Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Review

It’s fair to say that the action/adventure genre has hardly evolved since Lara Croft first whipped out her Uzi’s back in 1996, you only need to look at the atrocious recent release of ‘Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness’ to realise how much we’ve moved forward; so it certainly comes as a surprise to see ‘Prince of Persia’ arrive from nowhere and be the one title to single-handedly drag the genre into the next dimension.<br><br>It’s all too easy to assume that people will be instantly recognisable with the franchise, however the truth is that the new generation of gamers probably grew up without knowing much on the Prince and his adventures, so a little history lesson beforehand.<br><br>The original ‘Prince of Persia’ was released back in 1989, making the first use of a technique named rotoscope animation to deliver stunningly lifelike character motions. This combined with its ‘love-it-or-hate-it’ trial and error gameplay quickly found it fans and ensured it became a classic in the industry.<br><br>Unsuccessful sequels and a disastrous first foray into 3D in 1999 all but killed the franchise off, or so we thought…<br><br>Enlisting the help of Jordan Mechnar, the creator of the original, Ubisoft have picked up the franchise and put it under the very capable hands at Ubisoft Montreal. Taking the likes of ‘ICO’ for inspiration and ensuring that ‘Prince of Persia: Sands of Time’ maintains the trademark qualities associated with the original, the game not only succeeds in brining the franchise back to life, but also pulling the action/adventure genre out of the 32-bit generation.<br><br>Set in medieval Persia, the games introduction depicts an invasion led by the titular Prince. Seeking a treasure to prove his manhood to his father King Shahraman, the Prince discovers a magic dagger; drawn to its dark powers, he is unwittingly led to unleash its deadly evils upon the reaches of his father’s vast kingdom. Aided by the daughter of the conquered Indian Maharajah, it’s up to you to reclaim the palace’s cursed chambers from the evil Sand Creatures and restore peace to the very fabric of time itself.<br><br>Set entirely within the limits of the palace and featuring a dual character system, it’s easy to see where the favourable comparisons to ‘ICO’ come from, however ‘Prince of Persia: Sands of Time’ is so much more then that.<br><br>We’ve been bemoaning the state of the action/adventure genre for a number of years; fed up with the stilted nature of the majority of the games we were left yearning for a game to re-invent the genre. Whilst we’re still left waiting for Toby Guards ‘Galleon’ to do just that, ‘Prince of Persia: Sands of Time’ has virtually come from nowhere and done just that.<br><br>The biggest strength of the game and one crucial for the developers to integrate was ensuring that the fluid, almost rhythmic gameplay from the 2D titles was maintained in the transition to 3D. Too much time is spent trying to orientate the character and camera in 3D games that quite simply it’s just not as much fun as it used to be, thanks to some wonderful animation and a beautifully control system, ‘Prince of Persia: Sands of Time’ is perhaps the most accomplished 3D title we’ve seen in a very long time.<br><br>The game contains a staggering number of animations, which allows the Prince to nimble navigate through the environment. Objects are never a stumbling block for the Prince, who simply vaults over blocks or walls just by heading into them; it’s hard to describe just how the fluidity of the game makes such an impact, put simply it’s a joy to play rather then a frustration. Because of the sheer number of animations and fluidity of both controls and camera work, the game manages to replicate the rhythmic dynamic of the 2D titles wonderfully – you’ll be running across walls, leaping onto poles and swinging between them as effortlessly as a monkey.<br><br>To aid the transition to 3D the Prince has learnt a few new tricks since 1989, the first introduced to the player and perhaps one of the most impressive is the ability run across walls. This feature allows players to navigate environments effortlessly, keeping the speed up and certainly looks amazing, complete with banners trailing in your wake.<br><br>Although the Dagger has been used to serve an evil purpose, it’s certainly a nifty weapon to have in your pocket, granting the wielder the power over time. One of the first abilities of the dagger is to rewind time, allowing you to make up for your mistakes and even your own death. This feature nicely eliminates any frustration usually associated with twitch gaming of this nature; fans of the original will be happy to note the game still retains the trial-and-error nature of the original, however the rewind feature neatly negates any frustration usually associated with this type of gameplay – it also looks darn cool as well.<br><br>Although Ubisoft Montreal could be happy with creating a free-flowing fluid action/adventure title, ‘Prince of Persia: Sands of Time’ also features a staggering combat system that once again looks absolutely amazing. The creatures that you’ll come across usually require a few slashes with your sword and then a killing blow with your dagger to deliver the final blow. The developers have gone to great lengths to create a 360° fighting system that has none of the worries about aligning yourself in the correct direction, simply hold the analogue stick in the relevant way and press an attack button and the Prince will effortlessly take care of any Sand creatures in front, to the side or behind you. That said you’ll have encounters when things get a little heated and you’ll find yourself surrounded, but thanks to the Prince’s agility this never causes a problem as the X button allows you to perform a variety of evasive manoeuvres, from rolling around to running up and over an opponent to deliver a crushing blow from behind. To top things off and enhance the cinematic nature, the game switches to a number of close camera points during combat ideal for when you’ve just delivered the final blow.<br><br>Whilst combat features heavily, the large majority of the game is based around finding your way through each area successfully. To this extent the game features a large amount of environmental puzzles, whilst Farrah comes into play later in the game to assist you in your progress. Thankfully the game retains the excellent traps from the original, placing various rotating buzz saws, spikes and pitfalls for players to safely navigate. To help in this aspect the dagger allows you to also slow down time, which is ideal for when you’ve got to roll between 4 buzz saws going off at the same time. The emphasis on traps and puzzles certainly makes ‘Prince of Persia: Sands of Time’ stands out from its competitors and ensures the experience never grows tired or degenerates into a mindless button basher.<br><br>The dagger also contains a number of other handful characteristics, allowing you to stop time for a selected opponent or freezing time entirely (if you’ve got enough Power Tanks) allowing you to instantly kill all opponents in the area in a similar manner to the technique featured in ‘Shinobi’.<br><br>Undeniably it’s the staggering animation that takes centre-stage in terms of the game’s visuals, however ‘Prince of Persia: Sands of Time’ is no slouch in the other aspects sporting a saturated look very similar to the likes of ‘ICO’. The artistic style of the game lifts it above its technical achievements, although thanks to some wonderful level designs the game creates a believable sense of vertigo in many of the palace’s areas.<br><br>In a nice touch the Prince narrates the story as you progress through the game, whilst the rest of the voice acting and music in general is of an equally high standard compared to the rest of the game.