007: Unbound early access flops as players compare it to Hitman: Absolution's worst moments

IOInteractive's 007: Blood Stone early access launch on Steam has drawn heavy criticism, with a Reddit player's three-hour hands-on session highlighting what they see as the studio's core weaknesses—comparisons to the 2012 disaster Hitman: Absolution are already circulating.

The goodwill IOI built with the Hitman trilogy (Hitman 2016, Hitman 2, Hitman 3) seems to have evaporated overnight. Players suspect the new title suffers from linear level design, excessive hand-holding, and a shift from stealth to action-heavy gunplay—the exact issues that sank Hitman: Absolution in 2012, when it replaced open-ended maps with corridors and buried players under tutorial prompts. You expect a meticulously crafted stealth sandbox; you get assembly-line fare instead.

Some caution is warranted. Outlet happygamer notes that one player's three-hour session can't represent the full game, especially in an unfinished early access state. But the anxiety isn't baseless—the last well-received Bond game was 007: GoldenEye, and the IP has been starved of quality releases for years. If IOI genuinely sacrificed its signature open-level stealth design to chase mass-market appeal, this stumble may be just the beginning.

The question now is whether IOI can course-correct before full release. The Hitman trilogy proved they can deliver top-tier sandbox stealth, but Hitman: Absolution remains a cautionary tale. If you're a Hitman veteran, hold off until post-launch reviews arrive. No one wants to pay for a rerun of a decade-old nightmare.