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Peaky Blinders: Mastermind Review - Gangster's Paradise
It's easy to see why Peaky Blinders has managed to accumulate such a strong fanbase. The TV show's strong characters, winding plots, and vivid depiction of a post-Great War Britain have been a winning combination. As such, it might not be much of a surprise to see that the show has received a video game adaptation in the form of Peaky Blinders: Mastermind.
Developed by FuturLab, Peaky Blinders: Mastermind focuses on the Shelby family before the events of the first season of the show. One of the Peaky Blinders has reportedly killed a member of the local Chinese gang, and the family will need to try and protect their man while diffusing the situation in appropriately Shelby-esque fashion. Where Peaky Blinders: Mastermind takes a left turn is with its genre of choice, eschewing the usual third person action of video game adaptations and instead choosing the route of a puzzle game.
This obviously isn't what would immediately spring to mind for a show that, on its surface level, is about the actions of a gang in the 1920s. Although Peaky Blinders could have been turned into a GTA-lite relatively easily, it's refreshing to see a more bold choice being made here. Better yet, unlike the hit-and-miss nature of other puzzle adaptations like the Hex games, Peaky Blinders: Mastermind manages to tap into what makes the show tick.
In part this is down to an understanding of the characteristics of its six controllable Shelby family members. For a few examples Tommy can intimidate members of the public into doing his bidding, Arthur can brawl and kick down weak doors, and Polly can bribe corrupt coppers to look the other way. They're all well put together, matching their strengths and weaknesses shown in the show.
Because of this Peaky Blinders: Mastermind's gameplay revolves around working out who to use where and when over the course of its ten missions. If there are a couple of rival gang members up ahead, the player had better move John and Arthur there, or get Tommy to recruit a quick ally. Alternatively, if there are two policemen patrolling an area, then Ada and Polly can bribe or distract them before the rest of the gang sneaks through.
This sense of different roles and cooperation is all tied up in the game's time reversal mechanic. The player can move backwards and forwards in time, so while John is setting fire to some dead wood to open up a pathway, Finn is sneaking through a window to get a key for the next area. A character's actions will tie in directly to someone else's, so chronologically everyone needs to move as a single unit.
In practice this means that the player will move backwards and forwards in time and taking control of different characters, leaving an end result of an extremely satisfying, fluid movement. This is at its most potent when controlling the very end of a level, and seeing all of the other gang members moving in sync through the streets towards their end goal. Indeed, a replay feature to see the whole plan in action would have been a really nice addition to the game.
On the whole this mechanic works extremely well. It means that the game is able to focus on the machinations of the family over direct action, which feels true to the core of what Peaky Blinders is about, with the Shelby family weaving their syndicate behind the scenes while tactfully steering around the threats of other gangs and cops. The time mechanic has an additional bonus in terms of replayability, as the player can replay the level to try to beat their previous time, aiming to up their rating to a Gold standard.
Although an emphasis on the plotting and heist aspects of Peaky Blinders works well, some elements aren't as strong as others. The story of the game is largely driven by static artwork with written dialogue, which given the emphasis on puzzle gameplay can feel a little jarring when jumping between the two. On the whole it does work well enough, though, particularly when it ties into the gameplay via a brief snippet of dialogue before hopping back into direct play.
Peaky Blinders: Mastermind also feels thematically similar to the show. Of particular note is a level that sees Tommy in an opium daze, shifting between a hallucination of his time in the Great War trenches and a graveyard sneaking around the police. There's almost a horror element to how Tommy blurs the line between the two, and it's an effective (albeit slightly blunt) way to expand on the wider issues covered in the original show. All this adds up to a game that is at least tentatively enjoyable in its early missions. There's a novelty to see a TV show adapted in a way that isn't a bog standard third person action game or tired kart racer, although a kart racer based on Peaky Blinders would have definitely a unique take on the source material. However, it all comes together brilliantly through a genuinely fantastic last few levels.
These final sections of the game really test the player's understanding of both the role of each character and the time mechanics, in what's been this reviewer's most impressive example of puzzle gameplay seen this year so far. One level will give the player a time limit of less than three minutes, but the setup of the entire plan could take the player over ten times that to solve. The end result sees the Peaky Blinders navigating the intricacies of the complex streets of Birmingham to stop the police from getting through, without the coppers even realising anything is happening.
These last few levels really elevate Peaky Blinders: Mastermind for puzzle fans. The early levels could do with a little more meat on the bones, and the story elements might not be enough for some who live and breathe the show, but purely as a game it's a delightfully moreish puzzle adventure that will leave the player desperate for more.
Peaky Blinders: Mastermind releases 20 August, 2020 for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
