Prince of Persia

The way to tell if you will enjoy this game is simply to ask yourself the question: "How do I feel about being unable to 'die' in a game?". If your answer is "I hate it. I need to be punished for failure and demand a loading screen to endure", then you won't like this game. However if you do just recognise it as something there to stop a Loading screen and keep the flow of the game going, then you'll probably enjoy this. That was the main criticism of this game anyway, and I had no problem with it. Otherwise, PoP2008 is a polished, beautiful, decently-written (the two characters favour Whedon-banter a bit too much) game which feels relaxing to play, for the most part. This is a game to sit back in your chair with while enjoying the fluid platforming, which gets harder to perform as you progress. The only real disappointment I had in the game was the combat: a strictly 1v1 affair which contrasts spectacular acrobatic attacks with too many button-mashing QTEs. The combat isn't bad, but I do wish I had to hammer the A-button or 'Space' less. Conclusion: a good platformer with a more casual tone. Being unable to die is no more silly than having the Prince from Sands of Time apparently saying "And then I died on some spikes.... oh wait, that's not what happened" during that game.

Don't listen to all those haters, Prince of Persia (this 2008 version) is actually a truly wonderful game. Beautiful graphics and an incredible soundtrack are used to tell the story of the prince completely different than what you're used to. Yes, it's rather easy, the combat is sadly repetitive but all of it is used to tell this story in a masterfull way. Add to this a great female counterpart and an ending which will leave you in tears and you've got a game that is much better than what other might have told you.

Even though the visuals are the first thing one remarks about this game, there is much more to it than that. It was a bold new move into new territory, a depart from the fantastic Sands of Time trilogy that in my opinion paid off. The devs went all out to achieve a perfect flow for the game, and they succeeded. You will never be interrupted by a "game over" screen or a "loading last checkpoint" even though you will suffer the classic penalties from failing. If you die in a battle in a game you load a checkpoint and start over, here when your are supposed to die, your companion saves you and the enemy goes back to full health like at the start of the encounter, same thing but keeping the flow of the game constant. The same goes for the platforming parts, you fall and instead of reloading a checkpoint your partner takes you back to the last secure platform. The story isn't forced to you, if you want to know more you have to take a break and talk with Elika (your companion) and she will tell you about her and the section you are in, if you don't want to hear anything you just keep on going and the game will just tell you the bare minimum just to let you know what are you doing. I recommend these little chats since they develop both characters very well and leave you intrigued for the next one to know more about both of them. The contextual dialogue also adds to the experience with the Prince joking Elika about her weight when he has to carry her in his back and things like that, these little details add a lot and aren't repeated too much to be boring. Now the bad things... yes it easy like a lot of people have said in the past, but not because you don't die, it's because the challenges in itself aren't very... well... challenging, the combat specially more than the platforming sections. Also what I hated was that Ubisoft never released the DLC for the PC version that is a sort of an epilogue, so we PC users never got to experience it. Overall is a great experience that you shouldn't miss, even though it isn't as great as the games from the SoT trilogy it's great that the devs took the risk of making such a drastic change to a AAA franchise.

A painting in motion, a simply wonderful soundtrack. The (in part optional) interaction between the Prince and Elika grabbed me as I explored the landscapes taken out of the One Thousand and One Nights. Love this game.