In the midst of a land rooted in Persian mythology, the Prince finds himself caught in an epic battle between the forces of Good and Evil: the God of Light, Ormazd, against his brother Ahriman, the God of Evil and destruction. He becomes a witness to the destruction of the legendary Tree of Life - a...
In the midst of a land rooted in Persian mythology, the Prince finds himself caught in an epic battle between the forces of Good and Evil: the God of Light, Ormazd, against his brother Ahriman, the God of Evil and destruction. He becomes a witness to the destruction of the legendary Tree of Life - an act which threatens to plunge the world into darkness for eternity. A black substance called "The Corruption" begins to contaminate the ground and even the sky itself. Our heroic Prince, together with the enigmatic and dangerous Elika, must do all that he can to rid the world from this ultimate evil.
Featuring a re-imagined Prince and a beautiful cel-shaded world, Prince of Persia is chock full of the awesome acrobatics and free-form fighting that are the series’ hallmark. A huge, open world awaits you, intrepid adventurer. Will you be the one to cleanse the world of Ahriman's corruptive influence?
Non-linear gameplay in a detailed, open-ended world.
Masterful storytelling and lavish environments guarantee a cinematic action-adventure experience
Introducing Elika, a deadly and mysterious ally, who’s gifted with magical talents and dazzling acrobatic prowess.
Yes. It is true. You cannot die in this game. That seems to be the biggest complaint people have about this game. But ask yourself, does is really make a difference? So there is no extra loading screen, so you don't have to go back to the last checkpoint, so what? Everything else in this game is amazing. The game play is fun and addicting. The story is interesting and the characters are fun. The graphics and art style are gorgeous. No loading screen, no arbitrary checkpoints? No problem.
As many have already stated, this is a reboot of the Prince of Persia series. Strike that - "reboot" isn't quite the right word; I prefer "reimagining". The core PoP mechanics are here: navigational puzzles, death-defying leaps, combat, and a lady to save; the difference is in the implementation.
It is still a challenge to get from point A to point B. The Sands of Time trilogy focused on single-room puzzles where you had to figure out the solution (run along the wall, slide down the curtain, jump across the chasm). This PoP is almost more of a rhythm game: the path is linear and (usually) clearly marked, the challenge comes from performing the correct action (jump, run, grab, roll) at the right time. One of the great benefits of switching from the room-focused puzzle is that the maps can be much larger, and this game provides some amazing vistas!
Combat is not one of this game's strong points. Thankfully, it only becomes a significant issue during one leg of the journey. While you will be fighting some different bosses during the game, there is one that requires multiple nearly-identical encounters to defeat. The first time you beat him is a relief, the second is "alright, here we go again", and third+ are sighs of resignation. There is also the possibility for frequent fights with mini-bosses, but the player can interrupt their summonings if he is quick enough, preventing the combat scenario entirely. Once the player gets into the rhythm of the combat system, fights become easy and allow the player to focus on the visuals, which are smooth and impressive.
One of the wonderful elements of Sands of Time is the interaction between the Prince and Princess. Both characters were well written, intelligent, and clever without delving into cliched one-liners. The Prince and Princess characters here are not as likable here, although I grew to care about them by the end of the game. When we first meet the Prince he is flippant and cocksure, and it takes a long time for that vibe to warm into something more plausible and likable. The Princess also starts off one-dimensional and gradually grows. The game suffers from not having immediately likable characters, especially after the wonderful first impression made by the game's art direction.
This installment of Prince of Persia opts for a stylized cel-shaded look, and it is excellent. It manages to have the feel of an animated Arabian painting. The menus are beautiful, setting an excellent tone for the game. The Prince's colorful scarves stand out from the muted colors of the main area, as does the Princess's white blouse. I initially thought the desaturated environment was a gameplay decision to make the Prince easier to see. I didn't really take notice of the lifeless color palette until completing the first area and seeing the area re-saturate. I already liked the art direction, but that's when I became *impressed* by the art direction.
A lot of virtual ink has been spilled about the "you can't die" mechanic. In short: if you're about to lose a fight or fall off a cliff, the Princess uses her magic to save you. Personally, I am just fine with this design decision:
- Sands of Time had a similar concept with the "reverse time" mechanic, although that had limited uses
- No "game over" screen also means no navigating the menus to retry/reload from the last checkpoint
- It's a smart, subtle nudge from the game developers for the player to give it one more try; it's easier to walk away from a game when presented with a "game over" screen
- (MINOR SPOILER ALERT) For a story about Life and Death, the game mechanics of multiple lives and frequent deaths in incongruous with the game's narrative theme
The primary reason I give this game 4 stars and not 5 (which I think it deserves) is because Ubisoft never released the game's final chapter for PC; it was released as DLC for consoles only. The base game tells a complete story with an appropriate ending, its just that the DLC tells a little more. (I'd love for GOG to somehow wrangle THAT bonus content!)
I played the game almost entirely with a gamepad. While mouse/keyboard is doable, it's not recommended.
All-in-all, I had a great time playing this Prince of Persia when it was released in 2008. It was one of the few games I played to completion, and I still fondly recall various elements of the game: certain traversals, completing an area, the art style, the story's closing act, and even the melancholy of one of the characters. Hmmm - I think I'll install and play it again...
I still have the disk for this game. This is one of the first games I played when I got my first personal PC as a poor college student, so I might be slightly biased, but I feel like this is a really solid game in terms of a platforming and story experience.
The environment is part of the story, and you slowly seeing it change is something you will appreciate and find beauty in (or at least I did). The characters are likable and the small talk is also great fun while platforming.
The game also has weaknesses - while the story progression is nonlinear in terms of what boss you want to take down first, that also means that beyond general small talk it really doesn't have any story progression (basically the story progression is that you make things green/beautiful, and then go fight the last boss). There's no actual story beyond: the setting, the ending and the character background (each big boss has its own story of why it was corrupted, which is really well written, but at the same time, that's all they are, they don't have their own goals when you fight them, they just wait for you and you go and beat them).
The combat is bad, other than the lack of story depth in terms of 0 story progression, this is another reason why I'd consider giving it 3 stars instead of 4. Lots of QTE's, no actual challenge in terms of u can make as many mistakes as you want and you'll be able to slowly wear down whatever you're fighting (cuz there's no game-over in this game).
In the end, it's a really good looking game, with lots of good points, it's an Ubisoft game but I got more Indie game vibes in terms of the story and how the game felt to play.
If you like story-based games with platforming (and where you make things look beautiful), then I'd recommend this to you.
POP 2008 is not a bad game, it's fun and colourful and an overall good time, but it suffers from two main problems. One, it's title and the franchise expectations that come with it especially after the Sands of Time trilogy and two the sequel bait ending which is honestly the rougher part. Again it is an enjoyable and fun experience that just barely misses the landing, but stil recommend it.
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