Short game, but not short on fun.
Pros
Cons
When I heard that this would once more be rebooting the franchise I was skeptical, it still feels too soon after Sands of Time and I was kind of thinking that if there were going to be a new PoP game it would/should continue from where The Two Thrones left off. Or be a prequel. Or at least use that same Prince.
Having played this now I'm kind of glad to have a new lead with a new story and so forth.
So you're this guy. And you lose your donkey thats been lugging around all your loot.
You bump into Elika and get caught up in all this mess involving dark gods and the land being corrupted and you have to of course help fix things. And you fix things of course by leaping around, swinging from conviniently placed poles, climbing conviniently placed vines and so forth.
Oh. And theres some combat too.
Though the combat doesn't actually play as big a part as it has in the past.
There are four major bosses in addition to Ahriman whom you'll battle pretty much whenever you go to heal a corrupted area and occasionally corrupted footsoliders (I guess) pop up.
But you'll spend more of your time platforming then fighting, which isn't really a bad thing.
Not EVERY game released needs to be entirely combat orientated and it's nice that this game focuses on something else.
Elika will help you both in and out of combat.
Out of combat if you fall she'll catch you, she'll be waiting. Time after time. Ahem.
Yeah. She'll catch you. Everytime. Without fail.
In combat if you're in a predicament in which it looks like your fate is sealed she'll blast the enemy away, usually they'll recover a bit of health because of it - but you live to continue the battle. Effectively meaning you can't die, which might make things too easy for some.
While I welcome a challenge I also welcome a cakewalk, sometimes a game you can just cruise through with no worries is just what the doctor ordered.
Her magic attacks are also sometimes the only way to harm an enemy, so theres that to consider as well.
Elika is also how you'll learn more about the world, you can talk to her pretty much whenever you want. If you're in a new area she'll talk about that area, which can be useful or it can just be informative. I personally stopped and talked to her every few moments to learn everything I could. You could theoretically not talk to her at all and miss out on a bunch of back story and whatnot and that's fine too, but being that theres at least a couple of achievements tied to talking to her you'll probably at least chat to her until you have them.
Platforming is pretty run of the mill, but enjoyable.
Perhaps the only thing different from prior Prince of Persia games is the inclusion of traps.
Spinning blades. Spike pits. Swinging blades. Boulders.
The best we get in this game is corrupted slime tentacles.
Nothing near as interesting.
The traps in the previous PoP games made it feel like you were constantly running a deadly obstacle course. They've taken a lot of the element of danger out.
So yes.
Games great, perhaps best for a rental given the length.
But it's a fun ride nonetheless.
- Great stylized visuals, sound
- New Prince and Elika are good characters and they interact in a way that holds interest.
- Solid platforming action
Cons
- Too short
- Perhaps too easy
- After you've got all four powers there seems no point to collecting light seeds except for achievements. The completionist will probably think it reason enough, but it's kind of lame how they suddenly become useless.
When I heard that this would once more be rebooting the franchise I was skeptical, it still feels too soon after Sands of Time and I was kind of thinking that if there were going to be a new PoP game it would/should continue from where The Two Thrones left off. Or be a prequel. Or at least use that same Prince.
Having played this now I'm kind of glad to have a new lead with a new story and so forth.
So you're this guy. And you lose your donkey thats been lugging around all your loot.
You bump into Elika and get caught up in all this mess involving dark gods and the land being corrupted and you have to of course help fix things. And you fix things of course by leaping around, swinging from conviniently placed poles, climbing conviniently placed vines and so forth.
Oh. And theres some combat too.
Though the combat doesn't actually play as big a part as it has in the past.
There are four major bosses in addition to Ahriman whom you'll battle pretty much whenever you go to heal a corrupted area and occasionally corrupted footsoliders (I guess) pop up.
But you'll spend more of your time platforming then fighting, which isn't really a bad thing.
Not EVERY game released needs to be entirely combat orientated and it's nice that this game focuses on something else.
Elika will help you both in and out of combat.
Out of combat if you fall she'll catch you, she'll be waiting. Time after time. Ahem.
Yeah. She'll catch you. Everytime. Without fail.
In combat if you're in a predicament in which it looks like your fate is sealed she'll blast the enemy away, usually they'll recover a bit of health because of it - but you live to continue the battle. Effectively meaning you can't die, which might make things too easy for some.
While I welcome a challenge I also welcome a cakewalk, sometimes a game you can just cruise through with no worries is just what the doctor ordered.
Her magic attacks are also sometimes the only way to harm an enemy, so theres that to consider as well.
Elika is also how you'll learn more about the world, you can talk to her pretty much whenever you want. If you're in a new area she'll talk about that area, which can be useful or it can just be informative. I personally stopped and talked to her every few moments to learn everything I could. You could theoretically not talk to her at all and miss out on a bunch of back story and whatnot and that's fine too, but being that theres at least a couple of achievements tied to talking to her you'll probably at least chat to her until you have them.
Platforming is pretty run of the mill, but enjoyable.
Perhaps the only thing different from prior Prince of Persia games is the inclusion of traps.
Spinning blades. Spike pits. Swinging blades. Boulders.
The best we get in this game is corrupted slime tentacles.
Nothing near as interesting.
The traps in the previous PoP games made it feel like you were constantly running a deadly obstacle course. They've taken a lot of the element of danger out.
So yes.
Games great, perhaps best for a rental given the length.
But it's a fun ride nonetheless.
