Prince of
Persia: Sands of Time was easily one of my favorite games of last-gen.
It had so much charm and charisma that my expectation for the series
since then has been astronomically high. PoP: Warrior Within and PoP:
Two Thrones were both decent games, but don’t even come close to
comparing to Sands of Time. For some reason, even after being let down
by both titles, my expectations for the 360 installment of PoP were
just as high. To get to the point, I guess I can say it almost hit them.
Let me just start off by saying that the graphics and art style in Prince of Persia are remarkable. So good, that they sometimes brought me into the game when the gameplay wasn’t doing its job. Everything fits and blends incredibly well together, no matter what part of the game you are exploring. The companion that helps you throughout the story, Elika, is very well designed and her character development is great as well. For some reason, the Prince’s design didn’t do it for me, and I disliked him from the very beginning of the game. By the end, I warmed up to him a little bit, but I still feel that he isn’t very likable and doesn’t fit the setting in any way. I have yet to put this game in front of someone who didn’t prefer the Altair or Sands of Time Prince costumes. I find character development to be one the most important parts of a game, so this was a little annoying, but easily overcome.
Gameplay wise the game delivers most of the time, but it did take some time for it to grow on me. Initially the world feels bare, the platforming seems familiar, and the fighting seems lackluster. The more you sit down and play, the world expands, you gain powers that bring new platforming elements to the table, and the one vs. one fighting system freshens up the combat quite a bit from the old games. The game has you going to various corrupted lands and purifying them. The dark god, Ahriman, was set free, and by purifying the lands you can seal him away again. I’m not going to ruin what they are, but the different powers you get definitely make the game far more interesting and enjoyable. The platforming is what you would expect from a Prince of Persia game. Swinging from poles and running along walls is still present. It’s exactly like the old Prince of Persia’s with a new twist.
One of the new twists comes in the form of Elika, who helps you on the adventure. She is always with you, but not in the annoying “have to hold her hand” type way. It’s actually the opposite, where she tends to hold your hand, literally. You cannot technically “die” in the new PoP. If you fall, Elika uses her powers to save you from dying. While it does take away the difficulty factor, it lowers the frustration factor, which for some reason is very high. I suppose it’s a platforming problem, but I can’t tell you how many times the Prince jumped the wrong way off a pole, or jumped wrong off a wall. Luckily, it’s usually the camera that creates these problems in platformers, but it isn’t the culprit in PoP. It’s just how the game works. Either way, I’ll applaud the addition of the no dying system. Despite the hate it will receive, essentially all it’s doing is taking out the load screen that usually resets us at a check point. You are never taken out of the game because of it, and I think it has a rightful place being included.
The other twist is the battle system. It’s almost like a fighting game where it’s one vs. one, and you have a TON of different combos at your disposal. It can be an absolute blast to use, and it’s a huge step up from the old button-mashing combat. I never once got bored of the combat itself. The only time I found myself bored was with the reoccurring boss battles. You literally fight the same bosses five times each, and while they all have different weaknesses and ways to defeat them, it seems like the developers got lazy during the design.
Overall, Prince of Persia takes a short while to get going, but once it does, it’s a great step forward for the series. While it may not be better than Sands of Time, it has earned a spot right behind it. Although Prince of Persia can be repetitive and frustrating, it is fun to play and has a lot of charm. Here’s to hoping the gameplay in the next entry can reach the same level that this game did graphically. We might just have a masterpiece on our hands, then.
Positives
+ Incredible art style, definitely one of the best looking games ever.
+ Fun platforming.
+ Good, new fighting system that many button mashers could use as a new standard.
+ No dying system
Negatives
- Unlikable hero for most of, if not the whole game.
- Some very frustrating moments where the one button platforming just doesn’t seem to work.
- Very repetitive at times. Constantly redoing the same things and fighting the same enemies.
Letter grade – B+
Let me just start off by saying that the graphics and art style in Prince of Persia are remarkable. So good, that they sometimes brought me into the game when the gameplay wasn’t doing its job. Everything fits and blends incredibly well together, no matter what part of the game you are exploring. The companion that helps you throughout the story, Elika, is very well designed and her character development is great as well. For some reason, the Prince’s design didn’t do it for me, and I disliked him from the very beginning of the game. By the end, I warmed up to him a little bit, but I still feel that he isn’t very likable and doesn’t fit the setting in any way. I have yet to put this game in front of someone who didn’t prefer the Altair or Sands of Time Prince costumes. I find character development to be one the most important parts of a game, so this was a little annoying, but easily overcome.
Gameplay wise the game delivers most of the time, but it did take some time for it to grow on me. Initially the world feels bare, the platforming seems familiar, and the fighting seems lackluster. The more you sit down and play, the world expands, you gain powers that bring new platforming elements to the table, and the one vs. one fighting system freshens up the combat quite a bit from the old games. The game has you going to various corrupted lands and purifying them. The dark god, Ahriman, was set free, and by purifying the lands you can seal him away again. I’m not going to ruin what they are, but the different powers you get definitely make the game far more interesting and enjoyable. The platforming is what you would expect from a Prince of Persia game. Swinging from poles and running along walls is still present. It’s exactly like the old Prince of Persia’s with a new twist.
One of the new twists comes in the form of Elika, who helps you on the adventure. She is always with you, but not in the annoying “have to hold her hand” type way. It’s actually the opposite, where she tends to hold your hand, literally. You cannot technically “die” in the new PoP. If you fall, Elika uses her powers to save you from dying. While it does take away the difficulty factor, it lowers the frustration factor, which for some reason is very high. I suppose it’s a platforming problem, but I can’t tell you how many times the Prince jumped the wrong way off a pole, or jumped wrong off a wall. Luckily, it’s usually the camera that creates these problems in platformers, but it isn’t the culprit in PoP. It’s just how the game works. Either way, I’ll applaud the addition of the no dying system. Despite the hate it will receive, essentially all it’s doing is taking out the load screen that usually resets us at a check point. You are never taken out of the game because of it, and I think it has a rightful place being included.
The other twist is the battle system. It’s almost like a fighting game where it’s one vs. one, and you have a TON of different combos at your disposal. It can be an absolute blast to use, and it’s a huge step up from the old button-mashing combat. I never once got bored of the combat itself. The only time I found myself bored was with the reoccurring boss battles. You literally fight the same bosses five times each, and while they all have different weaknesses and ways to defeat them, it seems like the developers got lazy during the design.
Overall, Prince of Persia takes a short while to get going, but once it does, it’s a great step forward for the series. While it may not be better than Sands of Time, it has earned a spot right behind it. Although Prince of Persia can be repetitive and frustrating, it is fun to play and has a lot of charm. Here’s to hoping the gameplay in the next entry can reach the same level that this game did graphically. We might just have a masterpiece on our hands, then.
Positives
+ Incredible art style, definitely one of the best looking games ever.
+ Fun platforming.
+ Good, new fighting system that many button mashers could use as a new standard.
+ No dying system
Negatives
- Unlikable hero for most of, if not the whole game.
- Some very frustrating moments where the one button platforming just doesn’t seem to work.
- Very repetitive at times. Constantly redoing the same things and fighting the same enemies.
Letter grade – B+