Prince of Persia®: The Sands of Time

When I first played the Sands of Time 6 years ago, it was fantastic to me. The platforming was fresh and novel, the fights were simple and stylish, and the time travel mechanic so awesome that I instantly fell in love with it. So now, I bought the Sands of Time (and the other two games) on the Ubisoft discount action. And I wanted to revisit it, and see how, one of my then-favourite games, was holding up. Now that the novelty factor is gone, there is nothing actually impressive about the whole game itself. - The story is simple, but it works. However, there is nothing really that grabs hold. - the fights are simple and stylish...for a while. after that, they become repetitive and boring, with numerous problems relating to dagger aiming and maneuvering the battlefield, and the number of moves at the prince's disposal - the camera is ATROCIOUS. The movement is camera-sensitive, and there is ABOSLUTELY no delay between camera-changes, meaning that as soon as the camera changes, if you were going forward, you will turn another way...sometimes to your death - the puzzles can become boring in the later stages. The game is short, but I have absolutely no problem with short games. I firmly believe that a game should last as much as the story requires. But I DO have a problem with intentional padding, once the developers realize that their game is "too short". The most abhorrent example was the doors-with-statue "puzzle", which had absolutely no logic and was solely trial and error. In the end, this makes for an interesting game, but the novelty wears off after the first playthrough. I wish I experienced the game like I did, the first time around, but I didn't. Which means this game can never be among the greats, because the truly great games, like Thief 2 and God of War 2, never wear off, no matter how many times you play them.

Sadly II couldn't get a Gampad to work... and this game is unplayable with keyboard and mouse.... I tried to get all of the GamePads I have: 8Bitdo SF30 Pro (supports DInput, XInput, MacOS, Switch) PS1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 Controller XBox One XBox Series XBox Elite V2 Nintendo Switch Pro Controler GameSir G3S (DInput, XInput) Nyxi Google Stadia I tried all of them with all xinput things available on https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Glossary:Controller#XInput_Plus Nothing worked. I tried a keyboard mapper, that worked but having only 4 directions on an analog stick doesn't work for a game like this. It's sad, I was really keen to replay this gem...

If you want a PoP game with all the charm, great story, and fun levels, this is the one to have. The 2nd best is the one from 1989. That one is also great. The PoP games that come after SoT are pretty meh but you can't go wrong with this one. Widescreen fix for those interested: https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/1999-prince-of-persia-sands-of-time-widescreen-fix-by-nemesis2000/ I have the widescreen fix running perfectly fine at 3840x1600. Without it, you will get 4:3 up to 1600x1200 only. Linux users: Running Lutris with Glorious Eggroll Proton 7-43.

The game is beautiful for its age and the main protagonists are charming enough. The parkour part is mostly nice and fluent. But the horrible camera, imprecise controls and questionable combat mechanics make it a tedious experience. Automatic camera jumps will make you change direction at crucial times, and the controls will often make your character do things you do not want him to do, especially in combat. Also, whose brilliant idea was it to make a 3 second animation mandatory for dispatching enemies on the ground? Beyond stupid! The combat is generally very bland as you constantly fight against 3 or 4 enemies. Kill one, and another joins the fight until you've taken care of all 20 to 40 enemies. That only gets exhilarating - and in a bad way- when off-camera baddies stab you in the back or your character attacks someone even though your directional input should point you in the opposite direction.

This game is truly legendary and for good reason. Without it and its sequels, the action-adventure genre would look completely different. We wouldn't have gotten the many masterpieces we've received and the spiritual successor to this franchise -- Assassin's Creed -- would not have even existed (for better or for worse). In The Sands of Time, you play as the young, athletic titular Prince of Persia as he's thrust into a story centered around a relic that controls the flow of time. Right there, within the plot, is the root of what makes this game so unique. It's not the parkour (though that's a load of fun). It's not the combat. It's not even really the plot itself. No, it's all about the time travel mechanic. Ubisoft Montreal defied expectations by making this game completely different from its predecessors, opting for what boils down to a very stylish platformer with solid combat, enjoyable puzzles and a lot of ways to fail. Where this could have introduced immense frustration at best, or downright unfair difficulty at worst, the time travel mechanic balances it all out. No matter what happens -- you misjudge a jump, get wrecked by an enemy or just run into a bug -- you almost always have a second chance to retry that moment by rewinding time. This is what makes the game so fun, unique and memorable. When you fail, the game quite literally encourages you to rewind and figure out where you went wrong. This creates a level of strategy and critical thinking that never fully takes you out of the moment or the action. This, combined with extremely solid gameplay, an intriguing plot and extremely atmospheric, dream-like world building to create a game that's not only a blast to play, but one that also still holds up extremely well today. If you enjoy games of this sort, The Sands of Time is a must-play. It's worth a lot more than what you spend on it; plus, it's always affordable even at full price, just grab it now!