Making an ambitious move to the 3D world, Prince of Persia is an absolute must in any platforming fan's collection
Arguably the most important ingredients to a successful 3D platformer are accurate physics and responsive controls. This is especially true given the layout of Prince of Persia's level design. Fortunately for us this game comes packaged with a healthy dose of both. Very rarely will you find yourself cursing your controller for plumeting you down a cliff or waltsing into a group of enemies unprepared. If you mess something up, 90 percent of the time it's your own fault. Prince of Persia technically succeeds in almost every department, with the exception of somewhat frequent camera issues. You can change the camera angle around your character with the C stick, but half the time the game will set it back due to certain objects getting in the way of the rotation. This is especially frustrating in narrow places, and areas with a lot of spread out structures. There will be a few times where you won't see which platform or structure to jump to next because of this, but Ubisoft covered it up nicely with their landscape camera. Just tap left on the d-pad and you'll get an aerial view of your surroundings. Not to mention the ever so helpful first person camera, which you can even use when hanging from a pole or ledge.
The thing you'll notice about Prince of Persia that sets it apart from other platformers is the lack of obsessive and unnecessary item collecting. It may be looked at as a negative due it's contribution for a lack of depth, but it actually works in this games favor. In essence, there are three basic elements to the gameplay of Prince of Persia. Combat, platforming/scaling, and the occasional mild puzzle solving. The overall experience feels like Zelda, Devil May Cry, and the original Prince of Persia all rolled into one game. At the same time it manages to create it's own original experience. Combat will feel very familiar to anyone that has played the Devil May Cry and/or Zelda series. It's completely free roam hack 'n' slash, but unlike most of those systems there is a definite sense of defense. The R button along with good timing will prevent an enemy attack with a block. Striking right after that is usually rewarded with a significant blow. The B button controls the swinging of your sword whether in or out of combat. Attacking one enemy with your sword repeatidly will trigger a series of combos that you'll more than likely see again and again throughout the game. Tougher enemies can block out of these combos at any time. You'll have two weapons to use in the game. A sword (which gets upgraded a few times throughout the game) and the fabled Dagger of Time. You can use the dagger with the Y button to peirce an opponent, and even use it in excess to your sword for chaining combos. The Dagger has it's own special abilites which you'll gain by absorbing sand clouds hidden among the games vast environments. It's most important function however is it's ability to evaporate and absorb fallen foes. If you don't utilize that, they'll just get back up and come back at you as many times as necessary. The most exciting part of combat comes from some of the aerial moves at your disposal. Moving toward a target and tapping the A button will send you flying over the back of your opponent and coming down with a verticle swipe of your sword. More often that not it knocks them down on the ground giving you enough time to finish them off. More advanced enemies won't let you pull that off but very seldomly as most of them will simply strike you down before you get over them. You can also try doing the same thing by jumping off of a wall nearby by moving towards it and pressing the A button twice. Another wall move will have you soaring through the air like a torpedo with your sword pointing straight at the victim. These elements supplement what could have been an average combat system, and turned it into a highly invigorating and successful one. Multiple targets can sometimes present a problem due to the lack of a refined lock on system. When in range of an opponent, you'll automatically face them and have the ability to strafe and roll around them with the A button. You'll stay locked on to them until you swing your sword in the direction of another. It works, but it could have been a little more manual. Your character will face and prepare for the opponent of your choice, as long as you are facing him. Obviously that has it's ups and downs. On the one hand, changing targets is quick and effective, but when enemies get cluttered you'll feel like a dog in the middle of a cruel game of keepaway. Your health is displayed at the top of the screen by a long thin blue line. Regaining strength is as simple as holding the R button when near a pool or fountain of water, which is easy to forget due to the amount of structures filled with water in the game. Your life bar is upgradeable as well, provided you can find the secret fountains hidden throughout the palace.
Prince of Persia's true bread and butter is the highly innovative Sand Bubble meter. This is a way for you to measure how much of the dagger's special abilites you have left to use, most notably controlling the flow of time. If you miss a jump or get surrounded by enemies and run out of energy, just call upon the power of the dagger by holding the L button and you'll be able to rewind the game as far back as it will let you. The amount of time you get is measured by a circular meter on the top left side of the screen below your health. I think you'd laugh if the game counted how many times you use it throughout your adventure, which is probably why they don't. Believe me, you'll be using it more often than you think. Along with combat comes the ever famous platforming that Prince of Persia is known for. Any doubts that this system couldn't be brought into 3D can be tossed out the window right now. Scaling a seemingly neverending tower or structure becomes a thing of ease with the games movement and jumping controls. The A button will make you jump when standing still, but roll on the ground if you're moving. he prince can hold onto virtually every conceivable ledge in the game, and even jump away from them considerable distances. The most useful move in the game is the ability to run horizontally or vertically across any flat surface that you can get to, and effectively leap off at the end of the run with the A button. Whether it gets you up a slightly high piller or from one platform to another, you'll find yourself grazing the R button almost entirely throughout Prince of Persia. If you're between two walls and they're close enough to each other, you can wall jump back and forth between them in order to get to the top. A gameplay mechanic that will feel almost identical to the one in Super Mario 64. Sometimes the game will force you to swing on flagpoles etc. in order to reach your next destination. When on the pole hold down the R button to start the swing of your body, building up enough momentum to get to the next pole or ledge. All in all the mechanics and physics of each of these aspects probably couldn't have been better implemented. All of them combined make reaching otherwise inaccessible areas feel like moving from one room to another. Moving from ledge to ledge feels instrumental after a while, and becomes more of a pleasurable feeling of accomplishment.
Progressing through the game will take a little more than killing a sand zombie and running up a tower. You'll be forced to find awkwardly placed switches to open doors and chambers in order to get further. Sometimes it's as simple as stepping on the switch on the ground. Sometimes you'll have to run up a wall to hit the switch, then quickly wall jump up to where the door is. Once in a while you'll come across a switch that comes back up unless you place a block on top of it, a concept created by the Zelda universe and still pedaling strong. Most will find Prince of Persia to be a fairly challenging game with a few small exceptions. More often than not, multiple enemy combat becomes a specator sport for any opponent in the ring other than the one you're currently engaged with. I found myself frequently using the jump over the back and slash move on an enemy, then evaporating them while all his friends watched. It's easy to see why this occurs, because otherwise the game would be ridiculously difficult. It makes sense, but sometimes it sucks the challange right out of combat. The casual gamer will get through the game in no more than ten hours, while more skilled players can be all said and done with it in eight. It may not be long, and they're are virtually no incentives to playing it a second time other than to relive an already great experience.
While the character modeling of Prince of Persia may be compiled of small detailed shapes and simple cartoonish animations, the environments can't be described as anything short of astounding. You'll almost wonder how they managed to fit such lush landscapes and large building models into one game. The special effects are bright and smooth from a crumbling ledge to an evaporating zombie. The main characters movements are sometimes slow and jerky, but that's really more of a minute control issue.
Some of the grunts of certain enemies may get on your nerves, but every other sound effect in the game is crisp and accurate. The soundtrack consists of a fantastic mix of arabian and rock music which work perfectly for the mood that this game tries to create.
On the whole Prince of Persia is a highly original and mechanically sound platformer that no fan of the genre or series can do without. In spite of it's curious indiscretions and innovations, it comes as an easily recommendable game to anyone looking for an exceptional adventure of average length and replayability.