crypticv24's Full Review: Prince of Persia: Sands of Time for PlayStation 2
So the official Playstation magazine has been giving me free issues for about 5 months now, and the past 3 have raved about the game Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. I finally got sick of the guessing games and decided to pick it up, and I have two words to say: Holy. Christmas. (A cookie to those who can guess what game came free with it.)
Story The short version is this - you play the Prince, who finds a magic dagger that controls time, but he's tricked into releasing the Sands of Time on a friendly palace, and everyone but the Vizier(who tricked the Prince), a chick named Farah, and yourself get turned into monsters. Naturally, your job is to beat the Vizier in his quest to gain immortality, and return everything to normal. The whole thing revolves around the dagger - called the Dagger of Time, its wielder can stop, fast- forward, and reverse time easily - plus the one who stabs himself in the heart with it becomes immortal, which is what the Vizier is after.
Controls
At first, it seems like the game has a pretty steep learning curve, but in-game step-by-step instructions do a pretty good job of teaching you the various moves you can do and such. The left joystick controls movement, while the right joystick controls your camera angle (you also have a really-far-zoom-out view option and a first-person view option as well). Through about ten-ish 2-3 button combinations you can have the Prince do some moves that would make Neo green with envy - from pushing yourself off a wall and flying sword first into an enemy to my favorite - doing a handstand on an enemy's shoulders, flipping over him, and stabbing him when he tries to follow your fast and oh-so-graceful movements. Classic stuff.
Graphics
As most people play the game, they will notice that this game has some of the best graphics you'll see out there. First off, you have to notice how graceful the Prince's movements are. Everything about him is smooth and elegant - the best part is when the Prince goes up stairs or walks over broken terrain. Instead of just sort of popping up to the next level suddenly, he actually shifts his feet/legs to walk up the stairs like a normal human being - step by step. Everywhere you go, you also see a ton of ambient effects - drapes waft in invisible breezes (or get pushed aside when you run through them), dust floats through the air, leaves and paper rustle along the ground - it all combines to create a very convincing effect that yes - this game is for real.
Sound Prince of Persia also has a lot of great sounds. Granted, the voices aren't that inspiring, and the "No no, it didn't happen like that" line after you die is laughable, but everything else continues to add to the illusion that the game is really happening. Your footsteps change pitch/sound as you run or walk over different surfaces, you can hear flags and banners flap in the breezes, and the various sounds of the swordfights and such sound very crisp and clear. The only big problem is that the in-game dialogue can be fairly hard to understand, especially if Farah is trying to tell you something during a swordfight (all the clanging drowns out a lot of the words).
Gameplay
Outwardly, Prince of Persia looks sort of like the Lord of the Rings games - hack and slash all the way through, but it's not. While the hack-and-slash segments are there, there are also a few puzzles to work through - nothing like Myst or something, but they can be difficult, especially the ones that are spread out over a huge room. The fighting is the best part of the game though. The camera view never does get that tricky, and if it does, you can always move it yourself. Occasionally, you will get pinned beneath about four monster dudes, but with the magical powers of the Dagger of Time, you can rewind yourself out and avoid the situation entirely. The best thing the dagger does (in my opinion) is freeze time for your enemies - you then can point the joystick in the direction of an enemy, press the attack button, and you flash straight in front of the guys and slash them to bits (the downside - it sucks all of the daggers power out - ouch).
Overall, I've got to say that the Prince of Persia is worth whatever you pay for it. The graphics, gameplay, and even the story are great, the characters are actually fairly believable in their own right, and despite the short length of the game (a first-timer probably will beat it in about 10 hours or so), the replay value is excellent. Rent or buy, this game definitely gets Game of the Year honors from me.
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