“We Haf Ways of makin zou talk American” ok you need a corny German Accent and a time machine taking you back to the Second World War to appreciate that…. In Prisoner of war players assume the role of Captain Lewis Stone, an American Flight Officer and reconnaissance operative. Shot down by the enemy while investigating and photograph suspicious activity around prisoner of war camps, now captured you’ll have to resume your mission from inside the camp.

Prisoner of war is set across 3 (the game features 5 levels and 20 objectives) German Prisoner of War camps including a holding camp, Stalag Luft and the infamous Castle Colditz. Initially you are placed in the holding camp which is ironically the very camp you were trying to take photos of when you were shot down (boy that’s handy Captain!).

Gameplay:
Prisoner of War is like all those great World War II movies without the need to wait for Christmas or Easter. As Captain Lewis Stone you arrive at each location where initially you will need to check in with the escape committee who will issue you with each of your objectives, you will also need to talk to the other prisoners as they hold vital pieces of information which will aid you your objective.

Objectives range from simply acquiring contraband (such as Cigarettes or Alcohol) retrieving keys, German uniforms, calling London from the radio room, photographing secret German rockets etc, there’s plenty of variety throughout all of the objectives and each will require a slightly different skill and equipment, make sure you plan well because you don’t want to be the wrong side of the fence without the key you have left in your secret hideout (a wooden crate in your barracks – similar to the one in the Resident Evil Series).

The Game actually becomes very addictive and a personal vendetta of you taking on the entire German army (or at least escaping from them) Exploration is the key, you need to know where what is and where it is in each of the camps you visit. Have a look around, talk to other inmates make sure you know what walls and fences are scalable so when you need to get out you can.

The controls are pretty standard and will not require much practice to get used too, they actually remind me of Zelda with only 2 action buttons, X and A. X which will pick up items, save, cancel conversations, look threw peep holes etc as and when required.

Graphics:
Graphically Prisoner of War is not going to set the world on fire; the game appears to be nothing more than a direct PS2 port with very little or no attempt to utilize the power of the Xbox to be fair even as a PS2 game the graphics would be far from amazing, although serve there purpose well.

Sound:
The sound in Prisoner of war is effective for the game, other than the corny accents of characters which you interact with there is actually very other sound to chat about “thank go if the accents are anything to go by” There are at times some nice background music playing which does add to the tense atmosphere, and also some of the sound effects when interacting with the environment such as walking into a chair are done well and can really keep you on your toes when trying to creep past the German guards.

Longevity:
Prisoner of war offers little in terms of replay ability, the game is the same and your only incentive to playing again is to improve your ranking.

Round Up:
Prisoner of War is an excellent idea and is a worth while addition to most Xbox games collections, even with all the flaws this game is great fun and offers hours of challenging Gameplay. To round up, “would I buy it?” well I did so we could review it for you guys and “yes I would buy it again” It just leaves me thinking “Great” but “what could and might have been” which in a way is good as when/if Prisoner of War 2 hits the shelves hopefully they will address some of the issues.

Pros:

• Challenging
  
• Great Fun
  
• 20 Objectives
  

  Cons:
  

  • Lack of effort PS2 port.
    
  • Poor Graphics.
    
  • Cheesy Accents.
    
  • Linear Gameplay.
    
  • No Violence.