Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

"Well, now that I'm dry of all the tears of joy I got from playing this game here's the review."

As you probably already know, Prince of Persia or ''PoP'' is an old 2D, ledge jumping, puzzle solving game for the Macintosh and IBM. They were quite popular, and at the time, very unique. This is the fourth game in the series, and is not for the Macintosh or IBM, but the Playstation 2, Gamecube, X-Box, and PC. This game is quite frankly, one of my favorite games EVER. Though it may not be the most challenging, it provides an extremely good time. Well, on with the review then...

Visuals: |10|
Yes indeedeeroo (they're so good, I get to make up words), a 10/10! I can't find anything wrong with these graphics. Smooth like butter, the characters look extremely realistic, not having the clothing look like it's attached to their skin. The clothes will blow in the wind, along with the water, and banners. Speaking of banners, in most games the character will just clip through the banner, but not in this game! The Prince will be able to push the banners and such. This just seems to make the game flow more realisticly. Also, throughout the game, the Prince's clothes will be cut and torn, and this makes the game feel more lifelike. The sound in this game is as good as the graphics as well....

Audio: |10|
I generally don't judge a game by it's audio presentation, but this game's sounds and music are too good to leave out. I'll start with the sound. Depending on where you walk, the sound of footsteps will echo or be muffled by the surroundings. The collapsing ledges, falling rocks, dripping water, screaming enemies, and voices, yes VOICES (which can be turned to french, german, etc. perfectly, no subtitles), all sound superb, matching the game quite well. What the characters are saying match the lips perfectly, and make you feel like your there. But, unfortunatley, on the Playstation 2 version, the voices are a bit muffled, but a simple click on the remote can change that. Onto the music. The tracks the game plays are very easy to listen to, and do not get old. This makes the game a lot more enjoyable, as some games can force you to mute them, because of the horrid music.

Story: |10|
Ahh... the story! I don't want to spoil the game, but it is as the score suggests, perfect. Here's a little summary of the opening scene/walk-through level:

The Prince fights to gain his Father's(the king's) respect and honor by finding a magic dagger that has the power of time itself. But things go wrong when he is tricked by the Visor to unlock the sands of time...

Fun Factor and Features: |10|
This is as I said, one of my favorite games. It has so many features, but is a little easy, and very short. The dagger of time allows you turn back time, reversing falls, stabs, and overall blunders, which is fine, but makes for and easier game, which is a little to easy at times. But, you do not get unlimited rewinds, you must find sand clouds and defeat enemies for more sand. For rewinding is not all the dagger can do, it can freeze enemies, fast forward in time, and slow time down. The game also has you swinging on bars, wall-walking, and taking visions into the future as you progress. You also must take care of your companion, for she dies, in my opinion, quite easily. It's rather annoying having to restart an area because you were busy fighting and army of Sand-Creatures, while she gets killed by a bug. But, it does add for some challenging gameplay. There is also a port of the original PoP on the Playstation 2 version (I haven't unlocked it, but I've heard it's quite a terrible port), but for some reason, the X-Box (I think) gets all 3 of the original PoPs, plus the making of. Oh well... There's a lot more to cover, but there's just too much actually. So if you ask...

Buy or Rent?: Buy.

If you've read the review, you know how I feel. But I'll say this for you lazy people who just read he bottom, DON'T MISS THIS!!! And that's it.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/02/04