A fantastic game that everyone should play
Story: 10
We begin our tale with the hero Prince himself explain that his father is a royal king of Persia and is attacking a city controlled by the Maharajah. We see some cool animations of the Prince showing off his acrobatic moves when his father mentions a treasure vault, and a strange old man pops out, apparently a traitor on the Maharajah's side. Our prince rides off and dives through a large doorway as an enormous avalanche of rubble crashes down behind him.
We switch to the Prince's perspective and begin our adventure, racing to get to the treasure vault by killing enemies and running along walls all whilst avoiding traps. At the end of this mighty crusade through the castle, we find the Dagger of Time, and return to our father, triumphant in victory. That victory is short lived however, when the Prince releases the Sands of Time in a giant hourglass that turns everyone except him, the strange old man and a mysterious woman into sand zombies.
From then on, your quest is to reach the hourglass (at the top of the tallest tower) and undo what you have done. The story may seem a bit bland, but the whole inclusion of time adds in a real unique sense and the story gets mighty fine as you play along. I especially enjoyed the ending though, it's really good.
So if you're looking for a great story, PoP is the way to go. It's exciting, mysterious, action packed and riddled with twists.
Graphics: 9.5
You start the game looking around at your surroundings in absolute awe, and this awe lasts the entire game. The graphics are stunning. Whether you are hundreds of feet in the air looking out at the mountains around the tower, to a giant library with enormous bookshelves and the afternoon sun shining in through enormous windows, you will not be disappointed. Every area is different from the last as you traipse your way through the enormous palace trying to reach the hourglass. You will be amazed as you find a new environment with traps and walls to run on, be it a prison, a garden or a giant bird cage.
Gameplay: 9
The meat of the game, the gameplay flows into the game perfectly. You quickly find out that the Prince is a very agile fellow, and you'll be wall-running, jumping, rolling and dancing around enemies in no time at all. From the first time you wall-run until the final battle, the gameplay is always fun and fast, as you vault over enemies, jump off walls, roll under closing doors and make death-defying jumps and runs to survive. It's all very slick and lightning fast and if you're not quick enough in rolling under your enemy and vaulting over him, you'll find yourself dead. Wall-running and jumping along walls is also highly fun and rewarding. You'll wall-run over a pit of spikes and jump at the last second to grab hold onto a stalactite (or is that a stalagmite?) that suddenly shakes and snaps off pretty quickly. Put simply: if you like fats-paced, fun adventuring, you'll love this game.
But there are a few minor problems with the gameplay though. After a while, the battles seem sort of the same, but there are often a host of various enemies to keep you occupied. Also, there are often tons of enemies in an area and it is very difficult to survive, let alone fight them, as you are knocked down repeatedly and slashed to death. I mentioned the game was rather fast-paced, which makes it so good, but there are a few times when that pace is slowed to a crawl in the most annoying places. I blame this solely on some of the puzzles and the enemy birds.
I'll start with the first. You'll have just wall-run and jumped over moving spikes and rolled under a near shut door after you have defeated a whole bunch of enemies, and a puzzle presents itself. There may be a switch you need to pull or something you need to move to advance to the next area, and they are usually very cool. When you play some of the puzzle elements in the game, you will undoubtedly shake your head in wonder. It all fits so perfectly and it is so very fun. But sometimes, you might miss a switch or a ladder tucked away in a corner and walk around the area for half an hour wondering what the hell you're meant to do. Also, some of the puzzles can get pretty difficult and annoying for non-lateral thinkers, because it is often very hard to work out what to do. But otherwise, the puzzle elements are enormous fun and are a main factor of the game's 9 rating.
The second annoyance: the birds. I'm not talking about the giant vultures that attack you in herds in the game, i'm talking about tiny little birds that attack you when you're a million miles above ground in packs of about 10. They RUIN the game. They slow it to a crawl as you have to wait as they fly around to attack you. And if they hit you, off you fall. The game's pace is ruined by these creatures, and I urge the developers to get rid of them in future games.
And then there are your time abilities. Probably the coolest aspect of the game, the dagger you picked up at the start lets you restart time for about 10 seconds, slow down time, freeze your enemies, and if you're good enough, lets you freeze every enemy in the area while you jump around in a split second killing them all instantly. You collect sand off fallen enemies and store it up, using a sand "tank" each time you rewind.You will fall off a wall or miss a pole and will fall to your death very often, and you're rewind ability lets you go back and change that so you survive. It is the most important element of the game, because it is easy to die, and you realise how much you depend on it later in the game when you are robbed of it and must finish the entire thing without it.
Sound: 10
Brilliant. Stunning. Awesome. The music is fantastic, as it blends traditional Arabian music with modern rock, bringing forth a hybrid that fits in perfectly with the game's pace and style. The voice acting is very good and often very funny, as the Prince and Farah (the mysterious woman) banter and argue back and forth like a married couple. And when they are separated, the Prince mutters about how much she bosses him around. It is very well done and more than often very funny too. The sounds of the game are perfect, with clashes and screaming as you battle enemies and take their sands, water ripples and gurgles and ledges crackle as you land on them as you're climbing. The game sounds fantastic, period.
Replayability: 8
The game is fairly short, but is very fun in that time frame. When you finish it, you may not play it again for a while because it is basically a non-linear adventure game that doesn't offer up to much in terms of variety a second time. However, it is cool to play the game again knowing how it ends and how that, in turn, coincides with the very start of the game. Otherwise, it is the same thing over again with a lack of difficulty settings to make it tougher.
Fun Factor: 9
The game is fun, on a whole, but can get incredibly frustrating.Sometimes, enemies will surround you and kill you easily, or you might miss a ledge and plummet to your death, realising you have no sand left, or you might have to fight birds. The controls are fairly simple to use, but a gamepad is definitely advised. The camera can jerk around to a weird position or get stuck behind something which can be annoying, but it's pretty easy to sort out. It can get tense and annoying at times, but overall, this is a very fun game.
Overall: 9
Three words: Buy this game. You will not be disappointed. It is fun, fast paced, slick, challenging, interesting and very fun. It fails in a few minor areas, but that is really nothing to what I consider one of the greatest games of all time.
Have fun!