Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

"No, the Prince is not the heir to a box."

Prince of Persia, appearing on all 3 next gen. systems, has been released as the newest addition to the Prince of Persia collection. And what an addition at that! The game combines essential elements of platforming, puzzle, and action into a wonderfully depicted story of a young Prince (the Prince of Persia...duh)and his adventures with a young girl to stop the evil that has been brought upon a mystical palace ruin by the Sands of Time (as the title suggests, obviously). Let's get to brass tacks, shall we?

Gameplay (9/10):
Prince of Persia delivers solid and fun gameplay, the meat and potatoes of any good game. From puzzle solving, jumping, and platform navigating to intense combat, the game provides a lovely variety of extremely decent quality knick-knacks into its gaming. Easily, I would say polished and perfected until we reach ''the dark side of the moon.'' POP puzzle after puzzle set up can be exhausting for most gamers, if not repetitive at times. Random battles in areas can be nice, but an over use of ridiculously long skirmishes can be painful. Don't get me wrong, though! The combat is truly a work of art...or...it would be if it could not relate to so many previous titles (so it looses originality...so what?) and not find enough variation from titles that have created and perfected the art in their own unique way (for instance, the Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker). Ofcourse, the feature of superior significance is easily time control. Not only is the feature nifty, but it can be fun and is easily and original concept...that has succeeded. This aspect enhances the gameplay, with its few flaws, to even perhaps an ''elite'' level.

Story (10/10):
Bright. Passionate. Creative. I wouldn't ''die'' for this story, but it is perfectly told and captivating. Truly, impressive.

Sound (8/10):
In contrast to this game, the sound proved ironically a tad (just a tad) on the mediocre side. To start on the brighter side, sword clashes are clean and definite and the monster cries are really nice. The voice acting too is a nice treat (I wouldn't call it Rareware or Eternal Darkness nice though). Unfortunately, the sounds seem to be screechy and even annoying. The voice talents are good, yes, but it sounds like fairly cheap dubbing, which we all no is NOT the case. Good sounds, right? Ofcourse. But the quality back-fired on us at many times. I mean....come on. Where did they GET those sounds for the crashing of giant pillars and stone?
The music, however, was very well composed and nicely fitting in all instances. Perhaps...not enough music to fit the mood of EVERY room?

Graphics (9/10):
BEAUTIFUL! The looks and smoothness of objects and environments alike are surely impressive...and yet not GameCube's top-notch either. The figures, though, at times can suffer from a polygonal look in areas. That only applies to minor characters/enemies and rarely the heroes, which is a small price to pay for the enchantingly superb environments. Sadly, POP shoots itself in the foot as the game only progresses through the way the story tells; inside the palace ONLY. Every now and then, it's a treat as we emerge from the depths of the temple to the outside where there are refreshing views and yes....GREEN!!! The scenes can get mirrored with similar looking rooms and effects (ie. the typical ''light shine through the window'' helps in every room?). Nevertheless, the game could have suffered worse if the graphics weren't as spectacular. POP= eye candy.

Replayability (7/10):
All good games must come to an end. And usually with adventure titles (or a game of that relative genre), it can literally be the end. In POP, it can take only 10 hours of gameplay to beat, but the puzzles and the overall experience of the game AGAIN can wait some time. Inevitable? Nothing that could ever harm a title like this, though. I'm not saying that someone WOULDN'T want to play this game again. It's quite normal to play adv. games over and over again if they are really good and worth many experiences. That can apply here too. One cannot get the fullest experience without a series of experiences...examples could be Eternal Darkness or Zelda: The Wind Waker or Metroid Prime. Knock yourself out!

Overall Score (9/10)(not necessarily an average)

Closing Thoughts:
Buying or renting can be determined on your own standards, for the average completion time is fairly low. I recommend the COMPLETE purchase of this title though. It certainly is worth the experience and provides lots of enjoyment. An ''elite'' game? Only if it could've lead up to its close counterparts in the genre. It still, however, ranks in the area close to the top of the top in its genre, or the ''elite'' in its genre. Thank you, Ubisoft, for bringing this greatness into our lives.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/07/04