007 First Light was one of the most highly anticipated video games of 2026, and in most critics’ and players’ eyes, IO Interactive has truly delivered. One aspect of the game drawing particular praise is the music.
To understand why music is so important to the Bond franchise, it makes sense to start with the film music – the scores that inspired 007 First Light’s soundtrack.
Music in Bond films
Decades before First Light, music had helped define the films. The great Bond scores create suspense, add glamour, and in some cases give a twist on 007’s classic identity. From Russia With Love (1963) had a punchy version of the classic main theme and hummable melodies, like those in The Golden Horn, which has been called the greatest composition in Bond history. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) had dreamy melodies, disco-esque beats, violins and saxophone. The scores sometimes match the portrayals of Bond: in the latter film, Roger Moore plays 007 as suave, witty and sophisticated.
James Bond films have shown fans experiences they might never get close to in person: high-stakes espionage missions, and glamorous casino nights in faraway places. Of course, a digital version of the latter can be achieved online – CasinoTopsOnline reviews hundreds of sites for games like poker and roulette which are seen in several Bond movies. (Players should remember to gamble responsibly, that the house always has an edge, and to only use licensed platforms.) As with many other Bond scenes, music was key to building the atmosphere of those casino nights. In Casino Royale, for example, composer David Arnold used tense cues during key moments with tracks like ‘The Tell’ (used in the initial game). That score withheld the classic Bond theme, composed by Monty Norman, until near the end of the film for a dramatic conclusion.
While modern fans in Britain might just search casinotopsonline.co.uk to find their gaming thrills, Bond has travelled much of the globe: Jamaica’s Laughing Waters in Dr. No, Khao Phing Kan in The Man With the Golden Gun, Ethiopia in Never Say Never Again, and so on. But the music arguably stays more rooted in Britain, drawing on the country’s traditions of pop, jazz and orchestral composition. British composers have been influenced by those from overseas. John Barry, who composed the scores for eleven Bond films, named Max Steiner, Erich Korngold and Bernard Herrmann among his inspirations.
How Bond music has fitted into previous games
Film scores are fixed: the whole audience hears the same cues and tracks in the same scenes, at the same moments. Video games are different, with players spending extra time exploring and going off the main path. And they might fail a mission several times or approach an objective in a completely different way to the next player. Therefore the challenge for composers is to make music that feels cinematic while remaining flexible – and have the big moments hit the same as the Bond theme does in any of the best films.
The breakthrough Bond game was GoldenEye 007 on N64, which offered some of the cinematic feel of GoldenEye, the film. Later games like Nightfire and Quantum of Solace pushed the music further, enabled by the advancements in console technology, and used more film-like scores. Nightfire was the first James Bond game to feature an original song, with Esthero’s ‘Nearly Civilized’.
007 First Light composers: The Flight duo
The music of 007 First Light was composed by The Flight, a duo comprising Alexis Smith and Joe Henson. Smith recently spoke to Men’s Journal; the publication described the process for First Light as “as meticulous” as those for the films. In terms of the amount of music, the process was actually bigger than that for Casino Royale, for example. The game uses aspects of a Lana Del Rey song, but Smith and Henson composed a huge amount of original music because playing the game may take players 20-30 hours. Smith said the pair wanted “ammunition” and that the full theme played too early in the game wouldn’t have worked. Players ought to “earn” the theme, the composer said.
Bond films have borrowed from classical music, jazz, and big band, among other styles, and Smith described the scores’ evolution as like a snowball rolling down a hill. The early scores were jazzy; the composers wanted to give the game a modern twist. Smith told the BBC that the game contains “mostly action music” and acknowledged the Chamber Orchestra of London might have hated them by the end of a day of recording.
Video game reviewer Jordan Middler has said The Flight used the existing Bond musical library with great “precision” to pull on players’ heartstrings, and that Del Rey’s song would be perfect for cinema speakers. Middler thought it was one of the best Bond tunes in years, along with Adele’s famous ‘Skyfall’. Meanwhile, The Guardian called the game’s needle drops “staggering”, crediting Barry’s original scores.
The music in First Light has helped IO Interactive deliver a hit. Several reviewers have called it the best Bond game ever.
