.gif)
The Great Escape (video game)
Encyclopedia
The Great Escape is a video game which shares a title and similar plot to the movie The Great Escape
. It was programmed by Denton Designs
, who went on to produce the similarly acclaimed Where Time Stood Still
. It was published by Ocean
in 1986 for ZX Spectrum
, Commodore 64
, Amstrad CPC
and DOS
.
who has been interned in a P.O.W. camp somewhere in northern Germany
in 1942. The camp itself is a small castle
on a promontory surrounded on three sides by cliffs and the cold North Sea
. The only "official" entry to the camp is by a narrow road through the gatehouse and anyone passing through this must be carrying the correct papers. Everywhere else the camp is surrounded by fences or walls with guard dogs used to patrol the perimeter and guards in observation towers with searchlights posted to watch for any prisoners trying to escape. Beneath the camp there is also a maze of underground tunnels and drains although these are dangerous to enter without some kind of light. The player's task is to escape from the camp. There are a number of different ways in which this can be achieved.
2.5D with the player's character initially in bed at the beginning of a day in the camp. The prisoner has a daily routine, along with all the other prisoners, which includes roll call, exercising, mealtimes and bedtime. The other prisoners will follow this routine and, if the player does not control the main character for a short period of time, their character will join in the routine.
, after originally being awarded 9 out of 10 in that magazine's January 1987 issue. Both the tense atmosphere and the protagonists 'automatic daily routine' were highlighted as excellent features.
The Great Escape (film)
The Great Escape is a 1963 American film about an escape by Allied prisoners of war from a German POW camp during World War II, starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard Attenborough...
. It was programmed by Denton Designs
Denton Designs
Denton Designs was a British video games developer based in Liverpool. The company was founded in 1984 and initially specialised in developing software for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum home computer...
, who went on to produce the similarly acclaimed Where Time Stood Still
Where Time Stood Still
Where Time Stood Still is an isometric 3D arcade adventure game released by Ocean in for the Sinclair Spectrum 128K, MS-DOS and Atari ST. The game was produced by Denton Designs as a follow-up to their successful 1986 title The Great Escape.- Plot :...
. It was published by Ocean
Ocean Software
The British company Ocean Software was one of the biggest European video game developers/publishers of the 1980s and 90s...
in 1986 for ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
, Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
and DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
.
Scenario
The player controls an unnamed prisoner of warPrisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
who has been interned in a P.O.W. camp somewhere in northern Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in 1942. The camp itself is a small castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
on a promontory surrounded on three sides by cliffs and the cold North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
. The only "official" entry to the camp is by a narrow road through the gatehouse and anyone passing through this must be carrying the correct papers. Everywhere else the camp is surrounded by fences or walls with guard dogs used to patrol the perimeter and guards in observation towers with searchlights posted to watch for any prisoners trying to escape. Beneath the camp there is also a maze of underground tunnels and drains although these are dangerous to enter without some kind of light. The player's task is to escape from the camp. There are a number of different ways in which this can be achieved.
Gameplay
The gaming environment is displayed in isometricIsometric projection
Isometric projection is a method for visually representing three-dimensional objects in two dimensions in technical and engineering drawings...
2.5D with the player's character initially in bed at the beginning of a day in the camp. The prisoner has a daily routine, along with all the other prisoners, which includes roll call, exercising, mealtimes and bedtime. The other prisoners will follow this routine and, if the player does not control the main character for a short period of time, their character will join in the routine.
Critical reaction
The ZX Spectrum version of The Great Escape was placed at number 23 in the Your Sinclair official top 100Your Sinclair
Your Sinclair or YS as it was commonly abbreviated, was a British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum.-History:...
, after originally being awarded 9 out of 10 in that magazine's January 1987 issue. Both the tense atmosphere and the protagonists 'automatic daily routine' were highlighted as excellent features.