Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Genre: Action-Adventure (Platformer)
The environments look better than Elika! They really do.The Prince of Persia series holds fond memories for me. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is in fact the game that introduced me to the last console generation and to mainstream gaming itself and is arguably the best platforming game of that generation. With that in mind, I sat down to review this new Prince of Persia game, the first of the current (7th) console generation.
The Prince of Persia series is finally free of the Sands of Time trilogy. It's not actually a bad thing when you consider that they have some really nifty gameplay elements. The problem with it (the previous series) was the Hollywood sequel effect : Games that were made after SoT (Sands of Time) couldn't retain the charm and lusty world it had. So is the new one any different?
Well, Ubisoft have tried their very best to bring back the "oh-my-god-i-wanna-pluck-my-eyes-out" environments from SoT (by far the yardstick of the series). They've succeeded. And how!
What they haven't succeeded in, however, is bringing back the charm of the game. Mind you, it's still a very very nice game to play. The signature SoT wall running moves are back. Combined with the modifications that they were subjected to in Assasin's Creed, they form the core of the gameplay platforming. Some new moves have been added, namely the vine holding, the claw-down, the roof-run (very well done animations) and the three orb moves. The other aspect of gameplay is the combat, which, is more old-school PoP than SoT. You're no longer fighting hordes of enemies at once, which is sometimes sad because you can never pull off the combos you could in earlier games like the "hit one, wall run hit another, come back and finish the earlier one" moves. Combat seems repetitive and everything's treated like a boss fight which isn't much fun. But never does combat slip into the category of "bad gameplay". I think uninspiring is the word. Overall though, the platforming more than makes up for it and gameplay is a pleasant ride.
On the story front is where the new PoP disappoints. The Prince is no longer the centre of attraction. In this adventure, he acts as a mere sub-ordinate to Elika in her quest to cleanse the fertile lands and rid them off the "corruption" caused by dark lord Saruman, sorry, Ahriman. Anyway, the story plays out typically in that it's a quest. That's fine. A quest is what it should be and I liked the refreshing change of doing good by cleaning the lands instead of the "mad-metal-blood-guts-death" of Warrior Within. However by taking the focus away from the Prince and making him this enigmatic character leaves him as an unfleshed-out hollow bunch of pixels and the story never gives opportunity for his character to evolve in the deep and brilliant way it did in Sands of Time. But I guess they stuck to a proven formula for fear of doing something wrong. On the other hand, Elika is beautifully complex in her character and we learn a lot about her backstory in the game's 'Talk' moments. Even as an AI she is thoroughly well done: never intrusive, always a helping hand and a crucial part in the Prince's more advanced combos. I especially liked the cute animations whenever the Prince and Elika are about to collide or they have to cross paths, a little animation in real time has the prince changing places with her on ledges and catching her when she falls on him.
The unique graphic style is proof of Ubi Montreal's artistic prowess.
The Prince of Persia series is finally free of the Sands of Time trilogy. It's not actually a bad thing when you consider that they have some really nifty gameplay elements. The problem with it (the previous series) was the Hollywood sequel effect : Games that were made after SoT (Sands of Time) couldn't retain the charm and lusty world it had. So is the new one any different?
Well, Ubisoft have tried their very best to bring back the "oh-my-god-i-wanna-pluck-my-eyes-out" environments from SoT (by far the yardstick of the series). They've succeeded. And how!
What they haven't succeeded in, however, is bringing back the charm of the game. Mind you, it's still a very very nice game to play. The signature SoT wall running moves are back. Combined with the modifications that they were subjected to in Assasin's Creed, they form the core of the gameplay platforming. Some new moves have been added, namely the vine holding, the claw-down, the roof-run (very well done animations) and the three orb moves. The other aspect of gameplay is the combat, which, is more old-school PoP than SoT. You're no longer fighting hordes of enemies at once, which is sometimes sad because you can never pull off the combos you could in earlier games like the "hit one, wall run hit another, come back and finish the earlier one" moves. Combat seems repetitive and everything's treated like a boss fight which isn't much fun. But never does combat slip into the category of "bad gameplay". I think uninspiring is the word. Overall though, the platforming more than makes up for it and gameplay is a pleasant ride.
On the story front is where the new PoP disappoints. The Prince is no longer the centre of attraction. In this adventure, he acts as a mere sub-ordinate to Elika in her quest to cleanse the fertile lands and rid them off the "corruption" caused by dark lord Saruman, sorry, Ahriman. Anyway, the story plays out typically in that it's a quest. That's fine. A quest is what it should be and I liked the refreshing change of doing good by cleaning the lands instead of the "mad-metal-blood-guts-death" of Warrior Within. However by taking the focus away from the Prince and making him this enigmatic character leaves him as an unfleshed-out hollow bunch of pixels and the story never gives opportunity for his character to evolve in the deep and brilliant way it did in Sands of Time. But I guess they stuck to a proven formula for fear of doing something wrong. On the other hand, Elika is beautifully complex in her character and we learn a lot about her backstory in the game's 'Talk' moments. Even as an AI she is thoroughly well done: never intrusive, always a helping hand and a crucial part in the Prince's more advanced combos. I especially liked the cute animations whenever the Prince and Elika are about to collide or they have to cross paths, a little animation in real time has the prince changing places with her on ledges and catching her when she falls on him.
The unique graphic style is proof of Ubi Montreal's artistic prowess.The next aspect of PoP is another signature trait. The visuals. Mind you, I didn't say "graphics", and for a reason. For a game like PoP, pushing out poloygons has never been a big priority. And for good reason. Rather, the game's great environments make do with fairly detailed models but with intelligent texturing and a smattering of particle effects for the "magic" look. To this day, I believe that Ubisoft Montreal have the finest art team among all developers. Even Valve. And so the decision to make the whole world into a giant canvas must've come pretty naturally to them. Hence the illustrative cel-shaded look. Often the best moments in the game come because of the visuals: The beautiful vistas that you're greeted with after you've cleansed a fertile land really makes the effort seem worth it.
Stuart Chatwood, composer of Sands of Time's frankly brilliant soundtrack is back here again. And with Inon Zur (of Crysis fame), they lend one of the best game soundtracks of they year. Sure it can't compare to Guitar Hero (because that's a sound based game) and the but the score is soulful and very middle eastern (much more suitable than the rock-headbanging-Godsmack soundtrack of Warrior Within). But all the sound isn't music to the ears. The biggest failing of PoP's sound department is the voice acting. Hammy and cliched dialogues probably hamper it but the voice acting is average at best. Yuri Lowenthal, so very good as the arrogant, cocky Brit sounding Prince in SoT here becomes a more American sounding Prince which probably lessens our affections for him (America and the middle east do not mix dontcha know?). Elika too is sometimes erratic, varying in her mannerisms but she manages to hold her character intact. As for the side characters, the less said the better. They've been battered with corny, unimaginative dialogue and polarised characterisations. But overall, the voice acting is better than the sum of it's parts.
Final thoughts then. Ubisoft have done a rather good job in not letting the franchise dip into total average-ness. The core of the game series has always been good and the same hold true for this edition as well. Great visuals. Solid gameplay. Good sound. The story and the voice acting however prevent a good game from being great. Which is a shame because it's leaps and bounds more likeable than Warrior Within and The Two Thrones (a badly named Lord of the Rings rip off in title, and a patch-up job to appease both SoT's and WW's fans) but it still can't match up to the mighty SoT. And thats it's problem. It'll always be a follow up to try to recapture the SoT magic. But take off the PoP badge, name it "Elika and Man-Servant Rescue the World" and it's a better game by itself.
Rating: 8.5/10
Stuart Chatwood, composer of Sands of Time's frankly brilliant soundtrack is back here again. And with Inon Zur (of Crysis fame), they lend one of the best game soundtracks of they year. Sure it can't compare to Guitar Hero (because that's a sound based game) and the but the score is soulful and very middle eastern (much more suitable than the rock-headbanging-Godsmack soundtrack of Warrior Within). But all the sound isn't music to the ears. The biggest failing of PoP's sound department is the voice acting. Hammy and cliched dialogues probably hamper it but the voice acting is average at best. Yuri Lowenthal, so very good as the arrogant, cocky Brit sounding Prince in SoT here becomes a more American sounding Prince which probably lessens our affections for him (America and the middle east do not mix dontcha know?). Elika too is sometimes erratic, varying in her mannerisms but she manages to hold her character intact. As for the side characters, the less said the better. They've been battered with corny, unimaginative dialogue and polarised characterisations. But overall, the voice acting is better than the sum of it's parts.
Final thoughts then. Ubisoft have done a rather good job in not letting the franchise dip into total average-ness. The core of the game series has always been good and the same hold true for this edition as well. Great visuals. Solid gameplay. Good sound. The story and the voice acting however prevent a good game from being great. Which is a shame because it's leaps and bounds more likeable than Warrior Within and The Two Thrones (a badly named Lord of the Rings rip off in title, and a patch-up job to appease both SoT's and WW's fans) but it still can't match up to the mighty SoT. And thats it's problem. It'll always be a follow up to try to recapture the SoT magic. But take off the PoP badge, name it "Elika and Man-Servant Rescue the World" and it's a better game by itself.
Rating: 8.5/10
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