The Great Escape

"Should you be escaping this game?"

Introduction
The Great Escape is a stealth game based on the 1963 movie, of the same name, starring Steve McQueen. You play as four different men, each of which were captured during World War II. You must help them escape the German POW camps and safely get to freedom.

Gameplay
If you are a hardcore stealth gamer, this game might be for you. Its main gameplay aspect is stealth and there is a lot of it. A lot of the times, if you are spotted, you are pretty much done for. There is a lot of sneaking around and avoiding guards. The stealth sections of the game are, more often than not, easy. This is, without a doubt, the best part of the game. There's nothing like sneaking up behind a guard and choking him. You can then move his body, but once you let him go his body disappears. If you leave and come back five seconds later, his body will be gone. Also, the enemy AI is not intelligent at all. Often times they will be looking right at you but they'll just keep walking like they never saw anything. They won't come and investigate.
While stealth is the main focus of the game, there is also some shooting and driving. These parts seem like they were thrown in at the last second. You don't have much control of where or whom you shoot, as the computer aims for you. Sometimes, there will be a guard, five yards away from you, and they'll have you aim at a gut thirty yards away. Driving is also frustrating. The vehicles are difficult to handle. If you have to make a sharp turn, chances are you are not going to make it. You can tell this was not made to be a driving or shooting game.

Story
The Great Escape has a good story but is is kind of hard to follow since you play as so many people. The game gives a little background about how each got captured so you kind of know a little bit about each prisoner. Also, the title of the game is kind of misleading. All the escapes are great, but it's hard to know when you are making 'the great escape.'

Graphics/Sound
The Great Escape is not the greatest looking game on the PS2, not even close. The Graphics look a couple years behind, like when the PSone was at it's prime. The characters never have any facial animations and the way the run, well it doesn't look like running. Also when you reach for a item that's on the floor, you just reach straight ahead, but amazingly you somehow picked it up. The sound is descent. The voice acting is alright, but often sounds phony. Also, if an enemy sees you he will always say ''What is that?'' then ''It must have been nothing.'' You hear it about 100 times during the game, and it gets very annoying. The weapons and vehicles of the game sound good.

Play Time/Replayability
The Great Escape does not take long to finish. On the easy level, you can finish it in about six to seven hours. Once you beat the game, it unlocks 'The Greatest Escape Mode' where you have to finish each objective in a certain amount of time. It's fun but not really that interesting since the story is the same. So, once you beat the game, on each mode, there's nothing else to do, except, but it on a harder level.

Final Recommendation
If you are a diehard fan of the movie or a hardcore stealth gamer, I'd recommend buying this game. However, if you are a little tight on cash, you should rent it since you can easily beat it by the time you have to return it to the video store. Overall, The Great Escape is a fun game if you loved the movie or love stealth games.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/31/03, Updated 07/31/03