Prisoner of War

"An excellent rental"

POW is an engrossing game that sucks you into it's atmosphere and story. The production value is low compared to some other existing XBOX games and prospective ones as well. The gameplay is responsive and the character design is interesting. The prison camps are nicely done and provide much to keep you occupied. It is this ''almost non-linear'' aspect is what keeps you at it. After a failure to meet an objective, there are many variations and tweaks to strategy and approach that range from the fundamental (choosing night or day to attempt your shenanigans) to the nuanced (sneak around in the shadows or brazenly pass off a Nazi uniform as a disguise). You will always be on edge and making moves.

Technically, the graphics and sound could have been better. There is alot of voice over work though, and for the most part it is all pretty passable. Thankfully, you can click straight through any dialogue. The camera has a tendency to wig out at the wrong time, but this happens rarely. The 3rd person/1st person combo view works very well in this scenario, but could have been tweaked a little. The AI is fairly smart and will keep you hiding and looking around corners to avoid the MGS style ''view cones'' of the guards. It is very interesting to not be able to just beat the crap out of a guard who has detected your presence. If I was trying to escape a POW camp, I wouldn't really have a problem with kicking a little ass on the way out. Also, where are the famous German dogs? Why are they not guarding the camp with their Aryan masters? Details I suppose.

The main drawback to this game is that there is very little if any replay value once it is complete. There are some secrets, but really, they don't add anything. No Multi-player at all, not that there is any premise for multi-player. I have to say, once I completed a mission, I had absolutely no interest in going back. The missions are also alot easier the second time around as much of the game revolves around perfecting the timing of runs between guard patrols and searchlights.

Bottom line: Good rental. If you buy: trade-in sooner rather than later, you won't be picking this game up after you finish if once or twice.

$49.99 Retail value
$20.00 Real value

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/20/02, Updated 08/20/02