The Prince of Persia series has become one of gaming’s most appreciated and influential IP’s thanks to the overwhelming success of The Sands of Time, Warrior Within and The Two Thrones, and propelled the gameplay and story of the recent PoP trilogy into cult status. Yet, even a winning formula can be altered and changed to suit a new generation, and this is the case with Prince of Persia for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC.
Prince of Persia ditches the previous trilogy’s story-arc and kicks off with a brand new adventure and hero. This time round players take on the role of an unnamed thief, who is neither a prince, or possibly not even from Persia, nevertheless known as the Prince. Anyway, it doesn’t matter, because he is a welcomed addition to the series and adds some attitude in comparison to the real melodramatic prince of the previous games. The story kicks off as our new hero is wondering through the desert in search of his donkey. Lost in a sandstorm he stumbles across a beautiful, but powerful princess named Elika, who protects a temple which imprisons Ahriman, the god of darkness.
When Ahriman is released, the land and kingdom is plagued and corrupted by darkness and it is up to the new hero, alongside Elika, to defeat Ahrimans minions and resotre the land to once again imprison Ahriman. The story was engrossing and beautifully presented through great dialogue between the characters of the Prince and Elika in-game and through cut scenes. Prince of Persia contains one of the greatest endings I have ever experienced. It was heart-felt and is a definite benchmark in what stories and endings should be in video games, along with the production value that puts many Hollywood movies to shame.
The game takes place in an open-world environment, where players are free to choose in what order and which direction to go about their quest, which involves travelling to locations possecced by Corrution and restoring it by defeating the enemies and boss which guard the area. Along the way ‘light seeds’ are collected which result in further and more distant Corrupted areas to become accessible, as well as grant Elika new powers. Travelling across the world is fun and an awesome sight to look at, yet it is slightly time consuming, thankfully, for those who aren’t the sightseeing type, a teleportation option is available to certain lands players have already healed is possible.
Previous Prince of Persia’s have always been known for their great platforming elements, with a good combination of combat and puzzles. Prince of Persia mixes up the whole structures of these award-winning elements to present a whole new experience and gameplay which gave skeptical opinions to fans of the franchise, but have proven to be far superior and awesome than anyone expected. The games platforming is outstanding. You have the simple jump button (a double jump assisted by Elika) which will be the majority of the actions which are fluidly executed and more about timing than complexity.
A new feature is the glaive the Prince wears. A metallic spiked glove the Prince uses to help wall run, grab ledges, climb and perform a move called ‘grip fall’ where the Prince will slide down vertically using the glaive as an anchor in the wall, is all controlled by the grab button. ‘Roof runs’ are also incorporated allowing the player to maneuver upside down along the ceiling comes into play in certain situations. Segments in the game require the player to use a combination of the abilities to progress, which relies more on quick thinking and, once again, timing to complete successfully.
Fighting and combat takes on a whole new dimension as the previous Prince was known for taking on multiple enemies at once, this time, you will only fight one enemy at a time. Minions and bosses of the Corruption make up the games enemies and the Prince has multiple ways of dealing with them. In combat situations, different combinations of the face buttons must be executed in order to deliver powerful attacks. There is an attack button for the Princes sword, the glaive, jumps and a button to call the aid of Elika. Harnessing the right combinations for the right enemies is the key to progression and the battles themselves are very immersive and consuming as you actually feel they become a challenge, rather than simply ‘speed killing’ everyone (for fans of the series).
To clear the air on the whole “I heard you can’t die thing!?” Well, you can’t actually die, but the game balances the feature out with counter forces, such as if battling an enemy and Elika has to save you after being wounded, the enemies health will regenerate extensively, as if you almost began the fight again. The same goes for platforming as, if you miss a jump in a series, Elika will return you to the beginning of the section of jumps as if there was a checkpoint there. Therefore, being saved by Elika doesn’t make the game easier by any means; it simply eliminates the frustration of repetitive deaths followed by loading screens and the fuss of checkpoints. In addition, trust me, some parts become pretty difficult and if Elika wasn’t there, you’d be smashing your controller, trust me, it’s a welcomed and appreciated addition that only enhances the game experience and her saving you even comes into play within the story, but that’s enough of that, don’t want to give away any spoilers.
Puzzles seem to be the only slight crime in this game as they either too easy or ridiculously difficult and complex. Some will take casual players forever to decipher and work out, but don’t be put off, they’re manageable and with the right thought, rather rewarding.
Prince of Persia is one of the most unique and strikingly gorgeous games in previous years. Vivid water-colour pallets and contrasts with a combination of cel-shading allow the characters and extraordinary level designs to shine and look absolutely stunning. Not does PoP look amazing, it is also one of the most unique looking titles and it’s a testament to Ubisoft Montreal to take on such a compelling and daunting vision which resulted in something really special in the end. The fight sequences look incredible and contain a cinematic feel to them, while the cut scenes and effects on characters and the environment are just a pleasure to look at.
Dialogue and audio is another highlight of Prince of Persia as the interaction between Elika and the Prince is humorously entertaining as writing and great voice acting builds up attraction tension between the two, but allows for more dramatic and engrossing moments which make the player actually care about the story and characters.
Prince of Persia is a marvel in video game design, idea, function and execution. It shows even great things can come out of mixing up some traditional features, while holding on to what really makes a memorable experience. We can only pray Prince of Persia continues to excel in the way this outing has, and to bring us gamers many more moments such as the ones within this title. One of the greatest adventure stories and games ever experienced.
[starreviewmulti id=1 tpl=20]
