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Prisoner of War (PS2) (U)
Platform: PlayStation2
Condition: Pre-Owned/Used in Very Good Condition
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On arrival at the prisoner of war camp, circa 1941, you will be introduced to life as a prisoner in Nazi Germany, as well as a variety of interesting characters from around the world. Soon you will be devising a cunning escape plan involving the theft of tools from the Nazis' own living quarters. There are three meticulously modeled, fully 3D, historically realistic prisoner of war camps, including the infamous Colditz Castle. These camps are rich, detail-packed environments, brought to life with outstanding lighting, weather and other graphical effects.
The immersive game world is made vivid by the artificial intelligence of its population. Sophisticated detection, flocking, socialization and other artificial life algorithms work together to create a living, breathing world of distinctively-characterized inmates and guards. Your character is able to talk to anyone he meets, pick up and drop objects, climb fences and walls, crouch, crawl, mantle along ledges, peek around corners, tap on walls to distract guards, throw stones, use a telescope, and perform a wide variety of special actions with particular objects. An intelligent context-sensitive action button system ensures maximum control intuitiveness at all times. It is possible to replay any completed level, and aim to beat recorded escape times in order to earn new abilities.
Prisoner of War attempts to recreate the heady antics of World War II's Allied escapees in a plotline which combines Nazi secret weapons, tunnels, disguises and daring breaks over the wire. Players must take the game's hero, US airman Captain Lewis Stone, through a number of camps including Stalag Luft and Colditz, completing a large number of mini-missions which culminate in full-scale escape attempts. The game is structured to mimic the daily life of prisoners: roll calls must be attended, dinners eaten, and failure to turn up results in camp-wide searches by Nazi guards and their attendant Alsatians.
Codemasters have done well to create a believable atmosphere for the game. Camp layouts are faithful to the real locations and the sense of claustrophobia is strong. In essence this is a Metal Gear Solid 2-a-like--there's little opportunity for shooting and stealth is the name of the game. Guards have razor-sharp senses, resulting in many trips to the cooler for a night's solitary detention after an abortive attempt to steal something vital from a locked storeroom. And therein lies the major problem with Prisoner of War: it can get very repetitive very quickly. Without a clear plan of what to do and how to do it capture happens often and can become very frustrating. This is a game that rewards the patient player; gung-ho tactics have no place for the average PoW.
Graphically, the game looks great; the effect is only spoiled by the stilted cut scenes, which never seem to flow properly and break up the plot in a rather annoying fashion. Sound is quite sparse and some of the voice acting, especially for the Allied characters, is weak and wooden. By contrast, the Germans all have 'Allo 'Allo-style comedy accents guaranteed to bring a smile even after being caught for the umpteeth time.
Players looking for quickfire action would be well advised to steer clear of Prisoner of War and head for the superb Medal of Honor: Frontline, but for those looking for something a bit more cerebral, Prisoner of War provides hours of stealthy, silent entertainment. --Chris Russell
