Prison Break: Alcatraz is the follow-up game to the popular Prison Break: Lockdown game, which asked players to break out of prison. Now, in Part 2, players are tasked with breaking out of one of the most secure prisons in America’s History. Prison Break: Alcatraz is a Hidden Object game that asks players to find all the right pieces of the puzzle and then figure out what to do with them in order to complete the overall puzzle and successfully break out of Alcatraz Prison. With a number of different cells to break out of, and increasingly more difficult puzzles and hidden objects to uncover this could be one of the better hidden object puzzlers out there.
Players looking to test their jailbreaking skills can download Prison Break: Alcatraz (Free) from the Play Store and then once they load it up there are a couple of options, including the ability to remove ads and link to Facebook and such.
Players will be able to choose from a number of different cells to break out of, and more of them open up as you successfully break out of the previous cells.
Playing through the first cell will help set the tone for the rest of the cells, and as Prison Break: Alcatraz is a Hidden Object game, it will be familiar to those that have played similar titles before. Those that haven’t however, will be treated to some good-looking artwork that paints a pretty grim picture from America’s most famous Prison.
In Hidden Object games users can tap on parts of the scene to get a closer look, and Prison Break: Alcatraz is no different. In the first cell, I was struggling to figure out just what to do next, so I went in search of some items or some clues that might help point me in the right direction.
Playing through Prison Break: Alcatraz I was surprised to find out that solutions to puzzles and items that you need will be found in some interesting locations, like the key combination in this Prisoner’s tattoo. This will lead to items and such, such as the hammer that I used to hammer in this wall to find the key to unlock the cell and walk away a free man once more.
This is just the first level, and I don’t want to ruin the later levers for people, but there are some surprises in Prison Break: Alcatraz, like how often you’ll have to interact with other inmates to facilitate your escape.
You’ll also come across some of the more interesting Prison-made gadgets that a game like this would be able to come up with.
For those looking for hints of the later levels and more information, they can take a look at Amphibius Developers’ Facebook page.
I’ve played my fair share of Hidden Object games in the past, and for me they often end up falling into two different camps, those that are just too long or those that are just too short. Happily, Prison Break: Alcatraz sits right in the middle, thanks to the segmentation from level-to-level it allows players to spend time working from level-to-level in a longer session, or just try to complete one level for a smaller amount of time. The way that puzzle pieces lead from one step to another can seem quite challenging, however once you have them figured out it all seems nice and logical. For the first few cells of Prison Break: Alcatraz I did feel that the process was a little too similar overall, as it all ended up finishing in a key, and the process to get that key was pretty similar, but in the later levels things get a lot more tricky and will offer players a serious challenge.
Ratings
- Speed (4/5) – Prison Break: Alcatraz runs nice and quickly, and the pace of play is up to the player, which makes this accessible and easy to play.
- Theme (4/5) – While the artwork here is good, it doesn’t appear to be very high-resolution, and on tablet sin particular things don’t look too sharp.
- Features (4/5) – Like many Hidden Object games, Prison Break: Alcatraz will need a certain type of player to enjoy it, but with different levels and an increasing difficulty level, this is a more modern take on the genre, and one that could appeal to new Hidden Object players.
- Overall (4/5) – The graphics could do with some sharper images overall, but the game itself is good fun and Prison Break: Alcatraz will definitely please Hidden Object players looking for a fresh challenge.
Pros
- Free to download and play, even if it does contain some ads.
- Gets progressively more and more difficult from cell-to-cell, which makes this good fun that will keep on evolving over time.
- Good-looking artwork helps paint a picture of America’s most famous Prison, and should help some players fear the dangerous prison.
- Logical puzzles make sense once players figure them out, but also offer a solid – yet not impossible – challenge to work through.
Cons
- Artwork looks good, but it’s not very high-resolution and doesn’t look crips on Quad HD displays or tablets.
- First few cells feel quite similar in the process to breaking out, but this does get more difficult in the later levels.
All-in-all, Prison Break: Alcatraz is a good game that’s worth taking a look at, especially considering that it’s free and looks good. It will definitely appeal to Hidden Object players more than anyone else, but thanks to the segmented levels and increasing difficulty it could well appeal to new players as well as those familiar with the genre. Alcatraz is a fun setting for a game like this, and the artwork paints a picture of a desolate place that anyone would want to break out of.