IO Interactive’s young-Bond origin trades Hitman’s sandboxes for something more linear and cinematic, and while I get it, I did miss the open-ended scheming. The opening sequence is a super satisfying and Patrick Gibson’s cocky not-yet-007 is great, but the pacing is very stop-start, forever pausing to hand control back to a cutscene. The set pieces are gloriously bombastic, but half the time the game seems to be playing itself. The most confident Bond game in decades, and great for what it is, I just wish it trusted me to drive it more.

IO Interactive’s reboot trilogy bundled into one package, and it’s about as good as a stealth sandbox gets. This is the culmination of over 20 years spent perfecting one format, and nobody builds these clockwork dioramas like IO do. Each map is a puzzle you learn by failing: patrol routes, target habits, a perfect silent run after a dozen botched ones. Few games reward patience this generously.