Customer Reviews

World War II: Prisoner of War (Xbox)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

O.K. When someone gives a game only 1 star - they can sometimes have an agenda. My only agenda is to inform gamers how dissapointed I was at this game and let the gamer make-up his or her own mind. I was very excited when I brought POW home and placed the disc in my XBOX. The intro scene was well done and signalled that CODEMASTERS were capable programmers. Then I played the game. The graphics are seriously below par for an XBOX title. The poor quality of graphics made it impossible for me to forget that I was staring at my 35" SONY instead of having the impression I was back in 1942 in a German POW camp. If I thought the graphics bad - imagine how I felt when I played the game. The gameplay is absolutely awful. MOVEMENT - think Halo for the LEFT THUMBSTICK (which is cool.) However, for whatever reason, the RIGHT THUMBSTICK only allows you to look left or right - not up or down. HOWEVER...the values are reversed - to LOOK LEFT requires that you PUSH RIGHT - and vice versa. I know what your thinking because I thought the same thing - there has to be a menu that allows you to change the polarity of the RIGHT THUMBSTICK - NOPE! With Halo I was effeciently killing bad guys in no time. With POW I was taking my frustration out on the innocent XBOX controller within 10 minutes. Oh, and it only gets worse. To climb over 1 wall/fence requires you to stand facing the fence. Then, press the LEFT THUMBSTICK forward and press the A button to jump and grasp the ledge (if a wall) or grab hold of the fence. Next, press the LEFT THUMSTICK forward once more to climb to the top of the wall or as many times as needed to climb over the fence. Next, the camera angle automatically swivles 180 degrees - to the other side of the wall/fence. Now, you must press the LEFT THUMSTICK down once to grasp the ledge and again to drop to the other side. You cannot imagine how clumbsy this feels. In the early levels - when guards are not overly aggressive/smart - you can ignore this clumbsy requirement - but later you'll be quite frustrated. If you press and hold the LEFT TRIGGER you are in FIRST PERSON VIEW ONLY MODE - meaning you can look side-to-side and up-and-down using the RIGHT THUMBSTICK - think Halo's RIGHT THUMBSTICK but without the ability to move when the LEFT TRIGGER is depressed. Now, you've finally scaled a wall and you stealthily enter a building looking for currency and useful items. Well, when inside buildings your point-of-view becomes fixed (from inexplicably some of the worst vantage places - without any room-level zooming capability) - and your RIGHT THUMBSTICK becomes useless - until you enter the previously mentioned FIRST PERSON VIEW ONLY MODE by pressing the LEFT TRIGGER. Useful items/loot twinkle and all you have to do is walk next to the item for it to be placed in your inventory. However, your instincts will be urging you to perform a thorough search of the room - open a few drawers - well they must not have had drawers in WWII because all you can do is walk around a static room. So you do just that - but due diligence requires that you walk a few inches enter the FIRST PERSON VIEW ONLY MODE look around for goodies and then walk another few inches enter the FIRST PERSON VIEW ONLY MODE...etc. You quickly discover that the only loot in the room is what twinkled upon entering - this must mean that Germans don't hide things - interesting? The inventory management subsystem was poorly conceived. Anything you cannot fit in your pockets is carried for all to see in your hands. There are hiding places you can find scattered thoughout the camps and you have a personal footlocker in your barracks. It took me forever just to figure out how to examine/use inventory items. Game Saving - you must be in your barracks and next to your bed in order to save your game. The game designers felt that one of the driving forces behind a prisoner of war game had to be the daily routine that a prisoner was forced to adhere by. So they devised a lame gimmick - a timepiece - that helps you plan mischeif around static morning and evening roll calls. So you are allowed to go exploring as long as you do not get caught in a guards vision-cone while in an illegal area as long as you get back to morning/evening roll call. From the moment I began playing this game I was extremely dissapointed. After playing for a day - I knew I was going to get rid of the game quickly before word got out. The graphics are boring. The character controls are the worst in XBOX history - why do I have to press right to look left - (that infuriates me)? The idea of being a prisoner of war trying to escape is golden (and I hope someone pulls it off), but this implementation is shameful. CODEMASTERS quality assurance team should be fired.

I had high hopes for this game but I am sad to say Prisoners of War did not live up to it's expectations. No freedom to do as you wish. You must follow the preset plot. The graphics are good but this game is not worth buying. Try renting it .

now this isn't the worst game i've played on the xbox, but that doesn't say much. I was extremely excited about the game for a long time. But it just doesn't live up to expectations. So its a game about escaping a prison camp? sounds intriguing, in depth, etc. But it isn't. You don't decide how you'll escape, or what you'll do period. you jsut follow instructions and go along with the next thing you are supposed to do. I was expecting to be abe to actually choose how to escape, what i would do, etc, but you dont. Maybe I've become spoiled from the idea of freeform play, but I hate being led by the nose in games anymore. I wanna make my own decisions. Aside from that, graphics, sounds, controls, etc are just not up to par either. It looks like an (outdated?) ps2 game. it actually has a pretty low fps and i continually notice it "stutter" when i turn. controls, while not awful, don't do nearly as much as you would expect. they also don't respond as well as you would hope.
This game is definately a renter. Thats why i did, and I got bored within a few hours.

It's a good game for people you like strategic gameplay. If you a shooter don't buy it. alot of people i know complain about not being able to shoot. Your in a POW camp since when do you get guns.

Graphics 8/10
They get a little choppy and sometimes the guy is moving his lips when he's not even talking. The lighing is good.

Sound 6/10
Music is boring and monotonous, but I wasn't expecting Matallica or eminem. The voices can be quite funny.

AI 7/10
The guards can be overalert sometimes. getting yeld at for standing in there path. The fellow prisoners are donw pretty well. They walk around and talk or play or play games

Overall it's a good game,but if your not sure you want to spend your hard earned money. then I suggest You rent it.

POW is a different kind of game! This is not fast paced, there is no killing, and the point is to be stealth, fast, efficient, and to escape. Now I did just straight up buy this game, most of the time I rent games first, but I had read so much about this game and downloaded as many clips as I could find, and I had a $25 gift certificate to blow. I knew what this game was all about before it came out, (all the above reviews bashing this game must not have done the research they should have), The X-Box Magazine spelled this game out for any one that can read. POW is a slower paced, STRATAGY game, this is not Halo, it is not Metal Gear, and it is not for most gamers. I spent 30+ days in the first camp according to the game clock, I did get frustrated, and (annoyed) off at times, but once I got my plan straight, and executed it efficiently it was great. I broke out just as I was missing morning roll call and the alarms were going off, I was thrilled! Then the story got me busted again, and I was in another camp.
The controls are the worst part thought, it is not like Halo, or Max Payne, more like GunValkery, not my favorite set up, but you learn the controls after a while, (just like any other game with odd controls). The sound is really cool, there are a lot of little environment sounds, and back ground stuff that sounds great on Dolby. The graphics are not the best, but certainly better then anything on the PS, PS2. Remember when the PS1 came out, those games (weren't good) too, then look a newer game for the PS1, it is much better, the graphics on the X-Box games right now are not tapping the total capabilities of the system, but give the game makers some time, they will learn to tap the X-Boxes power.
In Closing POW is a good game for the right gamer, if you like nothing but nonstop action, killing, and, gun play don't buy this game you will be board and disappointed. But if you like strategy, and using your brains rather than a trigger, and don't mind taking some time to find the best strategy you will love this game.
It is a different kind of game. Do your research before you buy!

Okay, I have to admit, I went into this game with high expectations, leaving me a long way to fall with disappointment, BUT YOU WILL AGREE, this game is BAD. The concept is cool, you are an American POW in WWII, and you try to escape from your POW camp...cool. The idea is pulled of poorly however.

You start out in a small camp, which actually acts as your game training ground. You are given tasks from fellow prisoners, all of which lead up to your eventual escape. "Grab the key, steal the crowbar, steal this," ect. The first camp lasts awhile and after escaping you are re-captured and put into a new=harder camp. This will go on and on.

The controls are poor, your guy keeps running when you don't want him to, you end up getting shot anf have to start the mission over again. Gameplay is boring, go here, do this, come back, go out again. I am a fan of Metal Gear, with all of the sneaking and stuff, but there is no action in this game! Get spotted, and you are shot down, and NO...you cannot break any necks here. The voice acting is horrible, with your captors with horrible and cheesy German accents.

Be smart, stay away from this, maybe Dead to Rights will be good. If you need an espionage game, go with Metal Gear.

... I saw "Prisoner Of War", I mildly entertaining game not quite worth the three bucks it cost to rent it.

You see, I don't demand fast-paced action and violence in all my games. Heck, I still enjoy the occasional game of "Wordtris" for the SNES. But I do appreciate a little more effort than the makers of "POW" put forth. Here's a great example of a great concept executed with astounding mediocrity. It isn't promising that the first cutscene off a game looks like it was put together by a bunch of twelve year olds. Actually, all the cutscenes look that way. The Kommandant of the first camp looks like Bobby Hill from "King of the Hill". And my god, the voice acting. One of the other prisoners talks, and looks, just like Dale from "King of the Hill".

The graphics are so weak. XBox's main bragging point has always been its graphics. And there are some truly amazing looking games out there. But they should just sweep "POW" under the rug. Or taken a year or two to work on it. This is still the XBoxs first year so I'm willing to cut 'em some slack, but still there's no excuse for products this weak. I swear I could hear my XBox console sighing with boredom. I was too, so it was a duet.

The controls are okay. The camera is fine in open spaces but if you're hiding in a corner, the best way to look around is to hold the left trigger button. But since you can't move when using that POV, sometimes you're sneaking around blind. And going through doorways is also difficult at first.

So, please, do not spend fifty dollars on this. Just wait for Metal Gear Substance is you're into sneaking games or Medal of Honor in you're into WWII games. Because they can't be any worse than this. If "POW" leaves feeling anything, it's a strong urge to watch "King of the Hill".

I, like many others, was suduced by all the hype surrounding this title. I invisioned a game that offered another aspect to the time frame and was as fun and exciting to play as Medal of honor. I was sadly and greatly disappointed. First off the graphics are terrible actually "terrible" doesn't even begin to describe it. And then the dialogue.....it made my head hurt. I was reminded of old "Hogans Heroes" re-runs. The Nazis were ignorant and goofy with really bad accents and the americans were all wise cracking "cowboys". The plot was pretty lame and the flow of the game was dreadfully slow and uninteresting. I found myself spending most of my time walking arround in crouch mode and circling Nazi guards just for kicks which got tiring after a few moments as well. I'm glad i rented it instead of wasting (Money) on it. I also printed out a label and attached it to the rented case as a warning to unsuspecting renters (i know thats bad) it read "Worst Game EVER". I recommend saving your money for the Next Halo.

To be fair, I didn't play the game for very long. Maybe it gets better, but it certainly can't get much worse. I can deal with graphics that aren't up to an xbox users expectations, but this is only the beginning. The controls are awfull, the game is not exciting whatsoever, and there is no way to skip past the repetitive cut-scenes that will inevitably drive one out of his mind when having to go back for a "do over". I don't feel like wasting too much time on this game, even slamming it in a review, so I will keep my criticism brief. Don't waste your time or money on this game. It is lacking the action and ingredients that any true xboxer has come to expect.

I rented it last night, and it bites. The graphics are horrible, and so is the voice acting. The game isn't even that fun.