Peaky Blinders

About

Peaky Blinders is a single player open world shooter game with drama, thriller and historical themes. It was developed by Maze Theory and was released on November 2, 2023. It received neutral reviews from critics and negative reviews from players.

Infiltrate their criminal underworld, earn the Shelbys’ trust and prove you have what it takes to join the Peaky Blinders in The King’s Ransom, a dark VR action-adventure based on the epic gangster drama.

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36%

Audience ScoreBased on 66 reviews

story12 positive mentions

optimization10 negative mentions

Fans of Peaky Blinders will enjoy the immersive experience of being part of the Shelby family, complete with smoking and drinking interactions.
The game features an engaging storyline that captivates players, especially those familiar with the TV series.
The graphics and environments are visually appealing, enhancing the overall atmosphere of the game.

The gameplay is often described as boring and repetitive, with long stretches of walking and unengaging combat mechanics.
Many players experienced severe performance issues, including frame drops, stuttering, and bugs that made the game unplayable.
The game is criticized for its short length and lack of meaningful content after the main story, leading to a feeling of being underwhelmed.

story
68 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
78%
4%
The game's story has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its potential and engaging elements within the Peaky Blinders universe, while others criticize it for being short, underdeveloped, and lacking depth. Many feel that the narrative fails to deliver a compelling experience, often feeling abrupt and poorly executed, which detracts from the overall enjoyment. Despite these criticisms, fans of the show may still find some enjoyment in the familiar setting and characters.
- “But I think playing through a story (that is in the Peaky Blinders world) made it overall pretty fun.”
- “Story lovers: if you appreciate a compelling narrative, you'll be captivated by the gripping story this game offers.”
- “Engaging story: the game's storyline is exceptional, keeping you hooked from start to finish.”
- “The storyline itself quite literally misses the plot.”
- “The main story makes you want more but prepare for an abrupt ending.”
- “The story line is short, character models are something I would have expected 10-15 years ago.”
optimization
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
33%
42%
The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with some users experiencing significant issues like freezing, stuttering, and object glitches, particularly on non-Index setups. In contrast, others report smooth performance on the Quest 3 and high-end PC setups, achieving solid frame rates without major problems. Overall, many players feel the game is poorly optimized, especially for AMD users, and express disappointment in its lack of polish compared to its demo version.
- “Seamless performance on Quest 3: this game runs smoothly on the Quest 3, offering a flawless VR experience.”
- “I have no issues with performance, even forcing index resolution to 400% (36 million pixels per frame resolution combining both eyes).”
- “So I get no stutters, freezes, or crashes - performance is much like The 7th Guest (with maxed in-game settings and the same resolution), or maybe slightly better.”
- “Don't support dev teams who knowingly ship out these broken, un-optimized messes.”
- “Horrible optimization and might have something to do with AMD cards.”
- “Honestly, I love Peaky Blinders as much as the next guy, but this is a poor port of the Quest version that just doesn't feel like a real PCVR title. It should have been made a bit better with better gunplay because it feels lame; there's no real powerful moments. I played the demo and compared it to the full release, and it's the same. It feels generic and boring, has poor optimization, and was a Quest exclusive for a year, which just killed the game for me. The devs should have taken more time to make better animations, gunplay, story, etc. Until I see improvements, I won't recommend this to anyone; go buy a different game.”
gameplay
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
65%
20%
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it basic and at times tedious, often feeling like a walking simulator with long stretches of inactivity. While some appreciate the shooting mechanics as thrilling, others criticize the overall execution as uninspired and awkward. The experience is particularly enjoyable for fans of the Peaky Blinders show, but many recommend waiting for a sale before purchasing.
- “Outstanding shooting mechanics: the shooting gameplay is fantastic, providing a thrilling combat experience.”
- “As said, the gameplay could be better, and sometimes the game can feel close to a walking simulator, but I'm greatly enjoying this experience nonetheless.”
- “The gameplay is fairly basic and it's fairly short (2.3 hours for the main story), but I still liked it.”
- “The gameplay is not really fun; the pistol looks cool, but the shooting itself is boring and not accurate. Sometimes, all you do is walk for a long time to reach your mission without doing anything special. However, I really liked being with the Shelby family; smoking and drinking with them makes you feel like you are in Peaky Blinders. I would recommend this game only under two conditions: 1) if it's on sale, and 2) if you are a fan of the Peaky Blinders show.”
- “It uses the engine from The Walking Dead, but the gameplay mechanics have been reused in the most uninspired ways imaginable.”
- “Sadly, the gameplay and the controls are awkward.”
stability
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability has received mixed reviews, with many users reporting significant bugs, frequent stutters, freezes, and crashes, particularly on high-end systems. While some players experience smooth performance, others encounter severe optimization issues that hinder gameplay, especially with certain GPU configurations. Overall, the game appears to struggle with stability, impacting immersion and enjoyment.
- “The full game runs like garbage. I'm running a 3080, Ryzen 9 5950X, and 32GB of RAM, and the game stutters, freezes, and crashes constantly.”
- “I can barely make it past the main menu before this game freezes.”
- “Optimisation is horrible. I have a RX6750XTX with 12GB VRAM, an i7 10700F, and 32GB RAM. The game is installed on an M.2 NVMe SSD, and it's choppy, freezing, and buggy. The actual game seemed alright, though; I just can't enjoy it.”
graphics
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
40%
20%
The game's graphics have received mixed reviews, with some praising them as impressive and immersive, featuring dynamic shadows, real-time lighting, and high-quality textures that rival those of other titles like Alyx. However, others criticize the overall visual quality as outdated, likening it to graphics from 2010. Despite the lack of customizable settings, recent updates have introduced a graphical improvements menu to enhance the experience.
- “Impressive graphics: the game's graphics are a visual treat, making the world come to life.”
- “There are no settings for graphics, but you get some dynamic shadows, some real-time lights, many ultra-immersive textures (some even better than Alyx, never thought I'd ever write that), and several effects (dust particles, insects, fog in the air, etc.).”
- “Also, I read that Quest 2 is set to only 36 fps (with ASW) to provide better graphics, just like Assassin's Creed Nexus, which may explain why the game does not look much like a Quest port.”
- “There are no settings for graphics, but you get some dynamic shadows, some real-time lights, many ultra-immersion textures (some even better than Alyx, never thought I'd ever write that), and several effects (dust particles, insects, fog in the air, etc.).”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is described as "so bad it's good," with players finding amusement in its absurdities and contradictions, particularly in its portrayal of communism. The game unintentionally highlights the positive actions of its characters, leading to a comedic irony that resonates with players.
- “This game is so bad it's good... in a funny way.”
- “For a game that tries to vilify communists, they sure have a funny way of proving Karl Marx was right.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized as a low-effort cash grab, suggesting that it prioritizes profit over quality and creativity. Reviewers express frustration with the perceived lack of genuine effort behind the game's development, likening it to a corporate-driven product rather than a thoughtfully crafted experience.
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music in the game is noted for its presence and contributes to the overall atmosphere, with the introductory sequence featuring environment-based text being particularly engaging.
- “The music is there; the intro with the environment-placed text was interesting.”