With the first 'Next-gen' edition of the popular Prince of Persia franchise, Ubisoft has thrown out their own rulebook. All that’s left of the series' past is a Prince, and a wealthy girl who spend their time traipsing all over a crumbling fortress of sorts.
The story starts with the new prince, who comes across hardly as princely character at all, who is lost in a sand storm, looking desperately for 'Farah', who turns out to be a Donkey. Blinded by the sand, he falls down a cliff. This is where things start to get a little odd.
The land he finds himself in is more mystical than even those in previous games in the series. You run into Elika, who is a descendant of a clan sworn to guard the prison of and evil god, Ahriman. What happens next, well, not surprisingly, the baddy escapes. In most games, the entire experience leads you to a battle with a 'boss'. Prince of Persia is different. Here, you spend the entire game, although indirectly, fighting off Ahriman the 'corruption', which is spread throughout the four areas of the mystical land.
Elika is your guide, your companion, your saviour. If ever you find yourself lost, she can guide you to your objective. She can also help you cross vast expanses with a exceptionally useful double-jump move. She is also there for you in the combat arena, and you can team up with her to deal devastating combos. In the event of a fall, or if you are overwhelmed by an enemy, Elika is there to save you. As a result, you never die in Prince of Persia, no matter how bad you are.
The Prince and Elika have plenty to say to each other, and throughout your adventure, she teaches you about Ahriman, the corruption, and Ormazd, who is allegedly the source of her powers. You will also learn about the history of the land, and the evil that occupies it.
Elika is arguably a more important part of the game than Ahriman and the corruption combined. If those two things were not in the game, there would still be other things to fight, and you could still explore the wonderfully created landscape. But with Elika gone, the entire game would have to be re-thought, and in my opinion would come out worse off.
Utilising her in both combat and adventure situations is extremely easy to do, it's as simple as pressing the triangle button. But you can still use her to deliver huge combos; there is even a 15 button combo! Her AI is excellent, and she rarely gets in the way even in the most hectic of situations. However, she seems to have an inability to hold on to vines. Throughout the game, you are required to use vines clinging to sheer cliffs to traverse otherwise uncrossable gaps. For some reason, you have to wait for her, and then carry her (on your back) across the vine. This is a pretty minor thing I know, but it was pretty annoying, and it slowed down the game too much. And come on, she can swoop down and safe me from a huge fall, but can't cling on to some plants, I smell lame.
Sticking with Elika for just a bit longer, what she represents is a personification of all the awesome abilities that have been present in games from the beginning. And this is what makes her such a great addition to the game; she extends the gameplay without in any way watering it down.
The Prince is also easy to control. Each action has its own button. For example, square is used for sword play, circle for his gauntlet, which is used in both combat and climbing/exploring situations, and 'x', which is used running and dodging in combat, and jumping in other situations. The controls really are a highlight of the game; I don't think any other game in the genre even comes close to the level of perfection presented here. It's not a mere evolution of the controls from the previous PoP; they are completely different, from another planet, and above all, vastly better.
Settling into a calm and collected rhythm is essential if you don't want to be constantly falling to your death. It’s a good idea to just take things slowly, check with Elika that you’re on the right path, and take care, rather than be unnecessarily risky. Even though you can't die in this came, you'll come unstuck if you insist on playing in a frenzied manor. If you take your time, the gameplay feels so fluid and well thought out; it is well worth taking a little extra time.
Even so, you will find yourself leaping off in the wrong direction on the odd occasion, as it can be hard to line yourself up just right in some situations. Also, when trying to manoeuvre yourself into the right position on poles, the controls tend to get a bit confusing, and it can all get a bit touchy trying to line yourself up just right, while not being able to see properly.
That’s another thing, the camera angle. The vast majority of the time, it is perfect. It normally automatically directs itself to upcoming obstacles so that you can see what’s ahead of you. But at times it is almost unworkable, particularly when in cramped places. It also would have been nice to have more control over the camera in battles, but its fine the way it is.
Combat is hugely different to what has been seen in all the previous PoP's. You no longer fight multiple enemies at once, each battle is one on one (well, you have Elika to give you a hand, but there is only ever one enemy at once). To begin with, I was fine for it, and for the most part still am. The boss battles are difficult enough to warrant the change, but the 'soldiers' are far too easy to defeat, often battles only last a few seconds before you back them up against a wall and give them a good ol' stab in the chest. Fighting several of these enemies at once would have been a challenge, and should have been a part of the game in my eyes.
In the event that you arrive at the would-be battle ground fast enough, you aren't forced to fight the lower enemies at all. This is handy, and rewards skilful players, while less seasoned gamers will get another chance to sharpen their combat skills.
And there is plenty to learn, too. The combat system is anything but a button mashing affair here, and there is a huge combo tree to be mastered. You won't be punished for not knowing every single one, but a good knowledge of them certainly helps, as the longer the combo, the more damage each hit does. Each combo is between 2 and 4 buttons long, and must be strung together to deliver the most brutal attacks.
Learning to block at the right time is almost essential, as doing so allows you to break an opponent’s attack, giving you an opportunity to launch into them with a sword lashing of your own.
Once you start fighting the harder boss battles, you are forced into participating in many (too many as far as I'm concerned) quick time events, that only serve to break up the combat, which is best when you get a flow going. It’s clear that they were trying to give some variation to the combat, but each boss only has three or four different QTE's, so in the end, it only adds repetition to a system that was varied in the first place.
I like that Ubisoft have removed the ability to die, but they should have had on option to turn Elika's saving powers off, at least in combat. Other consumer (or should that be noob) friendly features that have been included are less intrusive, but for some still a nuisance. For example, when you need to double jump, the screen will turn grey as a warning. This has its place, and perhaps should occur for the first hour or so of gameplay, and afterwards should be automatically switched off. Perhaps if afterwards you find yourself failing to complete them, the system could turn itself back on again. Leaving it on for the whole game is pointless and makes it too simple. The same goes for the block button, which appears often during combat.
There are four magic plates that can be activated throughout the game, each with its own magical ability. There is even a power which allows you to run up walls, so cop that Prototype, you weren't the first! There is also a flight power. Both of these require some skill, although they are fairly simple. The other two abilities require no skill, and are purely for point to point travel. Some more variety is needed here, they haven't put anywhere near enough thought in here.
There are also some decent puzzles present, most of which require using a crank to move plates and redirect paths. These are fairly simple, but on the odd occasion can still be a challenge. There are a couple of truly difficult puzzles though, one of which involves redirecting a river of corruption, and the other, which occurs a few times, involves uncovering some of those magic plates from behind gates. More of these difficult puzzles would have been great, but nonetheless, they are far better than those in wannabe puzzles in games such as Uncharted.
You'll spend a lot of your time collecting light seeds, which are available after 'healing' and area. Each section has its own boss, which you will fight several times in each of the sections areas. Confusing? Not really. Each boss has its own corruption trap, as they have been called, these can be pretty brutal, and all look cool. They add some difficulty to the game, but it’s not a hike upwards, more a shallow incline.
Prince of Persia is sort of an open world game, in that you choose how you want to get somewhere, but there are only finite ways of getting there. Each section can be healed; ridding it of the corruption, and making the place look pretty. It actually changes the whole look of the place, without doing much at all. But on the flip side, they can be a bit boring to traverse. Each area has 45 light seeds to collect, with about 1000 in total.
In conclusion, the latest Prince of Persia isn't perfect, but it’s not that far from the mark. The graphics aren’t the most detailed but they are certainly beautiful. The bosses aren't as varied as perhaps they ought to be. ON the other hand, the combat system is the best I've ever experienced, with a massive combo tree. Prince of Persia is a great game that everyone should play at least once in their life.
2008's Prince of Persia never got the continuation it deserves, and GotGame is here to tell everyone why Ubisoft needs to Bring it Back.
Imagine a continuation to this PoP, with same art-direction but minus the cell-shading, made with the next-iteration of AnvilNext engine and combat style similar to the Jedi Fallen Order.
Loved this game; the art style was beautiful. Transforming the world from a dull grey into a bright, colourful land that stretched far into the distance felt very rewarding.
The platforming was OK, and the combat could've done with some improvement, but the exploration elements and visual flair were excellent.
Though, looking at the quality of the SoT remake, I'm half glad they chose to leave this one alone.
Loved this game, I think about it every once in a while. I really hope that the remaster of SoT doesn't take too long to polish up and release.
I loved Prince of Persia since the PS2 days was never a fan of the older Prince of Persia 2D style you use to play on the old MAC computers at school. This is one franchise that Ubisoft has solely forgotten about I would love a new Prince Game this franchise needs to shine in the light again. Don't get me wrong I love the AC franchise but I would love if AC took a break just so the Prince could come back.
The Prince of Persia is back! But only as a VR Escape Room. Why is Ubisoft letting this classic, game-changing franchise remain dormant?
They used the gameplay mechanics for that series into AC which is their man cash cow now.
Agreed. It's also part of the reason why we don't see anymore Prince of Persia games. Ubisoft tried to milk them with a reboot hoping it would be a yearly thing, and when this didn't work they gave up.
I would love a new Prince of Persia game been dying for one for a long time.
Prince of Persia is a defining series of both storytelling and gameplay. But where does the series stand at the turn of a new decade? Unfortunately, the future doesn't look too bright for the Prince.
The sand series will always have a special place in my heart. Hopefully one day it will breathe life again but nothing like the last one. The last one was ok but not great
I love the Sandw Trilogy. It will always hold a special place in my heart too! But I also liked that last one they made. I really liked how they had a big focus on 1 on 1 fights that took some strategy and skill to win.
But you're right. It wasn't as good as the Sands Trilogy.
I play the remaster on the ps3 from time to time but fingers crossed for a new one
Did anyone ever play Forgotten Sands? That game was surprisingly quite great I liked it better than Warrior Within and the Two Thrones but nothing can top Sands of Time for me.
Good review, fantastic game
This one was a bit overlooked I felt. I played it on 360 (identical to PS3) and thought it was a beautiful game.
People get so hung up over graphics, and what constitutes good graphics, but this game is one of the prettiest yet. Technically, yes, but the art in this game feels like it was all painstakingly created. It truly astounds.
The gameplay itself is nice and fluid; the game breaks from the tradition of checkpoints and lives and fodder enemies everywhere to just have you focus on the game itself, the story and the beauty. And why some reviews knocked the prince (who is voiced by the same guy who voiced Nathan Drake. Guy has done a LOT of work...) for being too much of an ass, but I thought the banter between Elika and the prince was great.
I think it was Hilary at IGN that basically fell in love with Elika, and after playing I understood. She is probably the best female character in a vidgame since Cortana IMO, and possibly the best. Great design on her and her animations as well. When she hops on the prince to climb around, it really all feels authentic somehow.
Sorry to give my own mini-review here...lol. But a beautiful game that should be experienced. Rent it at least like I did.
this game is one of the best this gen
i love it ..
I really liked the gameplay (even though it was too easy) and loved the art style. Borderlands will have an art style similar to this, but not as colorful.
Yeah the game certainly has been overlooked, I only know 1 person other than myself you has played this game, which is a huge shame. I think they released it at the wrong time of year, just as the popular games started coming through.