Game info

• Title Cypher 007
• Developer Pixelbite Games
• Publisher Tilting Point LLC
• Year 2023
• Platforms iPhone, iPad, Apple TV
• Genre Action

The criminal mastermind Blofeld and head of Spectre has once again hatched a plan to sabotage his archenemy James Bond. This time he utilised brainwashed techniques known as 'The Mind Trap', holding Bond captive in a mental prison in an attempt to turn him into the ultimate double agent. Play as Agent 007 on his most challenging mission yet - escape the Mind Trap, defeat Blofeld, and put an end to the CYPHER program.

Player Select

I think previously, this game might have passed me by but as I’m trying to take more of an interest in games over the winter and it was free on Apple Arcade, and of course I do have that slight obsession with James Bond, it was definitely worth a look. I started playing on the iPhone and it was okay, but when I switched over to the Apple TV and a controller, it went up to the next level.

It’s in the Game

Although I would badge this in the action/adventure kind of genre, it’s a pretty relaxed game and certainly a nice and quiet one. The design is gorgeous, with a top down view of our famous spy as he moves around locations. The little detail of his outline turning the white on black when he’s behind front facing walls really made me happy.

The game guides you through various levels where you are looking for things or taking on baddies, but ultimately the idea is to get to the other side and with that in mind, it’s almost more of a logic game than anything else. There are options to shoot up the bad guys and upgrade your weapons and suchlike, but I much preferred the stealth option which, again, made it a more cerebral game - approaching from the right angle to not be seen, taking them out in the right order, that kind of thing.

One thing I really, truly love and appreciate is that when you do suffer a setback and get killed, you are thrust back to the last checkpoint in space but not in time. So whilst you may have to cover the same distance as you’ve already done, any bad guys or collectibles you have already dispatched are still gone. This is so brilliant to me because I get frustrated having to do the same things over and over. This way, even if you do die a few times, if you can manage to overpower one enemy each time, you’re still making progress.

Thoughts

It’s not going to break the box office like the film counterpart but I really love that this is a game about thought and planning and not just shooting and running. The gameplay is easy to pick up and I found it totally engrossing, keeping me playing for ages and to the point I didn’t want to put it down. With that and the fun characters you know from the 007 universe, it’s an absolute winner.

Rating: 5 / 5