Reviewed: August 26, 2003
Reviewed by: Mark Smith
Publisher
Gotham Games
Developer
SCi Games
Pivotal Games
Released: July 22, 2003
Genre: Action
Players: 1
ESRB: Teen
6
6
7
6
6.1
Supported Features:
As I sat down to play The Great Escape these past few weeks I had a distinct feeling of de’ja’vu’ then I realized it was this time last year that I was playing Prisoner of War, another game designed entirely around breaking out of Nazi prison camps. While both games certainly offered their own unique approach to the action genre, The Great Escape comes with an undeniable legacy of a classic film starring one of the world’s most renowned actors, Steve McQueen.
Traditionally, games based on a movie license are disappointing for whatever reason, but this is the first time a game has been based on a movie nearly 40-years old. Chances are many of the people who might be interested in this title have never seen the movie, but I bet your parents have. The Great Escape was an amazing movie for its time and even after four decades of simmering in the video vault it manages to translate into a unique gaming experience.
Not only were the designers challenged with recreating the movie down to the last stealthy detail, they also had to capture the very essence of its deceased star. Working closely with MGM as well as Steve McQueen’s family and estate, Sci and Pivotal were able to reproduce the timeless epic and its star in uncanny detail. But is mirroring the original content enough to create a compelling game? Read on.
I consciously had to force myself from making ongoing comparisons to POW while playing The Great Escape. While the premise is the same, the approach is entirely different with each game having its own unique strengths and weaknesses. The Great Escape takes a more action-oriented approach to the stealth and puzzle-solving gameplay as clearly indicated by the exciting opening movie that you actually participate in.
We join the first of four playable characters, Andy MacDonald, in flight on a routine bombing run over German airspace. After taking some ground fire you are forced into immediate action having to locate a fire extinguisher and put out a small fire. You then have to head to the tail of the plane, replacing the dead tail gunner and shooting down several incoming fighters. It doesn’t take long before you realize the plane is going down and you are forced to bail out. As luck would have it you float gently into the hands of a group of Nazi soldiers who promptly escort you to the nearest prison camp.
The opening movie outlines the German’s solution to the credo that every officer in the military is duty bound to either escape from captivity or at best create a situation that monopolizes enemy forces. The Nazi’s decide to take ever major “threat” or “high risk prisoner” and put them all in one camp then put them under such heavy guard that nobody could escape. Nobody but you.
Throughout the game you will interact with an elite group of individuals who all have their specialties. One guy might be an expert forger while another can pick the pocket of a guard with relative ease. Sometimes you work with these characters and at other times you will actually take control of them to solve level-specific puzzles.
Puzzles are a mix of inventory items and player skills. Each of the playable characters has a unique skill that eventually comes into play during the story. You might need a skilled mechanic to fix a vehicle or the camp forger to create a fake ID. Objectives are clearly indicated on the camp map and your only problem is how to get from point A to B and then back to A without getting spotted. This involves a lot of creeping and dodging spotlights and patrolling guards.
There is a lot of stealth and slinking around in shadows as you collect various items and tools required to plan your “great escape”. Action games are generally quite fun when the element of stealth is involved but The Great Escape suffers a bit from a lack of knowing just how concealed you really are. There is no visibility or light meter so even when you think you are nicely hidden you might be as shocked as your character when the alarms sound and the dogs and guards come a runnin’.
Enemy AI is unpredictable which makes for an…err…unpredictable gameplay experience. Sometimes the guards are about as observant as Sergeant Schultz in Hogan’s Heros and other times they can almost see through walls. Of course, my biggest complaint that I have with nearly every stealth-type game is that once the alarm has sounded the guards can easily be lulled back into indifference if you can simply stay out of sight long enough.
When you aren’t sneaking about you get to engage in some exciting actions scenes that range from the aforementioned action on the bomber to some car, truck, and motorcycle chases. While I’m sure these sequences were meant to be fun and break up the monotony of the slower-paced stealth parts, the sloppy controls took much of the fun out of these action scenes. Driving the various vehicles or even firing the guns on the bomber just never felt right, which is a shame considering the control for the other parts of the game was pretty solid.
The graphics are not quite as realistic as I expected, especially in the characters, and especially for the Steve McQueen character. You’ll easily recognize the rugged star, but there is plenty of artistic license going on here. Animation is a bit stiff and characters literally pop into and out of stealth mode almost as if some transitional frames are missing. It’s certainly not a huge problem and easily overlooked when you get caught up in the gameplay.
The level design is quite nice although a bit simple with nothing outside of the requirements of the mission being created, i.e., no ambient scenery. You can move seamlessly between indoor and outdoor locations and the designers have even “borrowed” the keyhole peep from POW allowing you to peer through the keyhole to check for guards before stepping outside.
The lighting is quite nice and an integral part of the game since getting caught in that roving shaft of white light triggers the obvious alarm. Your character leaves footprints that magically disappear after awhile but never seem to register with any passing guards that cross your path.
For the most part the game is fairly smooth, but there are occasions when the framerate takes a serious hit and it is during these times when it can become downright unplayable. Unfortunately these occur during the faster parts of the game like driving when framerate and control are of particular importance. You’ll muddle through it, but we should all expect better from a PS2 title.
The soundtrack features some excellent theme music that is worthy of a film score. It ranges from the heavy military themes to the tense stealth music that really adds that tingle to your spine when you are peeking around corners or through a keyhole complete with heavy breathing.
As you might expect from a movie-licensed product there are plenty of cutscenes and these are all acted out with some excellent quality performers and scripted with some intelligent and often humorous dialog. There are even appropriate German and English accents that add to the polish of the voice acting.
The sound effects are all there from the barking dogs, crunching snow, whining alarms, creaking doors, engine noises, and appropriate sounds of gunfire. It’s all presented in a nice Dolby Surround package that immerses you in a real 3D world.
I was able to finish The Great Escape in about 12 hours, which included several failed attempts and reloading of saved games. Once completed you will unlock a new “Greatest Escape” mode, which is basically the same game but each level is put under a strict timer. Since you have already played the game and know what to do and where to go the element of the timer make the game only marginally more difficult.
There is no multiplayer, no plot branching or unique endings so one pass will likely be enough for most aspiring jailbirds. This makes it an ideal rental but you’ll probably want to be a big fan of the film, Steve McQueen, or the POW genre to warrant a full-price purchase. There’s easily enough fun to be had when the game hits budget prices.
When I first heard about The Great Escape I was a bit surprised that somebody was going to make a game about a 40-year old movie. This certainly opens up a vast array of future licensed projects that is both exciting and a bit scary considering the dubious quality of just about ever attempt to turn a movie into a game.
Even so, The Great Escape just felt incomplete and unpolished, or perhaps just rushed out the door. Considering we’ve been waiting this long there is no reason not to hang onto this game until it was flawless. Obviously, MGM and the McQueen family gave their approval, but whether you enjoy it will depend on your love of the genre and your tolerance for mediocrity.