Peaky Blinders: Mastermind Review for PlayStation 4

This week I’ve had the great pleasure of playing Peaky Blinders: Mastermind, developed by FuturLab and published by Curve Digital. This game is a puzzle game based off the popular TV show, Peaky Blinders. Having never watched the show before, I took to Netflix to catch up with at least a few episodes, so I could get a feeling of what the show was about. The show is set in Britain in the aftermath of World War I, following the story of people who fight to survive in a country who is still reeling from the aftermath of such a terrible war. Not only are soldiers mentally crippled from the most violent wars in living memory, but the nation is rocked with economic instability due to the shakeup in industrial world.

As I understand World War I, this is all pretty true for the general emotions following the war, but I honestly can not speak for if the story that Peaky Blinders tells is true in of itself. The series follows a criminal gang known as the Peaky Blinders led by former soldier, Thomas Shelby. He is the main character and the show follows his descent into a life of crime. Peaky Blinders: Mastermind is meant to serve as a prequel to the movie series and features the band who made the music for the TV show. I love the attention to detail and the authenticity the creators tried to maintain while making the game. It really feels like they wanted loyal fans to enjoy the game. I must say, I have not seen a lot of movies/TV shows turned into video games in a really long time, so I was very excited to dive right into Peaky Blinders: Mastermind.

The game design is very charming; I love the loading screens, menus, and art style in general as it really gave a good “period” feel to the game. It reminded me a lot of Bioshock Infinite in that sense – every part of the game had a lot of detail to it and you could really immerse yourself in all aspects. For being a top down game, the art style is FANTASTIC. I could see so many amazing details while playing even so far away from the action.

The combat in Peaky Blinders: Mastermind is super satisfying as well, way more satisfying than other top down puzzle games than I have played in the past. The premise of the game is simple: you have to control the main character’s actions, not only in ways that help themselves, but also interweave their plans to pull off grand schemes. If you make a mistake—no worries at all. You can just scrub a character’s timeline back and rewrite history. This is a fantastic feature for somebody like me. I like the freedom that you have with the characters—this not only makes for an interesting and customizable storyline, but a lot of replay ability due to the amount of ways that you can achieve your goals with all your characters.

All in all I am very surprised at the price point of Peaky Blinders: Mastermind. $24.99 gets you this game with lots of replay options and a fantastic attention to detail. I think if I continue to watch the show then I certainly will come to appreciate the story more. But if you are a big fan of the series, I am sure that you will absolutely love this game. If you aren’t yet a fan, I recommend that you give the show a try and then hop right into game when you’re done! That should be enough content to keep you busy for another month of quarantining. Stay safe everyone and happy gaming.

Score: 8/10

Check Out the Peaky Blinders: Mastermind Trailer:

Peaky Blinders: Mastermind is out today on  PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam.

For more information, please visit: http://www.curve-digital.com/en-us/games/featured/149/peaky-blinders-mastermind/

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.