Everyone loves a good prison break, whether it’s the central conceit of a narrative or just a footnote in a larger story. You don’t have to be sympathetic to criminals to get the thrilling appeal of quietly maneuvering your way out of a highly monitored, enclosed environment, usually followed by some manner of brawl or shootout.
It was great in The Shawshank Redemption, it was great in The Great Escape, and, of course, it’s great in video games.
10 Most Iconic Video Game Prisons
Do not pass go, do not collect $200 – jail. Straight to jail.
Prison breaks can take a few different shapes in games. Stealth sections are a common variety, which makes sense since a prisoner is almost definitely unarmed. There are also large-scale prison riots, where a prisoner needs to fight their way out based on brawn alone.
There’s also the possibility of your character being on the other side of a prison break and needing to stop escaped convicts. Whatever the case, prison breaks are a hoot, and these are some of the best we’ve seen in games.
9Escape From The Royal Dungeon
Chrono Trigger
As a product of the creative minds behind both Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, you might expect Crono to receive some manner of medal after rescuing Marle in the first act ofChrono Trigger. He does not receive a medal. In fact, he receives a sham trial, a death sentence, and incarceration. That’s life, I guess.
What makes this particular prison break rather unintentionally hilarious is that, even after you’ve been locked in a cell, you still have all of your gear and items, including your sword.
I don’t know how prison procedures work in medieval fantasy land, but I feel like reliving a prisoner of dangerous implements should be a given. Of course, the Chancellor who sentenced Crono was just Yakra in a hastily-assumed disguise, so I guess it makes sense the whole process would be a little slapdash.
Clerical incompetence aside, it’s still a pretty climactic prison break, culminating in a showdown between Crono and company and Yakra’s newly-constructed Dragon Tank, followed byan escape into the future.
8Escape From Coldridge Prison
Dishonored
A more serious take on the whole “framed for a really bad thing and imprisoned forever” concept can be found inDishonored, where our boy Corvo has spent six months in the dank depths of Coldridge Prison for supposedly assassinating the Empress. Obviously, we know he didn’t do it, having been in control of him when it went down, but that’s not the kind of thing that holds up in court.
A jail break is a great way to start off Dishonored in particular, because it’s a game that’s focused extensively on stealth, subterfuge, and,if necessary, assassination.
Even when freed from his cell, Corvo is still severely outnumbered and outgunned by corrupt guards, so a stealth tutorial is the only way he’s getting out of there. A prison is also a nifty little microcosm of the settings you’ll find yourself in throughout the game, from open spaces to cramped halls, so you get a little taste of everything that’s coming later.
Besides all that, it’s immensely satisfying to escape a prison without drawing any unnecessary attention to yourself. For as much fun as a riot or spoon-dug tunnel can be, the subtle approach has its charms as well.
7Escape From Special Detention
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
In most playable prison break scenarios, you are in direct control of a prisoner who’s looking to make an exit. There may be a mastermind behind the escape offering guidance, but they’re usually off doing something else while the cool stuff is happening.Ghost Trickgives you a chance to experience the role of break-out organizer fromthe unassailable position of being dead.
After thwarting Detective Jowd’s execution in the past, Sissel returns to the present to find the power out in the Special Detention prison following the electric chair’s explosion. Jowd is down to make a break for it with Sissel’s help, but the entire prison is crawling with guards equipped with night-vision goggles.
Compared to the previous instances of death-thwarting and ghost-tricking that have already occurred at this point, this segment is much more tense and involved. It’s not just about performing the right tricks at the right time, it’s about keeping Jowd primed to make a dash to each hiding spot.
It’s a pretty hard bit, and I admit I had trouble with it, but succeeding in the end felt pretty satisfying, even if you’re immediately busted by Inspector Cabanela.
6Escape From A Colorado Prison
Out of all the prison break scenarios in games I can think of,A Way Out’s is undoubtedly the most traditional. If you’ve ever watched a prison break movie or a show like, er, Prison Break, it feels very familiar, conceptually.
A Way Out’s breakout hits pretty much all the traditional beats: you got yourtwo convicts teaming upout of convenience to break out, they covertly gather information and materials, as well as subtly set up their ultimate escape route.
The big event all goes down through a combination of ingenuity and adrenaline-fueled athleticism, making a rope out of tied-up sheets and hauling yourself up dizzying heights with nothing but your own muscles.
What differentiates A Way Out from a lot of its contemporary media is that escaping from the prison is only the game’s first act. It’s an illustration of how much such an event forms camaraderie and teamwork skills, which become vital for the ultimate direction of the narrative as Vincent and Leo make their way cross-country.
5Escape From The Forsaken Fortress
The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
A handful ofLink’s various incarnationsover the course of the Legend of Zelda franchise have found themselves behind bars at one point or another. It’s usually no more than a footnote, though, as a sword and strong arm make breakouts an easy matter. A notable exception to this occurred early on inThe Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
After following his kidnapped sister to the Forsaken Fortress and being catapulted into its confines by Tetra, Link is left in hostile territory without his sword and shield. Basically, he brokeintoa prison, only to find himself needing to breakoutshortly after, preferably with his sister in tow.
Shigeru Miyamoto Disliked Toon Link & Wind Waker Visual Style
Shigeru Miyamoto “literally cringed” when he saw what the development team had in store for Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
Surprisingly, for the game’s first proper dungeon, it’s a majority stealth affair. If Link is spotted by patrolling Moblins, they’ll immediately dump him in a cell, though you can escape easily enough. While untraditional, I think this was a good establishing dungeon for this particular Link, as it showed just how in over his head he was compared to others.
4Escape From The Contessa’s Prison
Sly 2: Band Of Thieves
Sly 2: Band of Thieves
The main gimmick of the secondSly Coopergame is that, in addition to Sly, you get to play as Bentley and Murray for sneaking, infiltration, brawling, and so on. However, the game throws an interesting curveball at you.
Following the story’s third episode, Sly and Murray are imprisoned in a Prague prison by The Contessa, an Interpol prison warden and double agent for the Klaww Gang. This means, for the first chunk of the fourth episode, you only have Bentley on your side until you can break the others out.
Where you could previously rely on Sly’s mobility or Murray’s strength as necessary, you now only have Bentley’s gadgets at your disposal. It’s a clever means of forcing you to get your infiltration basics down pat, because Bentley can’t hide or fight his way out of a scrape nearly as easily.
Conceptually, I also find The Contessa’s prison terrifying. Using both her own brand of hypnotherapy and the Clockwerk Eyes, she brainwashes prisoners into “good samaritans.” As Bentley puts it in the episode intro, if he doesn’t save Sly and Murray, they’ll be consigned to a life working nine-to-five selling shoes.
3Escape From Titania
Tales Of Berseria
Tales of Berseria
If there’s one thingTales of Berseriais good at, it’s setting and flipping its tone as necessary. For instance, we follow the game’s relatively laid-back prologue with a smash-cut to Velvet imprisoned in a hole in the ground for three years, feeding on whatever Daemons are dropped in with her. If that doesn’t help you immediately understand her grievances, I don’t know what would.
Velvet didn’t have any particular plans for escaping at the start of the story; it was only thanks to Seres’ spontaneous appearance that she had a glimmer of hope of enacting revenge on Artorious.
She’s not even particularly subtle about her intentions after escaping her pit; she immediately rallies the other prisoners and incites a riot, and she’s more than pissed enough to show she means it.
I think my favorite part about the escape from Titania is that, as with that tone flip I mentioned, it’s a good illustrator of the party’s initial dynamic. Rokuro only joins up to pay back a perceived debt to Velvet, and Magilou tags along because she has nothing better to do. They’re not friends, they’re barely even allies, but their interests align, so for the moment, they’re teammates.
2Escape From Okinawa Penitentiary No. 2
Several of theYakuza/Like Dragon series protagonistshave done time before, but for the most part, they’re content to serve out their sentences and leave at the proper time.
The first major exception to this came about inYakuza 4, wherein we meet Majima’s long-incarcerated blood brother Taiga Saejima, imprisoned for 25 years after (allegedly) gunning down 18 members of the Ueno Seiwa Clan.
The start of Saejima’s story sees him being transferred to Okinawa Penitentiary No. 2, a private, top-secret prison used to disappear yakuza bigwigs. He doesn’t particularly care at first, but after hearing about what Majima’s been up to all these years, he quickly decides then and there to make a break for it.
The break-out from Okinawa Penitentiary No. 2 is the perfect staging ground for Saejima’s introduction because it helps to showcase just how hideously strong he is.
Hamazaki helps, but Saejima is largely on his own throughout the big brawl against a mildly absurd number of guards. Even so, he handles the fighting single-handedly, and without much difficulty at that. I think that was the first time I ever felt so strong at the start of a Yakuza story.
1Stopping The Escape From Arkham Asylum
Batman: Arkham Asylum
As I mentioned before, a prison break scenario doesn’t necessarily need to place you in the role of a prisoner. You can also be the poor sap whose job it is to put a stop to it, which Batman ended up being in the originalArkham Asylumgame.
Technically, it’s less of a “prison break” since Joker and all the Arkham convicts never actually leave the asylum grounds, but they’re supposed to be in cells, so I’d say it still counts.
It’s difficult to determine how long Joker had been planning this break, but it must’ve been quite the elaborate plan. Pretty much the moment Batman wheels him in, he, Harley, and the convicts are in near-complete control of the whole facility. Guards are either killed or taken hostage, patrols are set up, and traps and gadgets are scattered all over the place.
As with pretty much any other Batman media, it’s another lovely piece of proof that Arkham Asylum is just… the worst. These criminals, super or otherwise, really shouldn’t be here, both because a lot of the procedures are unethical and because they’re clearly insufficient.
The Prison In Silent Hill 2 Is One Of Gaming’s Scariest Levels
Ghosts aren’t part of Silent Hill 2, but Toluca Prison
