Computing presents the definitive list of the all-time top games on one of the best-loved home computers
2. The Great Escape
Ever wanted to know what life was really like in a Second World War POW camp? No? Oh. Well fortunately this game skips the horrors and indignities, and instead focuses on intense, gripping gameplay, and adds innovative features and some surprisingly lovely isometric graphics to boot.
Assuming the role of an unnamed prisoner, the player must try to escape from the camp without being caught, or even arousing suspicion. Brilliantly, leave the controls alone and the player character will go about the expected routine of the camp: turning up for role call, attending exercise at the appropriate time, and observing the night time curfew.
Get caught somewhere you shouldn't be, and it's a spell in solitary confinement, and your morale metre takes a hit (brilliantly realised as a waving flag at one side of the screen). Get caught too many times, and your morale hits rock bottom and it's game over.
And there are several different ways to escape too. None of them is obvious, and they're each tricky to navigate, but unlike many Spectrum classics, it is actually possible to complete The Great Escape without devoting your entire childhood to it. Or maybe we just loved it enough to persevere. Either way, it's a work of genius.
