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Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom is the latest game from British developer Maze Theory. Maze Theory has previous experience making games from popular TV shows. In the past, they worked on a series of Doctor Who games, but now they’re tackling the immensely popular Peaky Blinders in VR.
Once again, this small studio has shown they have an aptitude for a challenge, and I was lucky enough to try out its latest game ahead of its launch on the 9th of March. For now, Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom is coming to the Quest 2 and Pico headsets.
Prior to trying out the game, I got to see the Peaky Blinders: The Rise immersive experience in Camden, and although that is not part of our preview, if you’re a Peaky Blinders fan you will get a lot out of the experience. However, I am here to shine a light on Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom, so let’s dive in.
Walking the Streets of Birmingham
In the limited time I had with Maze Theory’s Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom, what stood out the most was the atmosphere and how perfectly they captured the version of Birmingham seen in the show.
The game begins with you in the back of a van, preparing to meet Tommy Shelby, receive your first mission, and be inducted into the Peaky Blinders. As you jump out the back of the van, you have to get ready to go meet Tommy in The Garrison pub. As you walk towards The Garrison, the music swells and you begin to feel fully immersed in this world.
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One of the best things about Peaky Blinders is how well it captures the essence and atmosphere of that period. This is what the game does incredibly well, too, you truly feel like you are wandering the streets of Birmingham, and it captures what makes the show feel so authentic. Something that will please fans of the show in particular.
Another contributing factor that helps make Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom feel even more authentic is Cillian Murphy and Paul Anderson reprising their roles as Tommy and Arthur Shelby, respectively. Having two of the biggest stars return for the game only helps elevate the characters’ quality and delivery on offer.
Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom – Gameplay
Maze Theory perfectly captured the aesthetic and feel of the Peaky Blinders show, while the gameplay itself will be familiar if you’re used to playing these kinds of games. Many of the early stages I played rely on searching for clues and items, something commonly done in VR games, but the Peaky Blinders skin does aggrandize the experience.
Picking up objects, turning them over, and looking for clues is much of what I have come to expect from VR, while the shooting was enjoyable, it did feel slightly floaty. Ideally, there would be a bit more feedback in the controls when you’re shooting. When you are in shootouts, though, there are plenty of things to watch out for to mix up your approach. Objects will be dangling above enemies for you to drop down, and explosives are dotted about so you can damage a few enemies at once.
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In the opening sections, the tutorial is light and organically weaved into the game to keep you immersed, however, a bit more transparency would have been handy. One moment that particularly stands out was when I was going into a dark room to find an item. It was only on the way out the prompt for the lantern on the floor popped up, as I didn’t look at the lantern on the way in.
By Order of The Peaky Blinders
So far, Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom looks like it offers a very immersive experience for fans of the show, however, it remains to be seen whether it will appeal to anyone who hasn’t seen the show.
The gameplay itself was, for the most part, very enjoyable, but the real gem here is how well Maze Theory has captured the world and successfully plunged the player into it. If a compelling story is delivered, then Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom has huge potential, the beginning was intriguing, to say the least, but sadly my time was up with the preview just as it really felt like it was starting to build momentum.
We won’t have to wait long to see where this story goes, though, with the full game releasing on Meta Quest 2 and PICO 4 on March 9, 2023.
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