Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

"Difficult Style"

We’ve seen an amazing amount of quality stuff come out from Ubi Soft in less then two years. Rayman received yet another solid update to his wild adventures, Beyond Good and Evil was a nominee for many “Best of E3” Game Awards, and Splinter Cell is still one of the best-selling titles for all three of the major next-generation consoles. And, looking from that point of view, Prince of Persia might be one of the most successful games of the year because, as far as critical opinion goes, this one has been showered with praise. But just because a select number of critics love this game (and by select I really mean a HUGE amount), this doesn’t really translate to the fans liking this game as much as they have. And though I hate to use the word overrated, I must however also note that Prince of Persia is a game made either to be loved or despised. Yeah, I do prefer the latter but not without my reasons.

Prince of Persia take place amidst the scorched sands of medieval Persia. It is within this war-torn land that a young Prince finds a magic Dagger. More then just an ordinary weapon, the Dagger of Time is a container that is strong enough to hold the “Sands of Time.”

The Sands of wha--?

The Sands of Time is a terrible, primordial substance that changes and corrupts every living they touch. The Sands of Time were once sealed away in an impregnable Hourglass, but tricked by the traitorous Vizier, the Prince unlocks the Hourglass and releases the sands and almost everyone turns into zombie-like creatures. Hoping to undo his foolish mistake, the Prince uses his Dagger to harness the Sands and use them to his advantage, enabling him to seamlessly bend time on his own will.

The Prince isn’t alone on his quest though. Along the way, a seductive princess called Farah, who is mad at the Prince for causing such harm to the land, aids him in his quest. However, Farah also knows that without the Prince she won’t survive so she sticks close to him to fend off fiends and help solve puzzles. Together they both form a camaraderie only last seen to perfection in the artsy Ico.

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Our protagonist moves like an S-Rank acrobatics teacher and fortunately the controls are simple enough to learn (though somewhat difficult to master). Basically, you move the Prince with the left analog stick while the rest enable you to run on walls, push objects, use his sword or stolen dagger, and so on and so forth. Like I said earlier, the Prince’s dagger enables him to use time to his advantage. Here you’ll have to power to rewind, freeze, fast-forward, and go into slow motion (all easily self-explanatory).

Each time you use one of these powers you lose a Sand Tank. At the beginning of the game you have several of these to use, and you will gain more when you collect Sand Clouds. When you have no more sand to use, you will no longer be able to use any of these powers. So how will you regain lost Sand Tanks? Why by killing enemies of course. You see, in combat, you will use your sword to help stun enemies and render them unconscious. When they are down on the floor you will swiftly have to use your Dagger and then drive it into the creatures so you can then again use more of your powers (rewind being my favorite).

While this may sound cool and all, it is nothing new or innovative. Last year’s X-Box plat-former about time-sweeping cat Blinx was really the first to use this, but that doesn’t mean Prince of Persia doesn’t use it to full effect. Without it, you will have just another Castlevania or Contra in your hands.

But for all the things Prince of Persia does right, it fails in other areas. Combat, which is one of the most important parts of this game, is done, or handled with, very poor. Battles can take forever to progress and the Prince has a very short list of moves to his disposal, further showing signs of endless repetition. Then there is the camera, which makes many of the game’s plat-forming elements impossible to cope with. Though the Right Analog stick helps clear some of the frustration, it just sometimes doesn’t do enough by testing your patience and leaving the Prince dead for the tenth time because of one misplaced jump or fall (rewind only does so much unfortunately).

Then there is the difficulty, which is pretty much summed up with my last rant. Not to sound like a loser, but this game is just too difficult. The many puzzle elements of this game are also severely lacking. Some just aren’t explained enough and appear in the game as really confusing, while others are really simple (like moving a boulder to a switch to open a nearby door). Either way you are bound to get stuck in even the easiest of puzzles and, when death is so easy and common, you’ll be ready to cry (author’s note: check out the many message board topics of people getting stuck or having problems with this game). Prince of Persia even suffers from some strange glitches. Take into consideration a 3-foot fall that either kills you or leaves you unscarred. O-K! Small graphical glitches are abound as well, like the Prince getting his head stuck in the wall.

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But even when you read that last line, you still probably know, or have at least heard of, Prince of Persia’s amazing visuals. The game rarely suffers from slowdown (unless when you’re in slow motion, obviously) and can hold many enemies on screen at a time (the game box even states that they use an in-game screenshot for one of the marvelous images). What really impressed me though were the touches done for the rewind and freeze powers. They really help and lend style to this game. The audio is not far behind the astonishing graphics either. Soothing compositions were recorded that fit and held set the tone for the game, and the voice acting is extraordinary (especially the Prince’s).

Finally, I guess I could give this game a higher score, but it’ll hopefully convince Ubi Soft Montreal to make a better sequel for the Prince’s next console appearance. Mostly, I was disappointed with the gameplay. Such an exceptionally well-made game with a great story is marred by a few problems that really leave their mark. What Ubi Soft should have done was hit the rewind button, fix the game, then fast-forward for my better score. But that’s not happening in my near future.

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Be sure not to miss the original Prince of Persia -- it’s a secret extra!

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/17/03