Prison breaks
Hatching plans and outwitting cops in PlayStation’s best slammer escapes
1 THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK: ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY
Riddick is such a spectacular escape artist he sneaks out of not one but three maximum-security wings. Shivving fellow inmates, sneaking through manholes in the showers, and breaking out gruff quips are perks of the pokey-busting job.
2 CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2
MW2’s Gulag makes Alcatraz look like a floating Ritz. Halfway through the campaign, Task Force 141 infiltrates this grim Russian slammer to rescue ‘Prisoner 627’. After shooting all the men, Soap and Roach find out the inmate is none other than Captain Price.
3 THE LAST GUARDIAN
Guardian’s tattooed kid freeing Trico from his well/ cell counts as a prison break in our books. Though the beast is none too pleased to see the sprog, the pair form an unlikely friendship.
4 METAL GEAR SOLID
Shawshank Redemption may have its Rita Hayworth-aided escape, but all Snake needs to bust out of his Shadow Moses cell is patience and a bottle of ketchup. Spill said sauce over the floor, then lie on top of it and the guard will assume Snake has died and open the door.
5 BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY
Bats doesn’t need the cape, cowl or crook-kiboshing gadgets. Surrounded by Gotham’s worst felons after being imprisoned inside Arkham City, Bruce breaks out with nothing but karate kicks, a Penguin-dropping haymaker, and some impressive prison parkour.
6 THE ESCAPISTS
Your block-based felon may be adorable, yet with training he can transform into an escape artist who’d make Steve McQueen’s Cooler King turn green. Digging tunnels and starting riots are two escape methods; just don’t get caught or solitary awaits.
7 A WAY OUT
The perfect crooked couch co-op title, Josef Fares’ inventive caper sees inmates Leo and Vincent busting out of a 1970s penitentiary thanks to co-ordinated spine-on-spine wall-crawling.
8 SAINTS ROW 2
The prison break in Saints Row 2 involves a minigun… because of course it does. After awakening from a coma and plastic surgery, your leader of the 3rd Street Saints proceeds to take a lot of pages out of Arnie’s book as they lay waste to dozens of cops while escaping Stilwater Penitentiary.
9 UNCHARTED 4: A THIEF’S END
If lying were an Olympic sport Sam Drake would have more gold medals than Usain Bolt. After spinning a tale about his escape from a Panamanian jail, it’s later revealed he was released by Uncharted 4’s Big Bad, Rafe. Dirty fibs or not, the prison break flashback is a humdinger of a mission.