Prince of Persia Review - PS3

8

Gameplay: 7
Graphics: 9
Audio: 5
Innovation: 6

Introduction

Ubisoft Montreal, after a successful reboot of the Prince of Persia franchise last generation with the Sands of Time trilogy, decided that a new generation needed a new Prince. The way they see it, the franchise should be thought of as an anthology of legendary fables about a wide array of Princes. It’s not the same guy all the way through the book - each chapter is a different story. We had one chapter on the last set of consoles, and now it’s time to meet someone new.

Gameplay

Don’t worry. The core platforming of previous Prince of Persia games is mostly intact. The world is one giant, oddly-conducive-to-acrobatics oyster that just begging to be tackled. Walls are wall-runnable, flagpoles are helpfully commonplace and sheer cliffs feature rings on their corners to help you get around. There’s enough proof of intelligent design in this game for two gods.

Maybe that’s because the game sets you in the midst of a cosmic battle between two gods – a malevolent force trying to escape from its eternal prison, Ahriman, and the good guy that has placed so many useful footholds in improbable places, Ormazd. Your Prince is returning from a successful grave-robbing mission when a sandstorm separates him from his loot and donkey. In his search for both, he bumps into a mysterious woman, Elika, who is fleeing from guards. Soon enough, you’ve got a vengeful god trying to destroy the world, and your character is forced into action. The plot for the most part is nothing special, and yet in the final minutes of the game delivers a sucker punch plot twist that I found particularly effective. Stick around.

Earlier, I said that the platforming is mostly intact. The bit that has changed from the last trilogy is the addition of co-op gameplay. Elika will give you a double jump in midair when you hit the triangle button, and is another weapon at your disposal in the combat. She also – and this is the controversial bit – saves you from dying with her magic. Every time you miss a jump, she grabs you and teleports you back to level ground. You have no health bar, just an increasingly red screen as you near the threshold of hits you can take, beyond which Elika saves you. You can’t die.

There is little penalty for making a mistake. You have to redo the platforming section you screw up, and if you’re in a duel, the enemy’s health is somewhat refilled, but that’s it. This is one of the fundamental concepts of the game, and if you don’t like it, you’ll have a hard time accepting the game for what it is: a fun platformer. People like to bitch about this as presenting no challenge. The way I see it, in a traditional platformer you aren’t “challenged” by the threat of death. The challenge comes from the level design; death is at most a deterrent that could pressure you to up your game, and at worst is a ...