The guys at Ubisoft Montreal are an astonishing talented bunch. Its mark of creativity has been applauded over and over again in numerous games ranging from the Prince Of Persia trilogy that debuted during the last generation, the highly coveted Splinter Cell series and the infamous Assassin’s Creed released during this generation. The seventh iteration in the Prince of Persia series sees the Prince return vanquishing evil in a fantasy setting that will remind players of the vividly flow of colors from the critically acclaimed Okami and adds a dash of Ico to its boss fights to deliver one of the most intense platforming games this generation has seen.
The new Prince Of Persia trilogy wipes out all the previous settings and history that the Prince has been put through. Instead the fresh Prince is merely a rustic traveler who is in search of his donkey “Farah”. A chance meeting with a mysterious woman called Elika opens up a Pandora’s box of a land that has been engulfed by a monstrosity called “Ahriman”, whose plague corrupted the land until the elder god called “Ormazd” imprisoned him beneath a temple that housed the “Tree of Life”. The story continues with an encounter with Elika’s father who unleashes the dormant Ahriman by chopping off the “Tree of Life” and unleashing the corruption all over the land once again.
The gameplay, which made the trilogy so riveting, finds its way in this version as well. The Prince with his nimble and acrobatic maneuvers is set to cleanse the land. The gameplay of Prince Of Persia receives an overhaul with the introduction of Elika who is imbued with magical powers that assists the player on numerous occasions. This makes the platforming elements relatively less maddening. Jumps for instance are now assisted by Elika, pressing the triangle button (PS3 controls) in the middle of a long jump prompts your female comrade to act as a link pulling you to a higher location and flinging you to the required destination.
Failed jumps also find solace, since Elika grabs hold of the Prince’s arms and places him in the original position (flat ground) from where the jump is scheduled to take place. This relieves a lot of frustrating moments from the previous versions where a failed or a mistimed jump would lead to unwanted frustrations. Prince Of Persia also opens up its doors to accept a more open world gameplay mechanism where the player can decide to hover around areas which he feels competent to tackle. This is done by bringing up a minimap and selecting a destination, after which Elika sends out an enchanted white glow pointing in the direction of the required objective.
The gameplay branches out in going to a corrupted area engaging in a fight with the ruler and then saving the land from its fury, by using Elika’s magic to transform the once corrupted land into fertile ground. Once this process of conversion has taken place, Elika falls weak and the Prince is required to utilize his dexterity to find all the Lightseeds scattered around the area. Collecting enough Lightseeds opens up new areas in the map, and reaching a certain specified amount allows the Prince and Elika to restore the grasp of the Tree of Life over the insidious “Ahriman”.
Combat within Prince Of Persia has also been reimagined with Elika in the picture. Ahriman’s corrupted brethren come in four distinct types namely, The Hunter, The Alchemist, The Concubine, and The Warrior. However, with each battle they grow stronger and more vicious forcing the player to adopt a varying degree of strategies to defeat them. Often an enemy cannot be defeated by using his brute force, it has to be vanquished by using the environment of battle (which basically refer to pushing it off the edges).
These sequences are of particular intense combat for the player, since only a healthy mixture of dodging and offensive attacks can pull the enemy down to its knees. Elika enters the picture by performing combos with the utilization of magical powers in the game. Both, tag team in the battle arena to bring a corrupted down to its knees or pushing him of the edge of the map. One of the most interesting features in Prince Of Persia is perhaps the mid-game interaction that the players can engage with Elika detailing out the history of the corrupted area. In addition to this, the Prince also adds a dash of his sense of humor to keep even the most precarious situations light and funny.
The visuals of Prince Of Persia are stupendously done. After witnessing a relentless amount of the color red in most games, it’s a refreshing treat to see a vivid and fresh color combination. Each set piece within the game offers a different range of puzzles to keep the entire concept of platforming unique.
The best bits of Prince of Persia are, however, the smooth nature of moves in the game. The Prince can grab onto almost any ledge on the map and use his claw to slide down another, the notion of fluidity in performing the moves feels rather intense and satisfying. The game also enjoys the patronage of racking the players dormant grey matter that lies eroded with the bunch of shooters present in the market. Often players are placed with puzzles that serve to remind them the true nature of platforms and their edge over clichéd run and gun action titles.
Prince Of Persia does however suffer from certain negligible nuisances which include repetitive boss fights and certain frustrating jumps which threaten to tick even the most patient player off his hinges. In addition to this, some of the environments feel a tad bit repeated sprouting the same design. There are a few areas which serve to act as a no man’s land, which basically signal the player is stuck and has to reload the game to his last checkpoint. The help sections during the beginning of a corrupted fight will also prove to be a constant menace but can be turned off from the menu.
The Final Word: Prince of Persia is one of the most dazzling platformers seen this generation. The game improves upon all the ideas from the previous iterations to make this game as coveted as the original Sands of Time which debuted a couple of years ago. The combat, gameplay, sound and visuals are unmatched and present this game as a worthy addition to your title list for 2008.
Graphics: 9/10.
Gameplay: 8.5/10.
Sound: 8/10.
Budget pocket: 8/10.
Overall (Not on an average): 8.5/10.
- By Neelesh Mukherjee