If everyone has a dirty little secret, then mine is I didn't play the Sands of Time trilogy. The Prince of Persia franchise rose to fame during the last console generation, where its slick platforming and inventive time-control mechanics earned it a reputation as the pinnacle example of its genre. With the trilogy completed, Ubisoft have opted for a fresh start with their latest installment, ditching the characters and settings of the previous games in favor of a brand new Prince and a brand new world to explore. What Ubisoft have achieved with Prince of Persia is nothing short of outstanding; A remarkable game in its own right, that lays the foundation for future greatness, but falls just shy of legendary status itself.
The game begins with the luckless Prince, caught in a sandstorm in the desert. He's lost his donkey, Farah, and the king's ransome in stolen gold she was carrying on her back. More to the point, he's hopelessly lost. So when he comes across a beautiful princess named Elika, it's no surprise he decides to follow her. Unknowingly, the Prince walks right into the middle of a war between Elika's people, the Ahura, and the all-powerful God of Darkness, Ahriman. Now unwittingly involved, the Prince joins forces with Elika in order to free the four lands of Persia from the hands of Ahriman's corrupted soldiers... and hopefully, walk away from this alive.
Let's get right down to it: PoP is beautiful. The world has a calming, watercolor look to it that is difficult to describe, but absolutely stunning in motion. The draw distance is amazing, with hills stretching on for miles in all directions. The character models are spot-on and the animation quality is amazing, with almost no clipping or choppy animations in sight. The game simply "flows", and half the fun comes from watching the world unfold around you.
The gameplay itself is a refreshing change of pace for the genre. Controlling Prince across complex platforming sections is very much like playing an extended quick-time event; The Prince automatically runs up, down and along various surfaces as he runs into them, and interacts with environmental obstacles - such as grip rings and cracks in the wall - via single-button inputs. Pressing the correct buttons with appropriate timing creates some very acrobatic sequences that are truly a sight to behold.
The obvious downside to this style of gameplay is a perceived lack of direct control. Jumps are largely automated and so you don't often have to aim them yourself, for example. It can often feel like you are merely offering Prince suggestions, and for some this disconnect between player and avatar might be off-putting. Personally, I find it allows me to focus more on the game's stunning visual presentation and the Prince's graceful, acrobatic movements, creating a more cinematic experience than any other game to date.
While the game might be accused of hand-holding during platforming segments, world exploration is far more open-ended. As you progress through the game, you collect orbs called Light Seeds, which can be used to activate the four types of "Power Plates" scattered across the land. Power Plates are color-coded, and each allow Prince to travel to areas previously inaccessible. The order in which you activate the Power Plates is entirely up to you, giving you the freedom of tackling the game's various lands in whichever order you please.
Elika, the Prince's beautiful sidekick, adds her own level of complexity to the gameplay. Not only can Elika chime in during combo attacks with her own magical spells, she can also save Prince from dying when he misses perilous jumps. Elika is very chatty, and her interactions with Prince are one of the highlights of the game. The two characters are very well-written, and their growth over the course of the game - both individually and as a team - is one of the biggest writing triumphs of this generation.
Like the rest of the game, the combat in Prince of Persia focuses on flow. You have four basic commands at your disposal: Jump, Grab, Sword, and Elika. String them together in almost any order you wish, and Prince will execute unique, elaborate combo attacks. The combat is not particularly difficult to do well at, however there is a degree of skill that separates new players from pros. It's all about visual clues: If Prince is far away from the enemy, Jump in close before using your Sword. If your attack knocks the enemy too far back, activate a long-range Elika attack. Respond to changing battle conditions quickly enough and you can string together combos that seem to go on forever. The game is unrivalled at providing a satisfying, cinematic combat experience.
Despite my praise so far, Prince of Persia isn't perfect. While it is certainly worth a purchase, its few flaws are too disappointing to ignore.
For starters, the brilliant combat mechanics are criminally underused. So rare are actual enemies that finding them is often an unexpected surprise. There's just not enough stuff to hit, and that's a damn shame considering how fun the fights can be.
A more pressing concern is the game's lack of difficulty. Like many platformers, obstacles move in such a fashion that a well-timed initial leap will allow you to rush between them all without getting hit. While this works for most platformers, it only serves to make Prince of Persia significantly easier, due to how automatic the platforming has become. As soon as you realize how neatly everything fits together, playing the game becomes as simple as tapping buttons in time to the cues, something so simple you only need to be half-awake to do it.
In the end, the lack of combat opportunities and overall low difficulty shouldn't turn anyone away from the game. Prince of Persia is as much about enjoying the ride as it about reaching the destination, and when the ride is this good you can hardly blame it for that. While I would have liked a little less automation, it is not such a significant problem that it dampens my enthusiasm for what Ubisoft have created. The game flirts constantly with perfection but ultimately only teases; The best game of this generation is hiding in this package and I can only hope the inevitable sequel brings it out. In the meantime, you'd have to be crazy not to check this out.
A must-buy.
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