Overview
Now, many may, or may not know that the Prince of Persia will be celebrating his 20th birthday
next year, and he has came very far from the bland graphics which avoided much of the lime light back then. But now it might be back with a bang, and after nine series and remakes, it might be around for awhile too.
Review
A little while back (2006) images were leaked of the games progress and have brought much curiosity ever since, but its makers, Ubisoft failed to respond to this, and eventually registered a domain in April this year, providing evidence that the games was in progress. However, the anticipation is far from over, as the game is not due to release this Friday on the 5th. However, if you have played the previous sands of time trilogy, and enjoyed every moment of them, then your in for a treat. Prince of Persia – Sands of Time, will be hitting our screens in 2010, and stars Jake Gyllenhaal. The go ahead has been given to make a movie about the much loved prince, and once this game is completed, least for now you will have the movie to look forward too.
The game begins as a prince, an eager adventurer, returning home baring treasure from a previous adventure. He plans to spend his wealth loosely, but is thwarted by a sudden fierce sandstorm. When the storm passes, he finds himself stood at the base of the “tree of life,” at the centre of a mythical garden. The Prince soon meets a girl named Elika and teams up with her. Together, they venture to the great oasis, but only too soon, witness the destruction of the tree, and the freeing of the ancient god of darkness Ahriman. The dark god inflicts evil on the lands, but Elika, has found the ability to use her new powers and teams up with the prince as they attempt to rid Ahriman of evil and cleanse the lands.
With that said, the prince runs riot, jumping and diving from walls, just like before, but with a twist. He can now jump high and further, with his new companion Elika. The maps are made bigger too, so there more room to manoeuvre, and perhaps join Elika as she tries her hand at flying!
One thing you can thank PoP for is there incredible attention to detail and graphics, which would make the movie even hard to compete against. But with all the graphics and new perks aside, the game play is simply…Erm…Simple. You can run and jump and your almost certain to land on a ledge of some sort. PoP misses a sense of precision, and the game only asks that you fling the prince in any direction, and it’ll do the hard work. But what’s wrong with that you might ask? Not a lot, but if your looking for something a lot more calculated then you might not get on with Pop too much, as you cannot die either, but let’s face it, we buy the games to compete and complete, if we die, why buy?
I have put down assassins creed after another stint, but it still gives me a great deal of deja vu, so don’t expect anything original with the “run, jump and grab.” But do expect to watch in awe as your sword does all the hard work in a flurry of attacks and, acrobatic combos and incandescent spells.
We Say
There might just be another PoP in the pipe line as the creators try to innovate a little of that magic they lost halfway through developing the game, but it still deserves a “smash, bang, wallop.” So get out there, kill a few bad guys, attempt the leap of death from a very tall tower, and bask in the clouds, while you free fall to the earth. One main factor of the game is the ending – it’ll have you thinking twice, but without giving that away, your just have to find out, so get it now!
Gaj-It Verdict
7 out of 10