EUROGAMER EXPO: Prince of Persia

Nov 01 2008

EUROGAMER EXPO: Prince of Persia

I’ve been a big fan of Prince of Persia since the beginning of the previous generation’s remake series (I’ve never completed a Prince of Persia game, but I am willing to live in blissful ignorance of that fact). Needless to say, I was excited at being able to try out the new game a few months before release, and also needless to say, it is a worthy successor to not only the previous series, but the originals to.

From that, I mean that the game holds features more common to the original Prince of Persia than the previous series, while still including the acrobatic thrill the last-gen games offered. In this, you might argue that it feels a bit like Assassin’s Creed (it does run on the same engine after all).

In the new Prince of Persia, the time-shifting TiVo system of old is replaced by a new gimmick. Her name is Elika. She is magic. That’s about it.

While you might expect Elika to be the star of the new game, she factors into the gameplay as little more than a weapon - being assigned to one of the buttons much the same as acrobatic attacks, or sword attacks are. This plays into combat interestingly as you jump around using deadly combinations to surprise and defeat your foes.

Talking of combat, in the new Prince of Persia you only fight one enemy at a time (an homage to the original? Or perhaps an example of the limitations of the Scimitar engine). This means that you need to think a lot more about every move you take, as you face death after one connecting strike to your vulnerable body and means that blocking is key to the game. Blocking is also key for the enemies, which is why the variety of attacks becomes so important to surprise your enemy and get through his defence. It also makes for tactically engaging boss battles.

The premise of the new Prince of Persia fits in with the new, colourful artistic-direction as the big meanie - Ahriman (God of Darkness and all that) seeks to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting residents of Persia, draining light and colour from all things in the realm. Twilight Princess? What’s that when it’s at home?

The game begins with The Prince wandering through the lands searching for his money-laden donkey. On his search, he meets Elika (well it’s more of a desperate alliance while she’s on the run from her tyrannical father… rather than bumping into him in Tescos) who is a Princess in mortal trouble. It soon becomes evident that the storyline only compliments the art-style and the voice acting is more Looney-Toons rather than Mass Effect. This is made worse by the script, which reacts with the acting to culminate in a strange new version of the Prince which strongly resembles Brendan Fraser’s happy-go-lucky hero from The Mummy.

The gameplay is the real star of the game though, and it’s a lot of fun running on, climbing up and grinding down walls with the help of your clawed gauntlet, which helps as much in combat as it does acrobatics. Combat is well executed in the game, making it a joy to fight enemies - including more tension in fights, while avoiding the irritation which often resulted from the Sands of Time trilogy (falling off ledges and the like while fending off grizzlies and horribles). Elika provides an interesting twist on the video-game ally and often helps rather than hinder (also providing an excuse to prevent the player from dying interestingly).

There were a couple of small bugs found in the preview copy I played, but these could easily be ironed out by the time the final release hits our waters in early December, and apart from a place where I got completely lost as to where I should be going, I really enjoyed my gameplay experience.

Prince of Persia is a must-buy for fans of not only the series but the genre also. I would recommend that you pick this up, though I find it hard to recommend as a pre-order only due to the vast quantity of quality titles coming out around the time. While the storyline and voice acting are questionable, the gameplay and graphical style deliver exactly what you would expect from a Prince of Persia game (in all it’s forms), and do not disappoint.