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Prison Break the Conspiracy
Season one of Prison Break was probably one
of the most original and innovative TV Series to land on our screens. It
revolved around Michael Schofield (Wentworth Miller), the “hero” of the
series who purposely committed a bank robbery and allowed himself to be
caught in order to be sentenced to Fox River Penitentiary. Why? Because
his older brother Lincoln (Linc) was on death row for a crime that he
did no commit and was setup by a secret agency called the “Company”.
The
key to the series was that Michael Schofield had tattooed the entire
architectural plans of Fox River Penitentiary on his body in order to
stage one of the most daring prison breaks of all time. This is where
the game comes into play and revolves around the first season of Prison
Break with gamers controlling the mysterious Tom Paxton, a man who works
for the Company and has been assigned to watch over the two brothers in
order for their conspiracy to be kept quiet. Best of all, the likeness
and even some of the actors lend their voices to these characters,
making this a Kocher game.
The
first thing that you will notice about Prison Break: The Conspiracy is
the parallels to the TV series from the characters in the game that
mimic their real-world actors to the locations and even the music which
has been successfully created, albeit in a virtual world. In terms of
gameplay, it is quite reminiscent of titles such as Metal Gear Solid and
the Tom Clancy games which has you sneaking around the prison, avoiding
guards, security cameras, hiding in dark places and even in lockers.
Of
course, there are fights and even some acrobatics that you will be
engaged in. Like the TV series and in order to get closer to your
intended targets, you need to complete little missions for them and
although some are quite outrageous, it suits the premise of the story.
There are a few side quests along the way and you can even get involved
in illegal prison fights and even bulk yourself up at the gym.
The
only downside to the game is that it does become quite repetitive as you
progress and you get that feeling that you’ve done it all before. There
may be new locations or new characters but at its crux, Prison Break:
The Conspiracy is unfortunately very shallow in terms of gameplay but
that is the difficulty of mimicking a TV series, like Ubisoft’s Lost.
The
control system of the game works well with the DualShock controller as
you control your character Paxton with the environment as he picks
locks, dodges cameras and climbs ropes. The combat engine of Prison
Break is rather simplistic at the best of times as you punch and block
in beating up your fellow inmates and guards.
Initially I enjoyed Prison Break because it’s quite a well-made game
that is faithful to the TV series, however halfway through the game, I
became disenchanted due to its repetitive nature from exploration,
combat and limited puzzles. Unlike Metal Gear Solid of Tom Clancy games,
the game kept throwing curve balls at you but after the first half of
the game, you’ve pretty much seen them all before which is a shame. It's
not to say that Prison Break is a bad game, it's just lacking that final
polish.
Graphically, Prison Break: The Conspiracy is almost a carbon copy of the
TV series from the realistic characters who look like the actors and
even the locales in the game. It’s probably one of the best game
interpretations that I have seen. The only issue with the graphics is
that it seems too perfect and unlike the dark and dirty world of the TV
series, the game appears too clean and too perfectly constructed.
However the realistic facial expressions from the characters more than
makes up for this amost too perfect world. Add in some professional
voice acting and at times, you could be forgiven in thinking that you
are watching the TV series. Most of the characters in the game sound
right, although a few are a little off but it’s nothing to scoff at.
Overall, Prison Break: The Conspiracy is a very well made game, however
certain elements feel forced and contrived. Personally, I would have
preferred to play Michael Schofield as opposed to Paxton who feels too
fake and pushed into the franchise as a way for the gamer to interact.
It is interesting that the original story of the Schofield brothers
continues in the background as Paxton’s story crosses over with this one
which does create a good link. However, for me, the gameplay is missing
something and if they threw in some more memorable gaming moments into
the game, this would have been a better experience which is a shame for
such a good looking title.
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