Originally posted here: http://spincookie.blogspot.com/

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is the epitome of great 3D platforming. When Ubisoft announced that they were rebooting the Prince of Persia franchise for the current generation I was among the millions of people who got very very excited. The new Prince of Persia game has a completely retooled art style that makes it look like a drawing come to life. You run around in an open "corrupted" world trying help heal different areas of the land to prevent an evil God from taking over. The new art style really looks phenomenal and is unbelievable to watch as you play through the game. Part of the experience of this game is just witnessing the gorgeous visuals.

Running along with you is your partner, Elika, the daughter of the King who released the evil God into the world. It is up to you and her to defeat the four bosses of the land (the Alchemist, the Concubine, the Hunter, and the Warrior) in any order you'd like. Every time you defeat a boss they will let loose a new type of "corruption" or trap into the world.

One of the things that really got my attention in the new Prince of Persia was the the importance of Elika. She not only plays an important role in the story, but is also a key factor in the gameplay. When you fall she grabs you, when you're hurt she helps you up, when you need to make a jump she lends you a hand, and when you need an extra hit during a fight she jumps in to take a turn. The developers really did a fantastic job incorporating her into the game and making her feel like a character you absolutely need to complete certain tasks. There are times when she will get injured or knocked down and for that second that you're battling on your own you really notice how much of help she was, and how much you miss/need her assistance.

The gameplay is really good and although at times it feels like the game is playing itself and you're just watching some fancy animations, it really does a good job of keeping a certain flow going. There is so much joy to be had in stringing together perfect wall runs, ring grabs, ceiling crawls, bar swings, and double jumps. Once you get a good rhythm going and can go for a while without it breaking, you'll see what I mean.

The combat is based around a combo system that lets you use your sword, gauntlet, Elika, and a jump move. It is pretty deep and is very fun to watch as you toss your enemy up into the air, throw Elika at them, punch them up with your gauntlet, have Elika through you back at them, then slam them down with your sword. It all plays out very well and looks fantastic.

My only gripe with the game is that is is fairly easy, and I like easy games. There weren't many challenging parts and I felt like I'd always make my jump or leap. It looked fantastic and while I was concentrating on not breaking my string of acrobatics, a deeper challenge would have been welcomed.

Prince of Persia: 9/10

Prince of Persia is a fantastic display of a next gen game. The developers did something truly unique with the art style, really bringing the world to life with fantastic colors and scenery. I wish there was more of a challenge, but what is there is brilliant and breath taking. My eyes were glued to the screen the entire time.