Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Journey back in time to the days of Princes and nights of Arabian storytelling
Tags: Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Categories: Reviews, Xbox Reviews
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Dec 26th, 2003
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (title page) | |||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Action | No | ||
PORTIONS OF THIS REVIEW APPEARED IN THE SEATTLE TIMES
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time is one of those games that doesn’t come along very often. The breathtaking visuals and unique action make the game not only a fun game to play, but enjoyable to watch as somebody else plays it. The game’s cinematic quality will keep both the player and spectators entranced from beginning to end.
 |
 |
The game tells the story of a young Prince who accompanies his father (the King, naturally) into battle – a battle that was ill advised by the King’s Visier. After the opening battle sequence where the player gets used to moving the Prince and his basic combat moves, the scene shifts to another palace where the King is giving part of the war spoils to another noble as he travels back home.
Then all hell breaks loose.
 |
After unwittingly unleashing the Sands of Time throughout the palace, nearly everybody is transformed into zombified shells of their former shells. Including the Prince’s father. After narrowly escaping with his life, the young hero finds himself with a woman that was taken as spoils of war that is unaffected by the released sand. The two proceed to right the (very severe) wrong. This involves going back through the palace, now transformed into a wealth of traps (the defense system that has been activated) and monsters ( the inhabitants of the palace).
While there are traditional videogame style elements to the game (jumping from place to place to get from one area to another) the catch is that the Prince has a device that allows the player to alter time. Take a few too many hits? Reverse time to before the attack, move differently, and avoid the attack altogether. Too many enemies? Momentarily pause time to get in a few hits before they realize what’s going on.
 |
Aside from the time control aspect of combat, the Prince has a limited amount of moves at his disposal. Block, jump and attack are pretty much it. There isn’t a variety of moves available, and that’s a shame. A deeper, richer combat system would have made the game that much more enjoyable for veterans.
This is but one, albeit the major, gameplay mechanic that sets the game apart from the rest of the traditional adventure/platform games today. The various levels have save points designating the end of an area. These save points also act as part of the story, being columns of the Sands of Time. They give a preview of what is to come, a foretelling of the future, giving players a glimpse of what is ahead.
 |
 |
These are usefull, since at times it’s not 100% clear where to go throughout the game. It would have been nice to be able to save anywhere during the game (particularly before entering a room with a particularly tough group of sand-zombies, and after a long stretch of puzzle solving and trap jumping).
The puzzles are enjoyable and while not completely original, they feel completely natural in the setting of the game, and don’t detract at all from the enjoyment. The various traps peppered throughout the palace also help to keep the player engaged, without being too difficult to accomplish. The difficulty doesn’t change much throughout the game, further serving the accessibility of the game to a wide range of players.
 |
Another major gameplay mechanic that should be noted is the running along walls. This is essential to getting past certain traps or maneuvering through obstacles. This is done so naturally, that I can see many other games co-opting this in future releases unfortunately.
The music and sound effects in Prince of Persia: Sands of Time both stand above the pack. The voice acting is done extremely well The interaction between characters both during the cutscenes and in game sound completely natural. It’s a shame that more games can’t achieve this level or quality.
The voice acting also goes into the presentation of the game. Told as a story that would not feel out of place in 1001 Arabian Nights, the Prince regales the player with a tale of adventure that would make Indian Jones take pause.
 |
The storytelling presentation wouldn’t work if the voice acting wasn’t in place. Thankfully it is, and when combined with the cinematic quality of the visuals, the game looks and feels wonderful to play and watch. The immersion into the world the game portrays is excellent.
The game is a standout visually. Character models are very well done, animations smooth, and the time effects are fluid. The environments may not be as rich in detail as some other titles, but look great regardless.
The game runs smoothly, with very few clipping problems. The camera actually works, and in a game where the player is running around and jumping from place to place turning corners, well, if other developers are going to steal something from this game, it should be the camera.
 |
The game blends the adventure and platforming genres to a certain degree, a bit heavier on the platforming. The puzzles and navigation however feel more natural than most games of this genre, so it doesn’t get tiring after a couple of hours. The puzzles are mostly physical in form, mostly falling into the “press a lever to open a door, find your way to the next lever” type with a few “box movers” and others thrown in.
Coming in at about 10-15 hours of gameplay (depending on your skill level), the short time belies the enjoyment that the game offers. Prince of Persia: Sands of time is a title that anybody can enjoy regardless of age multiple times, thanks to a relatively steady difficulty level that allows both novices and experienced gamers alike to take command of the various powers the Prince commands.
 |
 |
The Xbox version, aside from being the best visually has the best extra features as well. Included are the original Prince of Persia and Prince of Persia 2 games from several console generations ago. The Xbox version also has Xbox LIVE awareness, something that nearly all Xbox games should have by now. It’s always nice to be able to be invited for a game of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3 if you have the time.
Prince of Persia: Sands of time is the adventure game that doesn’t get bogged down by too many genre clichés and the platformer that plays more like an adventure game. The wide appeal and brilliant execution of the title makes this game a must own.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Wonderful visuals + Storytelling method of delivery + Voice acting + Gameplay + Xbox LIVE awareness |
9.7 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Shallow combat - Not being able to save anywhere |
|
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Prince of Persia: Sands of Time should be played by everybody, including developers and publishers. | |
[ Post the first comment | View related posts ]
Tags: Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Dec 26th, 2003 and is filed under Reviews, Xbox 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.
