Prince of Persia (Xbox 360 - 1st completion)
I can never understand why people in the game/movie industry have to re-use the same title name in a franchise as a kind of reboot. In this case, Prince of Persia first came out in 1989 by Jordan Mechner and had it's own trilogy of games. In 2003 the brand came back with a vengeance with the Sands of Time trilogy which was quite successful and I loved all the games but it was a different Prince character and completely different timeline. So now the franchise is getting a second reboot in our HD generation with the title Prince of Persia (sometimes referred to as Prince of Persia 2008) even though it sounds like the very first game title (WTF!). We now have a third different Prince to play as and it's hard to say if this will be a new series given that the game released after this one returns back to the Sands of Time trilogy. Ah well, the game is still pretty impressive and I did have some fun with it. I managed to beat the game in under 12 hours of gametime (I got the 360 "Achievement" of it) and also beat the "Epilouge" DLC content to finish it all off. To watch the game's trailer go here (this is a trailer from E3 2008 with a better song than the one in-game which just sounds depressing). Here's another trailer from the Tokyo Game Show 2008 here.
The game begins with the protagonist, the Prince (which is only a nickname, the character is not royalty) in search of his donkey Farah (named after the Prince's love interest from the Sands of Time trilogy) in the middle of a desert sandstorm. He then runs into Elika, a barefoot princess of the Ahura who is fleeing from soldiers. The two fend off the soldiers, with Elika discovering her magical powers of light. The Prince follows her into a temple which houses Ahriman, a force of evil who is trapped within a tree known as the Tree of Life. Once inside the temple, the Prince and Elika are confronted by Elika's father, the Mourning King, who faces them in battle. After the fight, he uses his sword to cut the Tree of Life, setting Ahriman free. The Prince and Elika escape the temple, only to find a corrupted world outside. Elika tells the Prince that in order to restore the world and rid the corruption inhabiting it, they must heal all the Fertile Grounds in the kingdom. They then begin restoring the Fertile Grounds, encountering the Warrior, the Hunter, the Concubine and the Alchemist, four corrupted leaders Ahriman chose to set free. Only by healing the lands and stopping Ahriman's corrupted followers will they be able to return to the temple and seal Ahriman back into the Tree of Life.
For the opening gameplay (PS3 version) go here or below:
Click to viewFor Part 2 go here.
Graphics/Art-10
+ Beautiful cel-shaded graphics and character design. When you restore the fertility of a land, it looks really nice as the corruption just peels away and vibrant colour returns.
+ Spectacular animation and acrobatics.
+ No lag or fog and practically no slowdown.
Sound/Music-9
+ Not many tracks but the music is pretty beautiful in general.
+ Some good voice acting.
- The Prince's lines are too present-day and don't fit the game's environment that well.
Music sample:
Main Theme
Control-8
+ Some of the controls are streamlined and easy.
+ Combat controls and combos aren't too difficult as it mainly about responding to the appropriate situation. For example, if an enemy is glowing blue then you have the Prince attack with his sword to stop it (if you try to use Elika, she will be thrown aside) or if an enemy is infused with black corruption, you use Elika to attack (The Prince's attacks won't work in that state).
+ There are Quick Time Events (QTE) in combat to help get you out of a tight situation or help decrease the enemy's energy.
- The controls are different from the Sands of Time trilogy and take some time getting used to.
- Some of the QTE only give you one second to press the right random button and is kinda unfair when one mistake can make killing a boss/enemy a lot longer than needed (see below in Gameplay).
Gameplay-8
+ Similar feel to the Sands of Time trilogy. If you make a mistake you cannot "rewind" in this game but Elika saves you every time. In short, you cannot die in this game - including combat situations.
+ There is a map and compass system which really helps you big time. You select which area you want to go on your map and whenever you get lost or need to know where to go, you hit the "Y" button on the 360 controller and a magical ball whisps out of Elika's hand showing you the way. You can do it as many times as you like.
+ Once you turn a part of the land from corrupted to fertile, you can return to that area quickly through teleportation from the map screen. It's a real useful time saver and keeps some of the backtracking down!
- Even though Elika saves you from your mistakes, the checkpoints can get on your nerves. A checkpoint can be any solid ground but some situations require a lot of swinging, wall runs, doubles jumps, etc. and one screw up and you'll have to go through it all over again.
- I don't like the whole "Light Seeds collection" thing which makes for unnecessary backtracking and prolongs the game in the wrong way. Thankfully, they let you know how many light seeds you have collected in each area through the map screen.
- While you cannot die in combat, if Elika has to save you at anytime an enemy does an attack that would outright kill you, the enemy regains some energy back. Sometimes it isn't much but other times, it can be practically half their energy! Bullshit!
Fun/Story/Misc-9
+ Some conversations between the Prince and Elika can be quite good and you end up actually caring about them.
+ The story is pretty well written and does a good job considering the game is more open in it's environment than previous games.
- The "Epilogue" DLC is a mixed bag. While it's great to have an extra few hours of gameplay, it feels like it was put together kind of quickly and doesn't add much. The ending is kind of shallow too.
Total: 44/50 (Grade: B+)
To watch a few more gameplay videos, go here, here, and here.
Sadly, the main Prince of Persia website is no longer around (kinda premature to take it down eh?). The Wikipedia page is here and the Gametrailers.com review video is here.
Next Game: F-Zero GX (GC)
Currently playing: Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS)