Prince Of Persia - 8/10
Prince of Persia A Review written by jimmiq
Prince of Persia is a action adventure, platforming game. It revolves around the war between light and dark, the God of Light, Ormazd versus his brother Ahriman, the God of Darkness. The Prince searching for his donkey gets stuck in a Sandstorm and find himself in a mythical environment. He arrives in time to see the death of the tree of life, a tree which held Ahriman and corruption sealed away from the world. He must team up with the magical 'Elika' in order to purge the land of corruption.
This Prince of Persia is 'fresh', it has a completely new story, different gameplay, a new art style. Visually this game is stunning, it is very polished, runs smoothly and is beautiful to look at. Definitely unique, this game is like watching moving art, it has breath taking environmental backdrops.
Oh, what fluffy clouds are in the sky!
The voice acting may seem odd, as the prince although from the east, has a western voice. The voice acting is however very well done. The Prince is constructed to be a jerk, but we do end up liking him. Sound is very well done, showing both light and dark sides. It is also interesting to continuously talk to Elika and learn about her past as well as listen to the quirky things the Prince has to say.
The game uses a heavily modified version of the Scimitar engine, which was also used in Assassin's Creed. The game is not Linear, you are able to choose which of the four powers (power to run up walls, fly, sling from walls, and glide to walls) you can attain first and which fertile grounds to heal in which order. This also allows you to choose the order of each boss you wish to fight as well as the environment and setting you desire. As healed lands increase, the corruption becomes more concentrated in the remaining areas, making them more difficult. After some heals, the novelty wears off and it seems repetitive but yet it is still fun.
As the lands are healed, light seeds appear and these are needed to attain the powers of Ormazd. Collecting these required alot of moving back and forth however it can be quite challenging and fun, climbing, sliding, running back and forth but also repetative. There are in total 1001 light seeds however only ~550 light seeds are needed to complete the game.
Healing the land! Oh what joy
The game is quite simple, their is a button for gauntlet, a button for sword attacks, a button for acrobats and a button for Elika. This makes it relatively easy to run, jump, climb, swing, fly with ease and allows even a beginner to chain them together in order to get from A to B making it fluid and fun. Also there is an inbuilt compass, one of Elika magic powers which can be activate so that you cannot get lost.
Elika is basically your magic and gives you that extra punch. I believe Elika made this game more enjoyable. You are shaped to like her and the game feels less lonely with her around, she only makes you seem so much cooler. She not only provides company but she also helps you with puzzles and gives you motivation.
Combat. There is no multi-enemy fights of the last series but instead there are one vs one duels. These occur between the Prince (and Elika) and a few bosses which are fought more than once. This system prevents button mashing and makes the fights seem more dramatic. It is fun chaining together the combination of acrobatic, gauntlet, sword attacks and Elika to see what the prince can do. It is all about timing, observation, varied attacks and combos which will get you far in this game. This combat system feels more rewarding. The Combat also incoperates quick-time events. These add a cinematic edge. Also you are able to use the environment to your advantage. Combat can also be avoided with minor enemys. If you reach the spawning monsters quickly and slash it, there is no battle. This allows you to approach the game as you like.
Come and Get it
This game should last you 10-14 hours. Although it is not difficult and you cannot die, Prince of Persia is still incredibly fun. There is trophy support which should give you a couple more hours of gameplay. Prince of Persia is not a game which should be rushed but a game which should be played with ease in a relaxing environment where you can really appreciate the visuals and the gameplay.
I myself am new to the Prince of Persia franchise and I found this to be a very enjoyable game. I cannot compare to previous Prince of Persia's as I have not played them, however I did find this game very interesting and although i have heard this game is very different to the previous, it is visually stunning and deserves to be played, it is an incredibly fun game.
Visuals 9/10
Sound 8/10
Gameplay 8/10
Lifespan 7/10
Overall 8/10
Thanks for looking at my review, first one I've written on a ps3 game.
Any feedback would be appreciated.
If you liked it please "This is Cool" me, if you didn't like it still "This is Cool" Me 
jimmiq
Submitted by jimmiq
09/12/2008
355
33
Join MyPS3 to vote for your favourite story!
More Info:
Prince of Persia
Other Reviews:
Related News:
Related Videos:
-
MyMedia - Prince of Persia Video Review
-
Prince of Persia- GC 2008 : Walkthrough
-
New Next Gen Prince of Persia E3 Demo Walkthrough Parts 1 & 2
-
Prince of Persia Next-Gen