eXpert Review: Prince of Persia

by Linkwick

The Prince Of Persia series has been around for almost two decades now, and seen many changes in both console technology and gamer tastes. Now starting off on a third trilogy, this platforming mainstay has undergone a major overhaul. But has Ubisoft Montreal managed to improve and redirect the series to a promising future, or is it a turn for the worse?

As the first game in an entirely new trilogy, the game starts afresh with a new story arc. The Prince (revealed in this trilogy as being merely a nickname, not a royal title) is a nomad on a return journey from another successful adventure. Losing his treasure-laden donkey in a sandstorm, he encounters a maiden in distress named Elika. Initially helping her, they journey to a temple where they are unable to stop the release of the imprisoned God of Darkness, Ahriman. Aided by the God of Light (Ormazd) who is being channeled through Elika, the duo are tasked with cleansing the surrounding lands from the corruption leaking out from the Temple to reseal Ahriman in his prison. All in all it’s a fairly stock-standard storyline, but there’s also a wealth of information about the game’s world on offer. At pretty much any stage the Prince can strike up a conversation with Elika with just the touch of a button, and this feature helps elaborate on the plot.

As per usual, the Prince has his customary series of abilities, ranging from wall-running to pole- and beam-jumping, and various sorts of climbing tricks (plus a few new ones). In this nothing has changed, and that’s where the greatest enjoyment springs from – pulling off a series of free-flowing acrobatics to ascend what looks impossible. Failure is no longer a concern, with Elika possessing the ability to save the Prince the instant he looks in danger (through mistimed leaps, combat-related injuries, etc.). But this feature is a double-edged sword – it saves re-trekking to the place of death, but by that it also eliminates the wariness that seemingly should go with doing something dangerous like the Prince is prone to. After a while this hand-holding seems a bit oppressive, but for those “traditional” Prince Of Persia fans, there are achievements encouraging fewer deaths and a speedy run through to try and mitigate this feeling.

Combat has also been revamped, with the four main buttons relating to four different styles of attack. These can be chained in any order, allowing for some really painful-looking combos. But as a result, combat scenarios have all been restricted to one-on-one fights. It’s not such a big loss, though, and simply serves to emphasize a more adventure-based game rather than being combat-reliant (and also means that even the lowly henchman is treated as a serious threat, rather than mere fodder for the Prince’s sword). The one annoyance can be the increasingly-frequent quicktime events, which can make combat too intermittent at times.

Ubisoft have completely redone the graphical look for this game. Gone are the crisp textures from the “Sands Of Time” trilogy, and in its place are cel-shaded graphics. Don’t confuse this as a “kiddie-friendly” move – the renderings are subtle and quite often you won’t even notice it. The range of colours is amazing, from the shadows of corrupted areas to the earthy and leafy tones for cured ones, especially given the graphical methods used. Only during cutscenes are the cartoony looks really noticeable. And rarely is a loading screen seen, merely when teleporting to another location, nicely augmenting the free-flowing nature encouraged by the gameplay.

Complementing this nicely are the sound effects and music. Most effects are subtle, but add to the whole premise of the game. The music style is one of the few things carried over from previous games and has the same Arabic feel to it, supplementing the action nicely.

There’s no multiplayer section, so the longevity of the game is entirely reliant on replaying the story. To that end, collecting light seeds (which can be found once an area is healed) becomes the main agenda as well as helping to provide upgrades to Elika’s magical prowess. Sadly, the game will hardly be stuck in your console for months on end, but it’s easily enjoyable enough to be played all over again at a later date.

Despite the few qualms some may have with the gameplay changes, this latest installment in the Prince Of Persia annals is a worthy addition. It’s a delight to play, and something any adventure fan should experience.

8.5/10