Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

"The magic is real."

Freedom is an odd word. Everybody knows it, but very few truly understand it. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time defines it.

While a game like Prince of Persia may look like your average platformer, it quickly raises itself above the others.

The controls are easy to learn and master. Which is good, because it quickly becomes apparent that you are being thrown into a level design that, in any other platformer, would be nothing short of a nightmare. The average room is filled with so many pits, traps and narrow crevices that without the ease of movement that Ubisoft created, you would quickly give up in frustration. The effortless way in which you move your hero around each location, however, manages to escape the same trap that so many other games fall into.

The nameless Prince can run across a wall with startling dexterity. But it doesn't end there. He leaps to the other side, wall jumps his way to the top, swings from a bar onto a ledge and continues his quest. The fact that so little practice goes into learning this is astounding. His acrobatic movements free you from the constraints of other platformers.

Combat is also wonderfully implemented. The Prince can leap, dodge, roll and back flip in and out of danger. You can use walls and, spectacularly, even enemies to launch him into the air with devastating attacks. And Ubisoft found just the right curve of how many enemies to throw at you during the game, so it gradually gets more and more difficult without overwhelming the player, nor making it seem to easy.

Additionally, you are also given command of powers over time. Slowing down time helps you break through defenses, speeding it up can help you quickly take care of several enemies who threaten to overwhelm you. You can also freeze one opponent in time, saving him for a later thrashing. Save points also function as a window into the future, so stumped players can return there for hints on how to solve a particular level.

But perhaps the most ingenious power is the Rewind ability. In most platformers, this would be a blessing. In Prince of Persia, it is a necessity. With the amount of daring leaps, shimming, swinging and inevitable falling you will be taking, Rewind lets you resolve a mistake without constantly replaying a level. More importantly gives the player the freedom to take risky, and often suicidal, gambits that can be rewarding. Understandably, this is limited by the amount of sand you have in a special dagger. You can refill by dispatching enemies. Capacity can also be increased over time.

Visually, the game is fantastic. By slightly fogging the graphics, Ubisoft gives the game a dreamlike quality, while hiding any technical shortcomings. The character models could have been slightly better, but they make up for it in the animations. The Prince flows through the game, looking like he came out right out of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The animations even help in the fact that they make his acrobatics look almost plausible.

The music is can only be described as ''Techno-Arabian'', and is fits the game perfectly. It slows its pace during the puzzles, then quickly pumps up for fighting. The voice acting is flawless. The Prince oozes personality, constantly making quips about the Princess Farah, coming off as brash and extremely haughty. This helps you enjoy what would otherwise be a clichéd and boring plot.

Many have said the game is too short. I see that as a blessing. Like Metal Gear Solid, a longer game might have grown tiresome, and a game that is fun and quick to beat means you can come back to it more often to truly appreciate it.

Only a couple drawbacks keep this game from receiving a perfect 10.
Firstly, the combat, while wonderful, can quickly get old. The Prince’s arsenal of moves isn’t very impressive, and his enemies usually stand there an look threatening instead of attacking, and they try to crowd you in. This leads a slight imbalance in the combat. One moment, you are dispatching them with ease, the next you find yourself surrounded suddenly attack in melee, leading to a frustrating loss of life.
Secondly, while its wonderful to see a princess take a more active role in the game, helping with combat and puzzles (Are you listening, Zelda?), Farah remains mostly a burden during the fighting. Her archery skills leaves much to be desired (occasionally, you find yourself an unfortunate target). And she comes off as a little one dimensional compared to the Prince. They don’t verbally clash often enough. In the inevitable sequel, I hope she, or her replacement, is given more attention.

In the end, Prince of Persia is a solid, impressive gaming experience, with the loving attention to detail you would expect from a first party Nintendo game. Not since Super Mario 64 has a game allowed the player so much freedom of mobility and agility. Make this a part of your permanent collection.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/29/03