From the start to the end, the game manages to do a great job in entertaining you and keeping you gripped and wanting to continue. You play the role of a Prince, and have to make use of his strength and agility to overturn a havoc he caused by being deceived into unleashing the Sands of Time. During certain times the Prince will also be accompanied by Farah, a mysterious Princess, and she helps out in battles using her bow and arrow, and also makes good use of her small figure to slip into cracks and help open doors etc. The graphics in the game are a pleasure to watch. You might find yourself occasionally just keeping the Prince still, just to admire the beauty of the surroundings. The sound is also great and fits very well into the game. The combat system in the game is by no means stelar, but more than suffices for the purposes of the game. The Prince has a variety of acrobatic moves and has at his disposal a dagger and a sword (which have to be picked up along the game). Using the former the Prince can use powers such as turning back time for a few seconds (just about enough to undo that trap death, a fatal blow by an enemy, or just a suicide plunge), turn on slow motion (useful when performing difficult jumping maneuvers or when being surrounded by many enemies), or turn on haste (lets you get that extra advantage when being attacked by many enemies). One of the rare things in this game is that enemies can beat up other enemies, which can happen when several enemies are in close proximity with one another and you, and a blow intended to be meant for you might accidentally knock down other enemies in the way as well. A few times you might want to strategize well and use this to your advantage, especially against the more bigger and powerful enemies. At times during the course of the game you may have to explore just about every nook and corner of the surroundings to find your way out of a room or area and be able to progress. The puzzles within the game are well done, although you might end up being a little too frustrated sometimes if you aren't able to figure out a particular one. An example of a puzzle that can be found within the game is that there is a switch to open a door that is too high for the Prince to reach. You will have to scout the area, run along some walls and perform amazing jumps to find your way to a higher platform somewhere that has a box on it. You will then have to throw the box down to the lower level, jump back down, and move the box to the original switch. Then climb the box, and voila, you can now reach the switch, and proceed to the door. Achieving the art of perfection in every department is very rare, and POP: TSOT does have its blips. The aforementioned frustrations when unable to figure out a puzzle is one of them, although in reality this is not an anomaly isolated to this game and can be the case in other games as well. In addition the fighting within the game can tend to be tedious at times. The game is also linear and perhaps doesn't offer much replay value. However perhaps only the real picky folks might complain about this. The rest like me should be able to easily look past all these and enjoy the game greatly! The voice and dialogs within the game is another thing that is done very nicely. Even the cut scenes in the game couldn't be done better and add to the good storyline in a very presentable manner. I honestly can't think of any other game that I've played that has achieved such high standards of cinematic proportions. My friends and family who watch me play have also attested that there are only a handful of games that can be so immersive when watching. It is almost like watching a movie, and you the player are of course the main star in it! The ending is well done, and after that you are presented with the credits, which I have to say is accompanied by a very delightful and catchy song. Just like the rest, even the credits song just seems to fit so very well with everything else in the game (you can of course view the credits simply by going to Extra Features -> Credits from the menu). While completing the game should leave you very satisfied, as an added bonus this also unlocks the original PC version of the game. POP: TSOT is an exciting and entertaining journey, and during the course of the journey you will experience fights, puzzle solving, well placed humor and romance. Anyone who does not give this game a try will be missing out on one of the more memorable gaming experiences available!
Other Helpful Reviews for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
The Good: Great puzzles; intense combat and terrific animations of the acrobatics. Unique style of saving loading. Soft lighting and pretty good sound. The Bad: Intense combat; somewhat repetitiveness of the action. N... Read Full Review
First up is the gameplay. PoP has some excellent controls that are easy to get to grips with. Running along walls, jumping from pole to pole and slashing those nasty sand creatures are all made easy by the very user-frie... Read Full Review