Review: Peaky Blinders-Mastermind

True confession time: I’ve never watched the Peaky Blinders TV series, so can’t comment on its use of characters or franchise storylines within this game. With that out of the way, let’s get onto the review.

Peaky Blinders: Mastermind is a strategy game set across 10 levels, where you control a variety of characters to complete a common goal across a set time limit, while also allowing you to rewind and replay sections that you may well have made a wrong decision on and to allow for some sneaky ways to complete missions.

Each character has their own unique abilities which have to be used to overcome obstacles and work in synch with other characters actions to complete the level.

It has a top-down isometric view which gives a good view of what lies ahead, giving time (albeit all against a ticking clock) to see how best to navigate it and what abilities are best suited to complete it before your time runs out.

As you work your way through the 10 levels you gain access to more characters, while the missions require more thought and planning as they progress. Though completing them all shouldn’t run into more than about 7-8 hours.

Replayability comes from playing on a harder difficulty level which removes hints and waypoints, while there are also collectable pocket watches hidden across all of the levels, though most of them can be easily found without veering off too much from your original plan.

Narrative progression is through a series of static cutscenes accompanied by text and may add a little more immersion if you are familiar with the TV series and read them with that characters voice in your head.

Peaky Blinders: Mastermind isn’t especially taxing and doesn’t take too long to complete, but the time I spent with it was enjoyable enough and got my brain working on more than one occasion…something that can’t be said for a lot of games out there.

If you feel like planning and executing a few heists (albeit having to work out how to do them the way the game wants you to) and are possibly also itching for another dip into the world of Peaky Blinders, then this is an enjoyable enough experience, despite the limited freedom you have to do what you want.

Peaky Blinders: Mastermind is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC

Review by Dave.