This also explains the subtitle "Mastermind", a qualifier that could be translated into French as "thinking head" and which applies perfectly well to Thomas Shelby. Players who don't know the series can be reassured, the action of the game takes place even before the events of the first season and therefore acts as a sort of prequel to the latter, even if the stakes here remain relatively modest (for simplify: the Shelby clan faces another clan). Players new to the Peaky Blinders universe are welcome and shouldn't feel lost. As for fans of the series, they will have the pleasure of finding their favorite characters (the main members of the family are all playable) and even some iconic places (including the headquarters and the pub The Garrison). On the other hand, do not expect any cinematographic aspect. The game was obviously developed on a shoestring budget, and it constantly shows. Thus the "cinematic" scenes which introduce the different missions are only made up of fixed drawings. These are rather well made since we easily recognize the different actors in the series, but we would have preferred to be able to take advantage of moving scenes. In addition, the dialogues (translated into French) that accompany these drawings are only textual, the lines unfolding to the simple sound of a typewriter. This point is all the more regrettable as the typically Burmese accents of the series in their original version greatly contribute to its charm and its identity. For questions of cost and rights, the game's music does not include the excellent soundtrack of the various television episodes (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Joy Division, Leonard Cohen, PJ Harvey, The White Stripes, Arctic Monkeys…). However, the substitute music fulfills its role rather well, the compositions of the English group Feverist managing to distill the appropriate rock atmosphere. As for the graphics engine, it plays the card of simplicity since you can neither zoom nor turn the camera. Surprisingly, the different members of the Shelby family remain perfectly recognizable in this top view, which is essential for the gameplay.
SHELBY COMMANDO REPORTED!
Basically, the game takes up the principles of Commandos and other Desperados, and therefore gives us control of several characters, who must make the best use of their very specific abilities in order to avoid and eliminate various guards, including surveillance activity. is represented on the screen by a classic cone of vision. Thus, Tommy can persuade certain very specific NPCs to perform such and such an action (open a door, fetch a key, etc.), while the young Finn can pass through certain windows and other holes in the walls. The representatives of the female sex are able to cross the fields of vision of the enemies without arousing their suspicions. In addition, like Kate O'Hara in Desperados III, Ada has the ability to distract the guards, and therefore shorten and deflect their cone of vision, while Polly can pick portals and bribe certain opponents (so that they purely stop and simply monitoring them). If you want more direct contact with the enemies, you have to call on John and Arthur, the two brutes of the family. The latter can face the guards and kick them, before finishing them off with a razor-bladed cap. A detail that will please fans of the series. Incidentally, John is able to burn down wooden barriers using an oil lamp, while some doors can only be knocked down by Arthur. In addition, each character can carry one object at a time (key, oil lamp, etc.), and possibly pass it on to one of their friends, when their paths cross. The different levels are therefore as many giant puzzles, which can only be solved by using the right characters in the right places and above all… at the right times! Indeed, the main specificity of the game comes from the need to perfectly synchronize the different actions of our favorite anti-heroes. For this, we have total control over the time that passes. It is not only possible to pause the action to observe the scenery and plan our operations as well as possible, but also to rewind time with a pull of the left trigger or fast forward with a pull of the right trigger (on PC, the game can also be played with the keyboard/mouse but the ergonomics are better with the controller). This principle also avoids any real game over, since it suffices to go back in time as soon as one of our characters is spotted. It's nicer and more flexible than having to reload a save.
THE MASTER OF TIME
All the salt of the game therefore consists in synchronizing the movements and actions of the characters as much as possible, Finn sneaking through a window to open a door for Ada for two seconds, while at the other end of the map, Arthur and John smash simultaneously a couple of guards after Polly bribes a policeman to look away from the scene. In order to motivate the player to achieve all this as efficiently as possible, the various objectives must be completed within a given time. Challenge enthusiasts can even aim for different medals (gold, silver and bronze) depending on the time taken to complete each mission, and try to collect pocket watches hidden in the scenery. Concretely, a mission takes place as follows: we program the actions of a character, then we go back in time to control another, and so on. A timeline, which could be compared to video editing software, is available at the bottom of the screen. Each track represents a particular character and icons indicate its various actions and their durations. This tool helps to optimize the path of the different protagonists but make no mistake, it is by taking direct control of each hero that we "program" their actions. This concept is relatively original and rather pleasant. However, we do not recommend activating the aids, which permanently indicate where each character must go.
The game is not very difficult and, above all, these aids tend to make us carry out each stage of the mission without being fully aware of the general plan. In addition, you might as well extend the lifespan as much as possible… which is not very high. It only takes six hours to complete the adventure. This is not necessarily a problem in itself (better a good short game than a long and boring game), but here it goes hand in hand with a feeling of incompleteness. Only ten missions are accessible and most of them are short and didactic. Of these ten levels, only three really stand out. One of them, for example, makes us live the hallucinations of Tommy, who finds himself at times in the trenches of the First World War. But it is especially the last two missions that impress because they are the longest, the largest, and those that involve the most characters simultaneously. In other words, it's when we start to really have fun that the game ends. It almost feels more like an excellent prototype or a huge tutorial than a really finished game. Moreover, some abilities are only used once or twice in the whole game (it is in the penultimate mission that we are informed that Finn can steal objects from the guards when they are distracted by Ada) , and even the very last level presents us with an additional gameplay element (ringing phone booths as a diversion). Element which, inevitably, cannot be reused later since we have then reached the end of the game. Last notable criticism: we would have liked each successful mission to be followed by a replay option, which would have allowed us to appreciate the final ballet of the different characters and the perfect synchronization of their actions.
