Review - Prince of Persia

Prince of Persia (PoP) is a series that has come a long way. Myself, I am barely at an age where I can remember the original game past the first level. All I remember is the eternal frustration that gave me horrible thoughts as to what I would do to the crusty old Amstrad. Damn spike pits.

It was in the first year of my university degree when' Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time' was released and as a big shooter fan (at the time) I was dubious. I had raided enough tombs to know that platforming was a little stale on the PC. The time reversale mechanic sounded fun, so I have it a whirl - and loved it. Its sequels I never finished. They seemed tired again (not to mention emo). So, when Ubisoft announced the latest rebirth of the franchise, I grinned a little...then forgot about it.

So Christmas rolls around and I pick up PoP for a nice safe £25. Telling myself I will give it a whirl in between Fallout 3 and World of Warcraft...I only just finished it.

Bottom line, the game is very nice. It is very pretty and very intuitive. Surprisingly, there isn't even that much combat if you avoid some of the incredibly tedious achivements. Combat itself is interesting. Back to back quicktime events with only marginal hints, strategic character positioning and a faint use of environments.

The title obviously centres around the (idiot) prince (of what Ubisoft?) and his georgous magician/assistant/heroin Elika, who is actually far cooler than the Prince himself. Both characters are on screen constantly, without the need for coop, and with great use of Ubisoft's animators, you control both characters as if they were one, using both their abilities together. It works very well, and whilst playing you won't even realise how new this concept is. It works well and makes traversing the levels flow very nicely.


A few friends of mine have complained about the lack of puzzles. There are puzzles, but they are logical. Control flood gates to get water from here to there by rotating a selection of these in the right order etc. Sands of Time featured lots of moving blades, spikes and crushing ceilings that you had to figure out and then navigate. None of that is present here, although, spoilers not included, you will find some very nice set pieces of things collapsing around you.

Ubisoft have done a great job on this relaunch. It is child friendly (no blood/gore at all) and whilst level conponents are all the same (hand holds, vines, walls to run on) the area vary in aesthetic and you will find it hard to get bored. My only complaint is that, like your average episode of Lost season 3, you find out bugger all about the main character, apart from his donkey fetish...

How do I rate it? Pleasent. A game I'm glad I bought.