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Prince
Of Persia: The Sands of Time
 In
the world of video games, it may take a few versions to get
a cool concept right.
The original
Prince of Persia, released in 1989, was a lesson in
frustration. While an engaging game, with plenty of puzzles
and a different style of game play, it was not easy to master,
much less defeat. Mostly, swearing arose from the vicinity
of the computer whenever this game was active.
This utter
frustration led to little interest in the next two sequels,
Prince of Persia 2, released in 1993, and Prince
of Persia: 3D, released in 1999. The lack of interest
in 3D also came from the rumor mill's great disappointment
in the game.
But now,
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time has arrived, and
the sequel has surpassed the original.
Released
last year by Ubisoft, this was probably one of the best games
out in 2003, with amazing game play, a simple but engaging
story, beautiful graphics, and overall some of the most fun
I've had playing a video game in ages.
 The
story is thus: You are a young prince, determined to impress
your father. To do this, you infiltrate the palace of your
enemy and steal a very special dagger, which turns out to
be the key to the Sands of Time. You, tricked by the evil
Grand Vizier, unlock the Sands of Time, turning everyone except
you, a princess you've captured, and the Grand Vizier in to
sand zombies, and now you're the only one who can stop them,
and the Grand Vizier from his dastardly plots.
This game
plays out like the best kung fu movie you've ever seen (even
though it takes place nowhere near China). Your character
is able to defy gravity in astonishing and fun ways. Jumping
is a breeze. Gap too long to jump? Get a running start and
run sideways along the wall. Need to get up a tunnel? Rebound
jump from wall to wall till you're at the top. You can do
gymnastic swings off of flag poles, and lower/raise yourself
on narrow platforms with no problems.
It's actually
very hard to fall off of things, or mess up on timing. If
you walk to the edge of a platform, you automatically catch
yourself, and timing on spins involves pressing the button
whenever you feel like it. So it's hard to make a mistake,
though they do happen.
But mistakes
are okay, because the dagger gives you a very cool power to
fix small, death-inducing mistakes: the ability to turn back
time. So if you screw up and fall off a ledge to your death,
you can just rewind time back to before you took the fatal
step. Handy for those of us who don't use controllers well.
*cough* (Shut uuuuupp... -- ed.)
 And
the controls are pretty simple, though you do end up using
every button on the controller. Climbing up, dropping down,
and attacks are all different buttons, as is using the time
control. During fights, some buttons can be combined for better
attacks, but they aren't complicated, and come in handy.
Fights,
while previously kind of cheesy, are now a cinematographer's
dream, with camera angles that keep the action centered but
still show the glory of every spiffy move that you can make,
from spinning cuts, to complete flips over your adversaries
heads, rebounds off wall for deadly strikes, and the cartwheels
that lead to dramatic deaths.
The game
progresses like a story you're telling to a captive audience,
with commentary from yourself as you go along, and witty remarks
every now and then that are worthy of chuckles. If you do
end up dying (it does happen) the replay screen includes a
comment along the lines of, "No, no, no, that's not how
it happened…" prefacing the restart of the sequence.
Overall,
I adore this game, and it's definitely one worth trying out,
especially for less experienced gamers. It's available for
every game platform (I played it on the Xbox), and also for
PC.
Prince
of Persia: Sands of Time (PC Version)
Prince
of Persia: Sands of Time (PS2)
Prince
of Persia: Sands of Time (Xbox)
Prince
of Persia: Sands of Time (Gamecube)
Prince
of Persia: Sands of Time (Gameboy Advance)
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