Cypher 007 (2023) [+]
Apr 06 2026
Cypher 007 is a stealth game based on the James Bond 007 and available on Apple Arcade. You control James Bond and you start out in your apartment and immediately attacked. The overarching through-line is that you are trapped in your mind while another consciousness has taken over your body. Re-enact missions from your past as you seek to escape the Mind Trap.
The first chapter is escaping through the London underground. There is a chapter based on Moonraker and one based on The Spy Who Loved Me. Each chapter is 10 missions, though some missions are one big boss combat or otherwise pretty short. There have been no new chapters since release so I don't think any more will be added.
It's an overhead angled perspective game. Move Bond with a thumb (movement is pretty easy) and the other thumb to control actions and items. Guards and cameras move around in set routines until they spot you. Helpfully when you're close you can see their exact viewing area and you can see how objects block their vision (and if you stand up you can see that their active viewing area increases). Guards can also hear you sneaking about or walking/running though in my experience they generally don't notice.
You can avoid guards or take them out. Sneak up behind and choke hold him (which takes time and does make a bit of noise -- many a time I start choking a guard and another guard turns and sees us. You also also have many devices:
There are other devices, some non-combat like a mirror umbrella that people and cameras can't see behind so you can walk past guards that way. There are also different suits each giving you some bonus -- I like the suit that recharges electrical devices so I don't have to depend on picking up batteries, but the suit that cuts down chokehold times is also a bit nice.
Items can be upgrades using blueprints and parts you find and pick up during a mission.
In general the story is fairly well done with lots of dialogue and the levels make sense as part of the story. Chapter one is mostly underground but other chapters have outdoor areas and houses to roam. Unfortunately not every level I think can be done solely through stealth -- I wanted to not have to use weapons but one boss fight is really tough if you can't quickly take out the hordes of minions.
Once you finish the game you can replay it on hard mode and there is a challenge mode for each level. Hard mode just makes everything a bit harder and if you die you restart the level rather than restarting at a checkpoint in the level. Challenge mode is various things like doing a level very quickly.
It's a fun game even without any additional chapters. Several hours of gameplay just for the first run-through.
The first chapter is escaping through the London underground. There is a chapter based on Moonraker and one based on The Spy Who Loved Me. Each chapter is 10 missions, though some missions are one big boss combat or otherwise pretty short. There have been no new chapters since release so I don't think any more will be added.
It's an overhead angled perspective game. Move Bond with a thumb (movement is pretty easy) and the other thumb to control actions and items. Guards and cameras move around in set routines until they spot you. Helpfully when you're close you can see their exact viewing area and you can see how objects block their vision (and if you stand up you can see that their active viewing area increases). Guards can also hear you sneaking about or walking/running though in my experience they generally don't notice.
You can avoid guards or take them out. Sneak up behind and choke hold him (which takes time and does make a bit of noise -- many a time I start choking a guard and another guard turns and sees us. You also also have many devices:
- A weapon like a stun gun or even a laser rifle
- A stun grenade
- A watch that can stun people
- Cufflinks that can be used to set up a tripwire trap
- A mini-drone that can be used to scout, pick up objects, or explode to stun a guard
There are other devices, some non-combat like a mirror umbrella that people and cameras can't see behind so you can walk past guards that way. There are also different suits each giving you some bonus -- I like the suit that recharges electrical devices so I don't have to depend on picking up batteries, but the suit that cuts down chokehold times is also a bit nice.
Items can be upgrades using blueprints and parts you find and pick up during a mission.
In general the story is fairly well done with lots of dialogue and the levels make sense as part of the story. Chapter one is mostly underground but other chapters have outdoor areas and houses to roam. Unfortunately not every level I think can be done solely through stealth -- I wanted to not have to use weapons but one boss fight is really tough if you can't quickly take out the hordes of minions.
Once you finish the game you can replay it on hard mode and there is a challenge mode for each level. Hard mode just makes everything a bit harder and if you die you restart the level rather than restarting at a checkpoint in the level. Challenge mode is various things like doing a level very quickly.
It's a fun game even without any additional chapters. Several hours of gameplay just for the first run-through.