment/IO Interactive/Microsoft)

IO Interactive’s 007 First Light strikes every summer blockbuster itch you could hope for, at a time when games are rejuvenating franchises better than movies.

As someone who grew up in the 1990s, I’m accustomed to movie tie-ins being average (at best) experiences you fall for during moments of weakness. I might defend Toy Story 2 on the original PlayStation, or the genuinely great Peter Jackson’s King Kong, but otherwise a retrospective look back at games based on major IP prior to 2010 is like staring across a tepid sea of mediocrity. 

Fast forward to 2026, and while there are still shiftless mobile tie-ins, the landscape for IP-based triple-A...