Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

"An Excellent Gift For as Long As It Lasted"

Well, I got this game at exactly 9:30 on December the 25th. It was a present I did not ask for, but a present I'm glad I got. As soon as I unwrapped it, I wanted to ask for the receipt, but upon closer inspection, I decided to open it up. This was the best decision I had made all day as I did not regret putting this excellent game into my PS2. Here is why:

Sound:9/10
Well, I loved the music in this game. It was really exciting during action sequences and eerie during suspense periods. It improved the game play, which is what it was intended to do, but there was a problem. The sound of the characters was often much softer than the sound of the environment, so after listening to the Prince, the action was blasted through my television, and it was a bit of an annoyance to have to be constantly adjusting the volume. It was a minor grievance, but it stopped the perfect score.

Graphics:9/10
The graphics on PoP were absolutely amazing. Beautiful environments were filled with excellently displayed figures, and everything was done so well. You can watch the Prince's hair wave in the breeze, and you can see his eyes wince when he gets hit. The game goes all out when it comes to detail, and maybe nobody else will notice this, but it led to a better game play experience for myself. The only drawback on the graphics is that they aren't very different. Often times you will see a wall that has been used in many different areas, or you will see a pattern three or four times in a level. Its just annoying because you feel as if you've already been to an area, but in fact it is a new area with a similar background. It can be very misleading to say the least. That’s why this aspect of PoP didn't get itself a perfect score.

Controls: 9.5/10
I really like how well the controls are laid out. The button interface makes it easy to move the Prince through levels without having to stretch your finger to press one button while holding another. There is never a time were you feel awkward while holding the controller, and you always feel comfortable pulling off a huge run of jumps, slides, and swings. Controls are top-notch.

Story:8/10
Simple but basic. To sum it all up, the Prince of Persia, son of the King of Persia(Funny how that works) finds an ancient treasure. He uses this treasure in the wrong way, and releases the Sands of Time. The Sands of Time sweep through the palace, and destroy everyone except the Prince, and the ''Bad Guy''. Now you have to get through the palace to stop the Sand of Time, so it won't spread, and destroy the world. That’s about as spoiler-free as I can make it, but its pretty much ''I doomed the world so now I have to save it'' kind of thing. A little to basic for me, but it gets the job done.

Gameplay:8.5/10
This is were the game really shows itself off. Right off the bat, you begin to use the Prince's many different powers. Running on the walls, vaulting over enemies, swinging and sliding through rooms, just to name a few, become essential from the get-go. Its fun to see the Prince run up on a wall, vault off of it, grab onto a pole, swing around, then get launched off, to land on a platform which appeared unreachable only seconds earlier. The problem here is that it gets repetitive towards the end. The Prince himself has an arsenal of only 6 moves, and with the constant battling, you feel yourself beating enemies just so you can move on, and not because its fun.
The Dagger of Time adds a new aspect to the Game play which boosts the score as well. The dagger allows you to ''reverse, accelerate, freeze, and slow'' time. When at full force, you can go into slow-mo(Like the Matrix) and give your enemies the beating of their life, and they haven't blinked an eye yet. The dagger becomes necessary in terminating your enemies, and gives the game a whole new level of fun.
Battles are also a very entertaining part of the game, in spite of the lack of moves of our hero. You find yourself facing 6 different types of enemies, however they are well spread out, so there's almost always someone new to fight. As you progress the battles get harder and harder, but the difficulty stays at the appropriate level. The main problem with the battles is the camera angle. At many points, you find yourself having to manually adjust the camera so that you can see yourself laying it down on a Sand creature. Its very annoying when you have little health, and can lead to much frustration. That is one of the most annoying parts of this entire game.

Replay Value:7/10
Prince of Persia isn't exactly the longest game you will play. On an average level of skill, it will take you between 13 and 17 hours to complete, and for advanced played it can be done much quicker. Once you beat the game, there isn't much else to do except beat it again. There is an extra bonus in there that you get a little bit through the game. I won't spoil it for you, but it definitely is a treat which will make the game more interesting, but not too much longer. This is one of the areas that this game suffers in.

Overall Score:8/10

Buy/Rent: Unless you are an extreme fan, I would say rent it for a week or two. In that time you should be able to beat the entire game and get through the extra, so unless(as I said) you are an extreme fan, and really think you will enjoy this, go out to Blockbuster and rent it once or twice.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/26/03