Published by: Ubisoft
Developed by: Ubisoft Montreal
Release Date: 05/18/10
Available on: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable
INTRO: We’ve got a new Prince of Persia game on our hands, conveniently released in line with the summer blockbuster from the same franchise. This is another chapter in the Sands of Time trilogy, which began several years ago on last generation’s systems. In this game, the prince ventures away to visit his brother and naturally his kingdom comes under siege and it is up to him to take out the trash. As if that wasn’t bad enough, an ancient evil is unearthed that unleashes hordes of monsters and a genie named Ratash to cause a little chaos. Let’s get some sand in our food, shall we?
GAMEPLAY:
Let me first expound a little about my thoughts on the POP franchise. I just can’t help but feel that this game ultimately didn’t really need to exist. It falls a bit behind the masterful games that came before it nearly a decade ago and is completely different from the POP reboot that came out a year or so ago. To be perfectly honest, this game almost feels a bit like a licensed tie-in and smells a tad of trying to cash in on the franchise name- with that said, this prince isn’t completely unworthy.
The easiest way for me to sum up this game review is by saying that the ‘hardcore’ element that made the previous games so tricky, challenging and intriguing have been scaled back in almost every way. The puzzles aren’t as numerous, the controls are really quite tight and the combat isn’t as difficult; nor is the system quite as deep as previous games. You still use the sands to rewind time, but if you didn’t know that you should at least watch the movie trailer and then come back to this review.
Personally, I’m not complaining. I’ve mentioned before that I’m not the world’s greatest gamer. I have a lot of video games but I don’t finish them all unless I’m reviewing them. I get frustrated and distracted relatively easily so if a game poses a truly significant difficulty, I’ll leave it laying in the dust and move on to the next product on the shelf. I like a games that isn’t super challenging because I like to play for the experience, not to be tested to my gaming limits. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not awful- I’m just not the guy who spends hours playing Call of Duty online and calling myself hardcore.
Again, this game is more forgiving. The triangle jump from point to point is so much more forgiving, as is climbing straight up vertical shafts. The best part of this game is some of the awe-inspiring platforming you have to endure to get around from point to point. You’ll know where you’re going thanks to some linear camera angles and you’ll be learning more moves to fly through the air with ease as your skills progress. If you’re worried that I made the game sound too easy, you wait until you have to worry about the water freeze as you jump from point to point later on; it can be a noodle scratcher.
There’s a lot of combat to break up the platforming and it’s not overly exciting but it works quite well. You do a lot of dodging and countering, and generally make the enemies look like idiots as you run on top of their heads. You upgrade stuff and get experience orbs from these guys but unfortunately you don’t have to finesse it, you can use the same attacks as often as you please for the most part. although springing off walls might look cooler. You eventually get some neat powers too, which are fun to use but come at the cost of potentially not having the power to rewind time.
I personally felt that the combat was at times distracting and annoying when I’m flying through the air and pulling off all kinds of tricks and then having no choice but to fight 40 monsters.
Ultimately, the game gets pretty intense during the last few levels but there’s nothing here in the gameplay to truly wow you.
Gameplay: 7/10
GRAPHICS:
The graphics here are quite simply passable, although the further you get, the better things look. The textures look quite good and the Prince even looks a bit like old Jakey himself! The effects work quite well and some of the bosses look pretty badass, but again, this isn’t anything that’ll catch the attention of a passerby.
Graphics: 7.5/10
AUDIO:
The original Prince of Persia voice actor returns to this episode of the series, and he’s great- most of the voice work is really good in this episode. The orchestral score is quite fitting and the weapon sounds are quite appropriate as well.
Audio: 8/10
FINAL VERDICT:
Ultimately, this doesn’t feel like a complete effort, but seems like a half-step for the series. You get to tread familiar ground and do so in a much more streamlined way; serving as a streamlined Prince of Persia sampler for the uninitiated. The game is pretty short, doesn’t offer a lot of replay value and is a little less challenging than previous episodes. If you can forgive these things, you might want to pick this one up. If you’re a hardcore POP fan, maybe you should rent it before you consider purchasing it.
Final Score: 7.5/10
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