Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Genre: Action/Adventure
Available on: Xbox 360/PS3
Reviewed on: Xbox 360
Official Site: http://prince-of-persia.uk.ubi.com/
Fan Site: http://poplegacy.planets.gamespy.com/Links.php
Release Date: 12/12/2008
Reviewer: Dave (Rand0mpanda)

I had never played a Prince of Persia game before this one, so I was not sure what exactly to expect from it. I saw it up on Play.com for £17.99 and decided to give it a go, and I’m actually quite glad that I did.

From the first cut scene of the game, I thought the storyline would be another generic “Muscly guy chases good looking girl to impress her and get in her…” I’ll stop there, but you get my drift. I was actually right, but was actually quite surprised at how good the game turned out. Although it is quite confusing hearing the voice of Nathan Drake on the Xbox.
Prince of Persia is a very simple game to play, jump, climp, attack (all more or less with the same button combo’s). The game has a pretty simple layout; explore the land, get to your destination, have a fight, heal the fertile ground and repeat. With this aside, it is still really fun and strangely addictive, plus the storyline is actually pretty good and immersive, even if it may be a little generic. It is basically; Guy (Prince) finds damsel in distress (Elika), finds out her Father is trying to free an evil God (Ahriman) from imprisonment, attempt to save the world and make everything okay again.
Some annoying points (of which I found there are a few) is when you have to keep pressing the L trigger to talk to Elika, when most of the time the same dialogue is repeated over and over. And of course the sexual suggestions from the Prince (Sigh). Also jumping from one object to another can be very frustrating when the game decides not to listen to you and gets distracted by something else, throwing the prince to his death, only to have Elika grab his hand EVERY TIME. I guess not being able to die in a game is a good thing, but the thing is, you do it so much in this that the Prince seems ike he’s taking advantage of the poor woman, and you end up wanting him to plunge to his doom. Well I did anyway.
I really enjoyed the combat in the game (unlike alot of people), it’s smooth, fluent and the slow motion moves bring a more cinematic feel to it. There are quick time events, which I know alot of gamers hate, but thankfully you do not have to use them too often, unlike The Force Unleashed. This game introduces Power Plates into levels, which you must climb up to so Elika can use her magic and fly the both of you to another part of the level. The flying is very linear since the player does not control where they go, only moving up, down, left and right to avoid objects. They can be quite irritating at times seeing as you can hit something so very slightly, and still fall off and have to start the whole thing over again. They can be quite fun though, when you get the hang of them. Unfortunately, one of the major parts of the game involves something i personally can’t stand, which is item collecting. Just like the flags in Assassins Creed, the Orbs in Crackdown; you have to collect “Light orbs” in order for Elika to regain her strength and to even progress to later parts of the game. 1001 of them to be exact. Eeep.

The new Cel-shaded graphical style gives the game a new edge compared to many others, and make the scenery lookPlay As Altair In Prince of Persia rather stunning (especially when you get the Assassin View acheivement…look it up). On the subject, it is evident that Ubisoft has based a small part of the game around Assassins Creed. They gave away a free Altair costume to download for the Prince to wear in-game, which is a little pointless, but still quite cool for fans of AC, like me. The environment looks good when the area is infected with dark blue and black “Corruption”, but when it has been healed, it looks amazing. The brightness and cartoon/reality detail definately brings a whole new unique look to the game.

There is no option for online Multiplayer for the game, although Ubisoft has announced various downloadable content will be released in the near future through the XBL Marketplace and Playstation Store.

Overall, this game is definitely worth a purchase if you can get it for around £20. Newcomers to the Prince of Persia series, like me, will be happily surprised on how the game turned out. Although many old PoP fans seem to shun the game because of it’s new visual style and simplistic control scheme, if you want a simple action game, this is definately for you. The graphics are awesome, and the gameplay is solid enough. I give this game a 7/10.