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In Association with Amazon.com -
Thursday, January 08th 2009
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Prince of Persia
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List Price: $59.99
Our Price: $56.99
Your Save: $ 3.00 ( 5% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: UBI Soft
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Amazon Maximum Age: 20
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Batteries Included: 0
Binding: Video Game
Brand: UBI Soft
EAN: 0008888524311
ESRB Age Rating: Teen
Feature: Enjoy the franchise's debut on next-generation consoles utilizing Ubisoft's proprietary Anvil engine, the same engine used to develop Assassins Creed.
Is Autographed: 0
Is Memorabilia: 0
Label: UBI Soft
Manufacturer: UBI Soft
Model: 52431
Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: UBI Soft
Release Date: 2008-12-02
Studio: UBI Soft
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Features
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Enjoy the franchise's debut on next-generation consoles utilizing Ubisoft's proprietary Anvil engine, the same engine used to develop Assassins Creed.
Utilize the Prince's old skills, along with a whole new combat system, to battle Ahriman's corrupted lieutenants to heal the land from the dark Corruption and restore the light.
Escape to a fantasy world set in ancient Persia brought to life through masterful storytelling and sprawling environments and that rivals the blockbusters of Hollywood.
For the first time in franchise history decide how the storyline unfolds by choosing the Prince's path in an open-ended game world.
Wield the acrobatic and puzzle-solving power of the Prince's beautiful and powerful AI companion Elika as you explore the perils of ancient Persia.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Experience the new fantasy world of ancient Persia. Masterful storytelling and sprawling environments deliver a brand new adventure that re-opens the Prince of Persia saga. You have the freedom to determine how the game evolves in this non-linear adventure. Decide how you unfold the storyline by choosing your path in the open-ended world. In this strange land, your rogue warrior must use all of his skills, along with a whole new combat system, to battle Ahriman's corrupted lieutenants to heal the land from the dark Corruption and restore the light. Also, history's greatest ally is revealed in the form of Elika, a dynamic AI companion who joins the Prince in his fight to save the world. Gifted with magical powers, she interacts with you in combat, acrobatics and puzzle-solving, enabling the Prince to reach new heights of deadly high-flying artistry through special duo acrobatic moves or devastating fighting combo attacks.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Beautiful nothingness
Comment: I'd be surprised if Jordan Mechner had anything to do with this reboot of his classic Prince of Persia franchise, as everything that's ever made a POP game is completely gone.
POP: Sands of Time was the perfect POP game for the (then) next generation Xbox. It took everything that made the ancient classic fun (platforming, dungeons, sinister traps), and added gorgeous visuals and 3D environments. Funny enough, Mechner himself oversaw the project, so it's not surprising that it was so faithful to the spirit of his original and so damn near perfect. The subsequent sequels each progressively branched away from that spirit, adding plots and features that really weren't needed or interesting.
With this one though, Ubi-Soft has taken that Mechner spirit and just thrown it off the nearest cliff. The Prince isn't even a prince. The whole thing takes place in this giant expansive, semi-open world. And there aren't even any seriously devious traps or timing-based platforming events. In short, it's Assassin's Creed, but without the cities and element of crowds. And like Assassin's Creed, POP has only a few serious gameplay mechanics that you simply repeat over, and over, and over in cosmetically different locales. You go from one "corrupted" location to the next and just repeat what you did at the last place.
Visually, the game is lush and amazing. Like Assassin's Creed, the vistas will take your breath away, and the cell-based, cartoon-style graphics are perfectly suited. But beneath that visual sheen there's nothing. There's little memorable to stand out. The controls are adequate, but feel a bit sluggish. The fighting system is quite possibly worse than Assassin's Creed (Ubi-Soft REALLY needs to rent Ninja Gaiden 2). The inability to die is actually a welcome addition, and would work excellently with some brutal, timing-intensive, brow-sweating traps that offer instant death at the first misstep. Oh, wait... there are none.
Seriously disappointing.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Nice when it's a platformer
Comment: I had just finished Mirror's Edge and I loved, most of it. I like comparing the two games, because, I'm enjoying and hating them both in the same ways. Both games have wonderful graphics, great control and exploration and platforming of this game is great. That is until you fight enemies. In both games, the moment any enemies are introduced, the game grinds to a PAINFUL halt and all the fun get's sucked out and replaced with frustration.
In prince of Persia the combat had me thinking WTF is going on?! your screen gets kinda red sometimes, the baddies turn black and you can't touch them for like 10 minutes, the power bar at the bottom 7 out of 10 times means nothing. Literally there's the same dude you fight like 3 times, he has a power bar, but you have to knock him off the side of a cliff, meaning his power is at 100% all the time 3 times. There's others where you knock off a quarter of the power bar and they bite the dust, just weird. i understand the need for the power bar, but man, unless it means something it defeats the purpose.
This is a rare game that has me thinking I love this so much, as I jump around and look at the nice graphics, and then I have have to fight something and I'm thinking when does this end!? I want to play some more. The people who designed the combat are either mentally retarded or have seen video games played, but never played one themselves and just kinda guessed what things are supposed to do. Don't get me wrong, the enemies are extremely easy, even without the lack of death penalty, but the designers so how figured out to make these battles boring and last FAR too long. This game is a soooo great in many respects, but sooooo far in others. It's a shame too.
End of review - I'm venting a little, and the enemy battles don't make up that large a portion of an otherwise fun game. If you want a fun platformer, with VERY creative level designs, nice controls and great graphics (but falls short in the combat area) pick it up.
Customer Rating:
Summary: When a Game becomes Art
Comment: I am not a big fan of Prince of Persia. I liked Sands of Time but thought all the GOTY nominations were taking it too far. I saw it as a solid and highly enjoyable experience but not this AAA title others touted it as.
I was skeptical of IGNs review of this new PoP where the reviewer had a love affair with the game on the pages of IGN. He just seemed like he was too much in love with the series in general to give a truly unbiased review. I have also recently been reading many revisionist takes on this game saying it is too short, too easy, too shallow, bad combat, overrated, etc... the usual things the second guessers say about a well received game.
I picked up a copy of the game for myself and have now beaten it and unlocked 94% of the achievements, the most I have ever done in a game before. My in depth experience has given me an informed impression of the game. There is much this game does right where it will just grab you, then hold you in the palm of its hand. At other times you may find yourself annoyed, frustrated or even bored. All in all, this is an excellent game that you should experience, but UBI Soft had a particular type of gamer in mind when they designed this new Prince of Persia.
Let me start with why you should get this game:
For one the game is absolutely gorgeous. A work of Art. I love the look of this game and it is nice to see a Western developer create a style so detailed and beautiful. I can't stand the big eyed weird looking Japanese style of artistic games and I hope other Western devs follow Ubi Softs lead. It is part cel shaded, part conventional graphics. reminds me of a movie which uses Rotoscope animation. The game world is like a painting in a museum and the main characters have so much detail and care put into their design and every movement you can't help but take notice, even when in an intense situation. This is the type of game you stop playing for a bit and just look at. Having the Prince stand on a balcony of a massive tower overlooking a massive landscape is a sight to behold. My dream game would be a Conan game which uses Ubi Softs engine and Frank Frazettas art style.
The difficulty in this game is about the same as Sands of Time and may even be a tick more challenging. No, you can't "die" in the game, the A.I. character will always save you. It is a bit lame, but it is not much different than using the time control in Sands of Time to rewind time to save yourself. It is essentially the same concept. I don't see why some are so hard on this game but give Sands of Time a pass. Also, there are a ton of games which allow you to save anywhere at anytime, creating your own checkpoints. How is that any less "cheap" than not dying in this game? There is also an achievement you can get where the A.I. can not save you more than 100 times. there's a little incentive for you to be more careful. And there is another component to this game which involves collecting "light cystals" after you beat certain areas. It can be pretty damn tough to get all of them and offers a different kind of challenge.
Alot of games these days are short. Too short. Prince of Persia is not one of those games though. Yes, once you do beat it you may be done with it, but it is like that with most single player games. It took me well over 12 hours to beat this game. Now alot of my time had been spent gawking at the scenery, but this isn't a game meant to be rushed through. You really have to stop once in a while and soak it all in.
The gameplay is very good and the controls are top notch. This is an action platformer and a joy to play. There are plenty of intense and epic moments to be had in this game, you constantly be wondering what else they have in store for you. The gameplay is like Sands of Time but with a slightly faster pace and more intuitive controls.
The combat is pretty good. This is not Warrior Within, so there aren't that many enemies to do battle with. The focus is platforming and exploration here. What combat there is though is pretty fun. A more polished version of Sands of Time where you can do some really cool stuff. The gripe I have about the combat are the Flash Prompts, which I will discuss later.
The sound in this game is incredible. From the effects to the music. It doesn't just sound good but it knows the right time to kick in as well. You'll hear an earth shattering roar just when things started to get nice and quiet or you'll hear some epic movie like music just as you walk out onto that balcony to check out the scenery. Like Luke Skywalker watching the Tatooine Suns set with a John Williams score in the background.
Yes there are some flaws, and I'll mention them real quick:
The Prince himself can be annoying. UBI Soft has such an incredible art style and gorgeous game world, they should have taken the character more seriously. They went in a tongue in cheek direction, but only with the Prince character. They tried to make him sarcastic and witty but he comes across as a bad Disney version of Han Solo or a poor mans Ash (Bruce Campbell in Evil Dead Movies). It does take away from the game quite a bit at first, but eventually he will either grow on you or you'll learn to tolerate him.
The story is generic. Would have been nice to have a story that matched the scale of the game world. But it is nothing too bad, especially by Video Game standards. The ending I must say redeems the story completely and leaves you gaping at your screen. Exceptional.
Collecting the light seeds will seem tedious at first, it did to me. But then I realized the real challenge in getting to some of these things and how it adds a new dimension to the gameplay. I soon looked forward to collecting them. But they will be tedious to others.
The game has incredible platform elements. I'm talking some pretty intense stuff here but the platform puzzle aspect (other than getting to some of the light seeds) is lacking. One main reason for this is you can have your A.I. companion cast a spell which lights up the path you need to take. A glowing orb will "show you the direction" if you press the Y button. Still, getting through that path safely can be quite a challenge and when it comes to finding a way to get to light seeds, you're on your own. Some Tomb Raider like puzzles would have been great and would have added much to the gameplay.
The game world feels a little lonely, not that many characters. You are basically trying to save an abandoned part of the world so it's mostly just you and the A.I. Companion along with the occasional enemy to battle. Would have been awesome if this game had a Zelda like spin to it. A minor gripe.
The bosses are pretty impressive in the game, but you don't have any real fear of dying from them. You'll be amazed what you live through. The fights themselves can be quite the spectacle, a spectacle you are fully involved in. But the battles also use what I will call flash prompts, where the bad guy gets close and enters an animation and you can't control your because you're supposed to wait for the appropriate button to fash on the screen and if you hit it in time, the Prince will react and counter but if you miss it, you get to watch him get beat on. These flash prompts were a pain to me, I felt detached from the experience. They aren't a huge portion of the battle experience though.
Final Thoughts:
Prince of Persia was designed with a more casual gamer in mind. Someone who is not particularly seasoned in gaming but is interested in getting lost in a beautiful new world. Somneone who enjoys games, but does not have the time to sink endless hours into one and accomplish nothing. The objectives of the game are the same throughout, beat a world (which takes around 20 mins or so) and then collect the needed light seeds. It is the type of game best enjoyed when played in spurts as opposed to setting aside your whole weekend afternoon. The longer you play it, the more tedious the limited battles and light seed collecting becomes. When you play it in spurts, such as an hour or maybe two at a time, then you will be presented with a gorgeous and fully detailed world lifted right out of the dreams of your childhood and the pages of a Fairy Tale. The platforming and acrobatic moves are a joy and collecting all the light seeds in an area is a challenge, but one that won't keep you up all night. The gameplay is incredibly streamlined and there is a deliberate effort to avoid frustration as much as possible. This is good for those who play it in spurts, but possibly problematic for those who grind right through every game they get. With the beautiful animations, Ubi Soft is also flirting with some dangerous territory here where you feel you are "watching" the game more than "playing" the game. Still quite challenging, but at times the platforming seems a little too automated as well.
It is a beautiful, elegant game which controls perfectly and oozes high production value with its top notch presentation. The game is in many ways a work of art. A visual and audio work of art. Story, except for the end, is rather bland and the gameplay highly streamlined. The game does hold your hand more than many would like, but the critics of Prince of Persia are exaggerating quite a bit when it comes to this game. It is a well made product, a work of art and can be tons of fun, just play it in spurts and not with a "must beat it" mindset. Sit back and soak it all in, you'll be glad you did.
My Letter Grade for Prince of Persia would be a B+
Customer Rating:
Summary: Artistic Masterpiece, Fantastic Story, Incredible Environments, Awesome Combat
Comment: Just beat the game today. I personally absolutely loved it! It is one of my very favorite games from this generation. I have already started my second play through. The game is extremely beautiful and the combat is rewarding if you can learn how to put combos together. Plain and simple this game was worth every cent. People can complain and complain all they want to about it being "too" easy...or that you don't die. The fact is the game is very enjoyable and has a fanastic story. Again one of the most beautiful games I have ever played. Prior to this game, Sands of Time was my favorite in the Prince of Persia series...not anymore. Sit back and and experience an artistic masterpiece. Thanks Ubisoft! This was money well spent.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Superb, fast paced...enjoy the experience.
Comment: I don't know what to say...I love this game. People will say that you can't die, it's too easy, there's not enough challenge...that's all true but what I took away from this game was the awesome experience. Now don't think I'm not a hardcore gamer...I got the Big Boss emblem in MGS4...that takes some effort. I just play this game, and I'm constantly smiling...and I'm constantly in awe. The first time I saw the Prince do a roof run...man I was blown away! And the issue of not being able to die...I look at it this way, if you are trying to reach a certain "light orb" and you fail...you'd just die, have to find that same spot and try again...this system lets you bypass the dying part...and brings you back to the last piece of level ground in the area. This game has joined the likes of Shadow of the Colossus, Tales of Vesperia, and Mass Effect in the top games that I just love.
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