First look: Prisoner Of War

UK-based developer and publisher Codemasters has announced a new game that's tentatively titled Prisoner of War. The game is being developed externally by Wide Games, and it's scheduled for release near the end of 2001.

In the game, players control four prisoners from the Allied forces during World War II in 1941. The prisoners are American, British, Dutch, and French, and they must escape from one of four German prison camps: Salonika, Stalag Luft I, Stalag Luft III, and Colditz Castle. Each of the characters has different abilities--such as athleticism, stealth, espionage, charm, and linguistics--which the player needs to manage and enhance in order to escape from the prison camps. Prisoner of War is played from the third-person perspective, and it will be fully 3D using Wide Games' Atlus engine.

"A key title for the winter season, Prisoner of War marries a balance of stealth and action, creating an immersive gameplay experience," said David Darling, Codemasters' chief executive. "Coming from Wide Games, it's one of seven Codemasters projects currently being created by external development partners. We have had great success working with external teams, and they remain an important part of our ongoing development plans."

Prisoner Of War is set for a release sometime this winter. GameSpot will have further details on Prisoner of War as they become available.