Pretty but hollow
This is the first review I've written I think... ever. That should tell you about how conflicted about this game I am.
First of all I'd like to state and explain all the things I liked about Prince of Persia.
It's great to look at. Seriously, it looks great. Great it looks. Even after... almost exactly a year from release it stands up as a game that visually if released for this holiday season, would stay on par. As you can tell from video and pictures the art style and fluidity of the animations are great and keep with the whole flowing feel of the Prince of Persia series. The colours stand out brilliantly and the balance between the textures and black-lining is near perfect. Things fade nicely into the background without going over the top, and the background scenery is spectacular.
So doi, it looks good.
It also sounds pretty good too. I had a sneaking suspicion before playing that I would need the subtitles turned on throughout, but the balance of speech even among the action packed sequences held up nicely without feeling too 'crammed down your ear' or 'lost in the crowd'. A notable touch in the sound design is the great flip-flop action sounds. The prince's feet sound fantastic. All the flops and flips of aerobics and lady catching are equally as convincing and appealing, and I never felt like I heard the same organic sound twice. Unfortunately the sound of 'light seed' collecting (Prince of Persia's version of agility orbs), can get a little grating, repetitive and seem slightly too long. The soundtrack is notably moving (although not amazingly original). When you're grabbing your way through lush scenery and soaring through the sky, the persian tinted orchestration is just what you want. Although the amount of different pieces is slightly on the short side, the punctuation they provide is never unwanted.
So yeah, sounds good too.
It plays... well... OK? There are so many factors that make up the gameplay; as with any game.
Ah! To simplify. The handling is fantastic and fluid. The animations to go along with your gamepad touching and pressing is as I've said, fluid and well, great. The level design should be brilliant. This is also hard to explain. Although, as I'm sure you're aware if you've payed any attention to this game over the past year, this game is easy; the level design is fantastic. It's a tough one. I found myself enjoying every second of jumping swinging, sliding (especially) and flying around, and as soon as I fell from a wall, as with any game I was annoyed. So the inclusion of a close checkpoint system, I think, was great. Elika will pluck you from the sky and drop you on the last available ledge 100% of the times you fall. This is fantastic help. But at the same time I found myself completely unchallenged. The amount of time the game gives you to react to a platforming challenge (such as pressing B to grab onto a ring) is huge. Must be up to justover a second of time to react. Think about it. You see it coming. 0. 1. That's how long you have to simply press B. The wall and ceiling climbing is automatic so in many places it's like a quick-time event without the button prompts (and sometimes with!).
So yeah, I've lost track. The climbing and navigation is super entertaining for a short period of time, but crazy easy and verging on boring once the thrill of the visual style has taken you.
The sword on sword/staff/magic action is again, fun, but suffers from the same simplicity problems as the traversal sections of the game. The combo system is adequate but I found myself relying on the same 2 or 3 combos that I know would hit 100% of the time and deal the most damage. Once you've figured them out the combat is even more of a breeze. That's without the absolutely no death mechanic that exists in the combat aswell.
Sooooo yeah, gameplay is middling.
The story is fine! Nothing more, and nothing less. There are few twists, but that's OK, the story takes a direction you want it to take (to a point) and leads you on your way in a simple fashion. No real intrigue or surprises (well not really). The characters play their roles as almost expected. It's a tried and true character combo. Arrogant man with no faith in the world, righteous pretty lady who learns a bit of sass on the way. You watch him fall for her, You watch her fall for him. That's not giving anything away; you'll get that vibe from 10 minutes in. The characters are never without another, which is nice. It feels... nice. The Prince carries Elika on his back when he's crawling across vines, and there are alot of one liners that rarely get played out twice. It's those little touches that make the game seem fluid and a real character driven story more than the quest that the script sets it out to be. Extra dialog options are, well... optional and prove to fill out a little bit more feeling.
Three stars! Definitely a rental if you've not anything else that you're dying to get your hands on. Go on, give it a look. It might be your type of game. Simple and beautiful. Hollow and pretty.
