Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Ubisoft rewinds time to bring us another excellent Prince of Persia title.
Tags: Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Categories: Game Cube Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Larry McCormick on Dec 19th, 2003
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (title page) | |||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Action | No | ||
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Back in the days when computer and video games could be programmed by an individual or a small team, a little gem known as the Prince of Persia was released. It was a sidescrolling adventure game heavy on death defying leaps, trap-laden hallways and sword combat. It offered players unparalleled interaction with their environment as they worked to solve various puzzles.
You may not think that’s a big deal, but the gameplay in Prince of Persia, shall we say, “heavily inspired” newer hits like Tomb Raider. However, the two sequels to the game, one 2D follow up and one 3D iteration released just a few years back, failed to garner the critical praise and win over the hearts of gamers in the way that the first game did. Ubisoft has seen fit to reinvent the franchise with The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and have succeeded in bringing back the fresh experience offered by the original.
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The Sands of Time ditches the linear level set-up of past games in the series in favor of a completely connected environment. But this particular change is really just cosmetic as you’ll often reach points where it becomes impossible to backtrack. But that’s fine, considering there is never really a need to backtrack. Basically you guide the nameless Prince from point A to point B in this adventure, but if that sounds unappealing, rest assured that getting from point A to point B has seldom been such an engaging experience.
Much like the first Prince of Persia, the Sands of Time redefines the type of interaction a character can have with his environment. The Prince does things you’ve probably never seen in a game before. The first few times you have run along a wall Matrix style and discover how natural it feels, you know you’re not playing a cookie-cutter action/adventure title. The Prince is a regular acrobat with the ability to swing and flip off of bars and ropes, he can ‘triangle jump’ off walls, he can shimmy along on ledges and balance carefully across thin beams. And those are just a few of his more commonly used abilities.
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The Prince is not alone on his latest adventure. Farah, the daughter of the Maharaja, accompanies him through the majority of his quest. Farah can slip through cracks in the walls and crawl through some holes and tunnels. Solving puzzles often involves working with both characters in tandem, though the computer always controls Farah. If you’ve ever played Ico on the PS2, imagine Farah as a much less useless version of that game’s princess.
The Dagger of Time is another fresh element contained within the game. It lets the Prince rewind a short amount of time, depending on how full his magic meter is. You’ll often find yourself rewinding just after you made that bad (or accidental) jump, got killed on that trap or ate the cold steel of a sand warrior’s blade. The Sands of Time isn’t the first game to feature the manipulation of time, but it’s definitely the best so far. The Dagger serves another purpose, for most of the game it is the only weapon capable of actually killing your enemies.
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Combat in The Sands of Time is imperfect, but fun. The Prince’s acrobatic abilities translate into some pretty unique moves. He can hop over an enemy’s head and hit them from behind and roll and flip out of harm’s way. Aside from being necessary to dispatch a foe, the Dagger of Time serves another purpose in combat. It can slow time so the Prince can better survey his situation. Striking an enemy with the Dagger will cause them to go into ultra slow motion, setting them up for a very easy kill. A wrinkle in the combat is that aside from monitoring the Prince’s safety, you’ll have to keep an eye on Farah’s health, too. If either one of you die, it’s game over. Be sure to watch out for her arrows, they WILL hurt you if they hit you.
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There are a few problems with the combat engine. First off, there are very few enemy types. You’ll be seeing the same five or six opponents throughout the entire game. The more offending problem in this reviewer’s opinion is that the fights often drag on a little too long. It’s not unusual to get stuck in a room and being forced to kill 20-30 enemies to clear it out. Usually, you cannot advance until you have dispatched all of your foes.
Another flaw, which shouldn’t be a surprise, is that the camera occasionally obstructs your view of what is going on or swings to a new view wildly causing other problems. It’s hard to single out The Sands of Time since practically no 3D game has ever gotten the camera completely right, but when you can’t see the Prince, environment or enemies because a piece of the scenery is in your way… I’d say that’s a real problem.
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Visually, the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a beautifully designed game. The Middle Eastern flair of the scenery and characters gives the game a very authentic feeling, even if the design itself is obviously impractical from a realistic standpoint. Excellent lighting effects are around almost every corner. The characters are a tad on the blocky side, but overall this game looks great.
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In terms of sound and music, what’s there is mostly ambient. Through much of the game you’ll only hear the sounds of the Prince jumping and grabbing objects. For the most part, music is limited to combat and cut scenes, but what’s here is good. Voice acting breaks most of the silence as the Prince often speaks to himself and narrates the adventure.
You’ll also have to be on the lookout for secret and optional items as you progress through the game. Sticking the Dagger of Time into certain Sand Clouds will add to your rewind meter, eventually giving you another rewind. Certain hidden hallways will lead the Prince to Water of Life, which will extend his life bar. For the real secret hunter, the original Prince of Persia is pretty well hidden about halfway through the game.
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The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is an excellent adventure well worth undertaking. In a sea of unoriginality it is a bastion of ingenuity that will beckon gamers back time and again despite a slight blemish or two on its otherwise smooth exterior. Previous experience with the series is not necessary at all, since the story is not connected to the other games at all, other than sharing a Prince as the protagonist. No matter what genre is your bag, you should enjoy this one and it is highly recommended.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
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+Fantastic interaction with environments and enemies +Clever puzzles with in-game hints +Expertly designed environmental puzzles |
9.2 |
| What Doesn't | |
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-Some battles drag on too long -The camera has a mind of its own sometimes -A bit on the short side |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Who would have thought that anyone would even attempt to revive a series that was by all accounts dead and buried? Who would have thought that said revival would also end up being the best games released this year? Do yourself a favor and pick this one up. | |
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Tags: Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Posted by Larry McCormick on Dec 19th, 2003 and is filed under Game Cube Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
