Please login to submit a screenshot

From the first moment when the jaunty tones of Colonel Bogey and other war toons waft from your Speccy, you know you're onto a winner. With The Great Escape, Ocean has come up with a Chrimbletide cracker. If not, you can spike me to the nearest barbed wire fence for my foolishness (It's a deal! Ed).
It's a 3D escape strategy game that looks a little like Fairlight at first. It has a touch of the maze about it but you'll also need all your arcade skills - you have to be pretty nippy whizzing round camp avoiding the Jerry guards. Your task, in true Tommy style, is to make good your escape from the Colditz camp. Fortunately there's more than one way to walk the wire - you can try tunnelling, snipping through the perimeter fence or just plain bribery and corruption.
But the real skills are in preparing for your big breakout. Camp life follows certain set routines: day break, roll call, breakfast, exercise. If you're not in attendance or you're caught out of bounds, your morale takes a tumble. The flag on the side of the screen shows how healthy it is. It's your job literally to keep that flag flying. Exploring new parts of the camp, finding and hiding objects, such as money, poison, your passport and so on, will ensure you're not flying at half-mast for most of the game.
Finding the objects that are crucial to your completion of the game is best done in the times between the daily routines. So, it's worth studying the pattern of camp life so you know where and when to sneak off. If you leave your man to his own devices, he just melts back into the crowd and follows the flow of the other POWs. Of course, you haven't got a whole war to while away, but it's more patient gameplayers who'll win out in the end.
Trouble is, even when you think you've sussed the guards' movements, those of the Commandant seem to be completely random. Just when you think you're on top and on your way to Blighty, it's Hande hoch, Englander and you're marched off to the cooler.
As for the objects, it's vital that you have the right articles for your chosen tactic. It's no good tunnelling without the torch or confronting the guard dogs without the poison. They don't respond to cries of "Walkies".
The action all takes place on a smoothly scrolling screen that takes you round the perimeter wire, the grounds, huts, exercise yard, tunnels and castle. And although the main screen area is black and white to get round programming limitations, this is cunningly turned into a bonus. At night, it gives the camp an eerie moonlit gloom, broken only by the violent splash of a roaming searchlight. And when you're tunnelling it's positively claustrophobic - remember Bronson in the film?
My merest quibbles are that all the prisoners, including our hero, look identical. Must confuse Fritz at roll call, what? No wonder Albert R.N. got away with it! Plus there's no team work option - no vaulting horse tactics possible here. Mind you, a few of your fellow prisoners are open to a bit of bribery if you want them to set up a diversion.
The Great Escape is a well presented, gently humorous, tense and brain teasing winner. Don't let this scorcher escape your clutches.

Verdict: 9/10
Review by Rick Robson
£7.95

Paul Hughes (ex-Ocean) writes:-
"Whilst I don't know for sure, I can't imagine WTSS ("Where Time Stood Still", ed.) or Great Escape being written in anything other than Z80 assembler. C/C++ compilers weren't really an option back in the late 80's what with limited ram and naive optimisers.

Certainly Head over Heels was written in Z80 and ported to 6502 and 68000 by Colin Porche for the C64 and ST respectively. HOH was a nice bit of code - I remember going through the Z80 listings with Colin when he was porting it - Jon commented code like a demon!

IIRC HOH graphics were put together in Melbourne Draw with the actual map construction from the isometric blocks being typed directly into the source code by Jon Ritman! "

The Great Escape was released by Ocean Software in December of 1986 - just in time for Christmas sales and nicely coinciding with the usual TV showing of the movie by the same name over the festive period.

Denton Designs actually authored the game and had already developed a few quality titles for the ZX Spectrum (released through various companies) such as Shadowfire, Gift from the Gods and the arcade conversion of Spy Hunter.

The Great Escape had you as a British prisoner of war, planning and performing a daring prison break during World War 2. The prison compound was viewed in what was becoming a tried and tested classic game style of isometric 3D isometric angle.

In what was probably a first for Sinclair ZX Spectrum gaming, on first playing it was a good idea to leave the controls well alone. Your character would go about the daily grind of prison life (of his own accord) with the other prisoners, which would give you an idea of what was going on around the camp.

A normal prison day consisted of mealtimes, roll-call parades and exercise periods, all of which were marked by a bell (which was displayed in the status area of the screen).The bell would ring and a message would be displayed giving updates on events within the camp (thus explaining why the bell was ringing and what 'event' had to be attended).

To the left of the main play there was a flag which acted as the 'morale level' of our hero. Basically, the higher the flag was flying, the higher the morale of your character. For instance, Red Cross parcels arrived in the camp sporadically, and of you managed to collect one your morale level improved.

Morale was lowered if your character was searched (by a prison guard) or arrested. Your morale level also diminished as time elapsed, and if the flag reached the bottom of the pole, you lost the will to rejoin the war and finally resigned yourslelf to life in the camp with the other prisoners. The character was now under computer control, and you had to start a new game. In other words, it was game over.

While the flag was green in colour you had limited control of the hero (who could only be searched by the Camp Commandant). Should any contraband be found, it was off to the cells for a while - so keeping out of the commandant's way was wise. The flag turned red in colour as soon as the you breaked with prison routine and moved to off limits areas. While the flag was red objects could be picked up and dropped, but the would-be escaper was liable to arrest and search by the guards. Oh the dilemma!

The key to the game was establishing the routine of the compound, and once you knew where to go and when you could start to formulate an escape plan. To keep things tough, only two items could be carried by the character, so part of the game was finding safe hiding places to stow away useful items. Any items found by the guards were confiscated and returned to their original locations. You would of got away with it if it wasn't for those pesky guards!

It was possible to outsmart the guards as they adhered to patrol routes with precise timing and movement. They followed the routes regularly - so it waspossible to move around without crossing their line of site and access buildings and areas un-noticed.

At the beginning of the game, the security level was pretty lax - but as the game progressed the security level increased and avoiding detection by the guards became more difficult.
It was possible to wander around at night, but you had to pay heed to the searchlights which would sweep the yard as you would be arrested on site and thrown into the cells.

There were a number of routes to make your escape by such as a tunnel, cutting through the wire fence and even bluffing your way past the sentries at the main gates.

Once you were outside the game was not quite over. If you forgot items such as a compass and papers or you would not make it very far.

On release:
The Great Escape on the ZX Spectrum was praised for it's nicely drawn graphics and different gameplay. The fact that you could enter huts within the camp (where the view would change to the interior of the hut complete with beds, stoves etc) added more locations and realism to the game. With the open-ended nature and almost infinite ways in which to escape Ocean Software had released a title that was definately different. Watching your character at the start go about his daily business and attend roll call, breakfast and so on was quite something. The Great Escape was a huge success and plenty of people had a copy come the end of December. The fact that it was awarded a Crash Smash in the famous Spectrum magazine did it no harm either.

The test of time:
We here in the land of Spectrum games reckon that The Great Escape still holds some appeal, even today. The style of the game and other in-game characters (moving in real time and showing some 'intelligence') was quite something back then and influenced future titles. The game is quite absorbing and still holds a challenge. This is one classic game for the more thoughtful gamer.

Stick on the movie, grab a baseball and glove and give The Great Escape a go. Watch out for Werner, he's a crazy mixed up kid.

The Great Escape for the ZX Spectrum is worth another look after all these years.

We recommend getting hold of the real Sinclair ZX Spectrum hardware - but if not then download a ZX Spectrum emulator and download The Great Escape. Alternatively you could try and play it online.

GENRE: Real Time Strategy (RTS - Arcade Game)
RELEASE DATE: December of 1986
RELEASED BY: Ocean Software
DEVELOPER(S): Denton Designs
PRICE: £7.95 - UK

DENTON DESIGNS have been rather quiet recently, but with a pedigree that includes Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Shadowfire, they're back in the fray with a game for Ocean.

You play an English POW trying to escape from a German camp in the last war. The main screen display reveals a section of the scrolling prison compound - or if you are indoors the room is shown from the usual 3D game angle. To begin with it's a good idea to leave the controls well alone - the hero goes, about the daily grind of prison life with the other prisoners and you get an idea of what's going on. A normal day consists of parades, meals and exercise periods, all marked by a bell displayed in the status area which rings out loud and clear. A message window gives an update on events in the camp and explains the reason for the bell's clamour.

A flag flying from a pole to the left of the main play area serves a number of functions. The higher the flag flies, the higher the morale of the central character. Whenever a Red Cross parcel arrives or the hero succeeds in picking up or using an item of escape equipment, his morale improves. Morale is lowered with searches and arrests and gradually diminishes as time elapses. Once the flag reaches the bottom of the pole, the potential escapee loses his will to rejoin the war and becomes resigned to plodding around the camp with the other prisoners. You lose control, and have to start a new game.

While the flag is green you have limited control and the hero can only be searched by the Camp Commandant - should he find any contraband, it's off to the cells, so it's wise to keep out of his way. The flag turns red as soon as the escapee breaks with routine and moves off limits. While the flag is red objects can be picked up and dropped, but the would-be escaper is liable to arrest and search by the guards.

Once you've established the routine of the camp, it's time to play for real and start planning the escape. Unfortunately, only two items can be secreted in the old greatcoat, so it's a good idea to find safe hiding places for useful items - if the guards find objects, they confiscate them, returning them to their original location.

The guards are fairly predictable fellows - once they've been assigned a patrol route by the Commandant, they follow it regularly and can be timed. So long as you don't cross their line of sight they won't notice you, but they are mindful of the wrath of the patrolling Commandant who moves around the camp inspecting them, so the guards keep alert. To begin with, security is fairly lax, but the Commandant steps up security when the hero is caught out of bounds and avoiding the guards becomes trickier. During the night, searchlights sweep the courtyard and prisoners outside the huts get arrested on sight. Maybe wearing German uniform might help here?

Points are awarded for escape attempts and for collecting and using objects. There are a number of routes out of the camp: use a tunnel, cut the wire, or bluff your way past the sentries at the main gates. Whichever way you go out, once outside you'll need a compass and some papers or you won't get very far..

Producer: Ocean
Price: £7.95
Author: Denton Designs



The exercise yard where POWs get to stretch their legs under the watchful eyes of their escorts... Morale's sagging a bit, maybe a surprise Red Cross parcel will cheer the hero up?

CRITICISM
"The Great Escape is definitely one of the best games ever seen on the Spectrum. I was extremely happy to see that OCEAN have introduced a scrolling play area - the flip screen method annoys me. The playing area is superbly drawn, with some very large and detailed buildings - all with 'en suite' stove and cupboards, and even a chimney to let those heated arguments out. The game is brilliant fun to play as you actually feel that you are trapped in the camp. There are lots of clever features and the game is very easy to get into - I found that I could explore a large area of the camp and tunnels without any keys or wire cutters. The instructions are well written