Prince of Persia®: The Sands of Time

Not long after you start playing, you can see how this game is a stepping stone to what would be Patrice Désilets' other well-known games: the Assassin's Creed series. And even though its problems are different than those games, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time suffers at the same place: specifically its fighting system. The controls don't feel very precise, the continuous wave of enemies drag the pace down and once an enemy's got you stunned on the ground, you might've a hard time getting back up when there's a lot of them pounding on you. But once you get used to all these problems, combat will feel less like a drag and more like a enjoyable chore. But most of the game's enjoyment is found in its platforming and how it combines this with puzzles. It might not always be that obvious where you should be going or how you are supposed to get there, but once you actually get to your destination you can't help but feel satisfied. The game's unusual feature, allowing the player to rewind time, takes most of the frustration away when you fail another jump or when enemies throw you off a ledge to what usually would be certain death. At first I didn't see why lots of people spoke so highly of this game, but having played through it now, I think I see a glimpse of that spark that these people behold when they look at Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. Don't let the middle of the road combat or writing distract you from the awesome platforming that this game has to offer.

Always loved this game but like the other games in the trilogy the PC port is kinda messy. The game plays solid with no major bugs encountered during my playthrough, only a few audio issues here and there. Biggest problem I had with this game was that even though it's described as having controller support on the store page, it's very dysfunctional. You can bind the controller keys, sure, but menu buttons still won't work with a controller and when controlling the prince he'll just up and start walking when he should be running if the movement control analog stick is, say, in a diagonal position. Warrior Within and Two Thrones had a solution for this problem by way of a controller sensitivity slider but Sands of Time lacks this so tl;dr get xpadder or something if you want to play with a controller.

This is one of my absolute favorite games. When Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner teamed up with Ubisoft after the failed Prince of Persia 3D game the result was a refreshing, well designed and brilliant platformer. This is undoubtedly the best game in the four part series because it hits every note correctly the first time round. Playing as the unnamed Prince, you assault the Maharajah's Kingdom and plunder a magical device known as the dagger of time. After unleashing its powers via an enigmatic hourglass in the city of Azad things quickly go from bad to worse. The entire city is transformed into horrible sand monsters and it's up to the Prince and the untrustworthy daugher of the Maharajah, Princess Farah to brave the terrors of the city. This is one of the best written and easy to understand narratives I've encountered in a video game. Not only is there alot of charm in the hilarious dialogue between the arrogant Prince and the beautiful Princess but more lies deep beneath the surface. The Prince, struggling to come to terms with what has happened is mentally fortified by Farah and together they seek a path of redemption. Quite a few twists and turns happen and trust is very much a lingering issue as they rely on each other to avoid countless traps. The gameplay is centered around the two working together. While the Prince runs along walls ini mpressive acrobatic displays, Farah crawls through cracks and activates switches. In short the platforming is smooth, relatively bug free and looks like practiced gymnastic routines. If you need to know where to go next a vision for the entire sequence is briefly displayed at save points. Most impressively however is the ability to cheat death if the Prince fails to cross correctly through a series of spikes. The dagger of time allows the Prince to rewind time and stay alive. This mechanic is not only a very cool way to avoid clicking retry, but it also allows you to reflect on your mistakes as time is slowly rewound to the point of safety. The dagger also plays a vital role in the game's combat. Farah and The Prince will face off against waves of sand demons. Using the dagger the Prince can slow time down, freeze enemies in their places and rapidly increase his attack speed. Together with the regular attacks like the ability to vault over enemies, parry, riposte and leap off walls, combat is fun and presents even more amazing animations. Combining aspects of combat, platforming and an occasional puzzle makes the transition between areas in the game very smooth and interesting. The design is so well thought out and diverse you'll swear there's something new around every corner. The art direction is one of Persian grace and colorful design. Each section of the city presents a unique style from the Ramparts to the Sultan's Zoo. Particularly pretty are the particle effects which offer some awesome sand obliterating action and lighting displays. The Prince also has a variety of weapons he acquires throughout play and each one looks better than last. I swear you'll want the last two swords for yourself. Finally, the soundtrack is arabic music with a little rock thrown in. The pieces mainly play during combat while ambient sounds keep you immersed in Azad during platforming. It's just really pleasant to listen to. Sometimes I just keep one enemy alive to hear a track one more time. Towards the end it builds with the story and the adrenaline rush you feel is sensational. The voice acting is also superb, Yuri Lowenthal provides the perfect tones for this snob who gradually develops into a very refined and structured character. Like I said before, the conversations between the two are all worth listening to. I can't get enough of this game and I think it's one of the very worthwhile Prince of Persia games which made it in before Ubisoft turned the series to garbage. Jordan delivered a game which has style and class. I think this is the kind of game anyone will like. Get it!

So, this is my experience with Prince of Persia SoT. The beggining is ok, you play as the Prince while his army is invading a castle, bad things happen and suddenly your only company is a girl named Farrah. At first I dind't liked her, mainly because you had to protect her during combat, and because of her habit of occasionally hitting you with arrows while you are trying to fight, but after some time I started to like her. The combat works in a fantastic way, everything is fluid, you jump over enemies, slash them, use walls to increase the strenght of your attacks, you can counter attack, but the coolest moves are done with the Dagger of Time. You can freeze enemies in place and cut them in half, you can throw enemies to the ground and absorve them, and after some time playing, you will unlock one of the best abilities I have ever seen, I will not say what it does, but it's pretty damn amazing ;) You can also hold R to travel back in time. This ability is excellent during combat, you can use it to evade lethal-damage very often. The story of the game is also incredible. It's like the Prince is telling you his story, and he even jokes about it, like when you quit the game and the confirmation box appears, you can hear the Prince saying "Do you wish me to leave before finishing my story?", or when you die and the Retry box appears, the Prince says "No no no, that didn't happened". The whole story is good, but the ending is incredible, the little revelation at the end, the interaction between the Prince and Farrah, the soundtrack (more on that later) and the dialogue are truly memorable. The gameplay consists of two parts: plataforming and combat. As I said before, the combat works pretty well. The plataformer sections works pretty well to, but because of the camera (it is bad), some times I had trouble finding my way. The soundtrack is excellent, it really fits the atmosfere of the game. Overall it's a great game, totally recommended

Is this still worth playing? Definitely, yes. It's actually aged pretty well, all things considered – the game still looks good and controls well for the most part, though you may find yourself using the rewind mechanic more often to fix a misinput rather than a genuine mistake. The combat does bring the overall experience down a bit, but you should absolutely still put it on your list of games to play before you die if you somehow missed it. You could say it's...stood the test of time. Watch my full retrospective here! https://youtu.be/1pGpTtFd66g