Reviews

An isometric game which did more than attempt to be a better Knight Lore, and comes off very well for that decision. The atmosphere of the game is perfect: exploring the camp and getting to a new area was always a great thrill, and the puzzles are well thought out and logical.

Taking their inspiration from Ultimate's earlier isometric games such as Knight Lore, Denton Designs took a few different directions here. Rather than just have a series of what were essentially single room puzzles, they built up the atmosphere of an extensive prisoner of war camp where actions taken in one place can have a drastic outcome on what happens elsewhere.

This builds up a rather different atmosphere to the game where it gives you the impression, probably mostly illusory should anyone go so far as to look at the code, that even where you weren't looking there were still things going on.

There are a number of ways to solve the game, and you're free to follow any of them, picking up clues as you explore the camp whilst keeping on the right side of the guards.

Overall it's an excellent game; the links to the movie tie-in are tenuous, but one thing that they've both got in common is that they've stood the test of time well.

17 October 2016

by John Heap (Denton Designs)

The Great Escape was a further development of 3d isometric games, taking the scrolling approach of Nightshade [or even Ant Attack] and linking it with a strong arcade/adventure gameplay, based on exploration and use of items, in order to escape from a prison camp. It follows the direction of Fairlight, more than the platformer inclination of Knight Lore. Not only, it creates an enviroment that is organic, if very circumscribed, and that works in a collective movement of characters busy in the cycle of the day, prisoners and guards. It's the classic loop movement of a character or element of an ordinary game - moving through a pre-established trajectory – here expanded to become the dynamic representation of a small community, the community of a prison camp. Another exceptionality of The Great Escape is that there is no death, there are no enemies to kill or to jump or dodge in order to avoid a consequent death: your only possible death is a moral one, a terminal demoralization that makes your character lose any will of escape - each time you're caught, and do time in the isolation cell, the flag displayed at the side of the screen will lower: once it touches the bottom, there will be nothing you can do - your sprite will follow the daily routine without being controllable anymore.

It's up to you disrupting the mechanicity of the routine, skipping, for example, the exercise time or breakfast time to look for tools and items useful to the escape. The kind of charge-up tension while you're in a forbidden area or room, picking a lock, with the bell ringing alarmingly, fearing the sudden appearance of the captain or guards is something rare in a Spectrum game.
In the 2d world, a small community in movement had already been depicted in Skool Daze, with a set of very distinctive characters, stuck in a loop of school lessons, so not in a more somber way as the whole days and nights in a prison camp in TGE. The black and white graphics turn into black and blue in the night, and you'll discover at your own peril that going out of the barrack in these hours is very dangerous – lurking spotlights could find you, and the guards start chasing you. The days are differentiated by the arrive of the Red Cross parcel, a box you can open, which will cointain a different item each day for various days before restarting from the first one. A relatively small portion of the playing area is displayed, framed in barbed wire, while your sprite wanders around totally identical to the other prisoners, details that help to create a slight sense of claustrophobia and loss and and a sense of depersonalization, or just of... lack of memory.

5/5

Excellent adventure. Big, atmospheric and making perfect use of the isometric engine.

This game was slow, dull and boring.

1986 - Ocean

A fantastic game where you play the role of a prisoner of war in a high security P.O.W. Camp. Your duty: well... to escape!
It's quite exciting planning the best escape route while still maintaining "appearances" and playing along with the prison routines.
An unanimous classic and one of the best games for the spectrum.

What a magnificient game this is !! The plot and the atmosphere work superbly altogether.

The artwork is so spectacular that you could not believe this could be done with a Spectrum 48K.

A 5 stars !!! A massive game !!!

A Zx Spectrum Hollywood superproduction.

Chapeau !!

Isometric arcade adventure game, where you play a prisoner of war, attempting to do as the title suggests.
You must play along with the routine of the prison camp, and ensure the guards don't rumble any of your escape preparations, like a severe version of SkoolDaze. The 'play area' is monochrome, but beautifully drawn and smoothly scrolled. It is atmospheric, and draws you in as it plays out like a story.
Spent many happy hours playing this with a friend at the time, a great game.

Another game I didn't see as great compared to many but it's still good. Little too prolonged for my taste but still quite enjoyable.

Marvellous.
Still a masterpiece

A superb game by John Heap of Denton Designs for Ocean, inspired by the classic film starring Steve McQueen.

This isometric game were a true challenge as it was coded in 1986, when videogames market started to be swamped of these kind of games.

It's 1942, in World War II. You're a prisoner in a high security german POW camp and your duty is to escape. Your task is collect tools and other objects that will help you in your mission while attending the daily routine of a prisoner: wake up, roll call, exercise time, ... if you're caught doing something forbidden you'll be arrested and go to the cell and the morale counter will decrease. On the contrary, if you find something useful or a new part of the camp, it will increase. The game ends when the morale level reaches zero.

A great feature of this game is that there are different ways to finish the game, being able to escape by different places. A cool effect is the spotlight that prowls the camp during the night and can discovered you if you're outside the barracks. And the nice starting tune, a Spectrum version of the unforgettable soundtrack of the 1963 film.

One of the best adventures ever made for the Spectrum.

Exploration games.
One of the most rewarding activities in quarantine times. Note for readers: written during covid-19 outbreak
Especially when it comes to classic and inmortal ones. And this is one of the Best examples so far.

Indeed ... a Great escape... I mean example of Exploration and Adventure. A dark game with a big deal of elegance.