AltecApollyon's World

I finally finished the new Prince of Persia : I am blown away and a little sad. And actually I shouldn't say "finally" the game was not short, it was just right; if anything it was the end that dragged a little (but i guess that just adds to the epic nature of this reboot). In regards to the reboot it is a complete success in my mind. Ubisoft Montreal made a good decision when they thought to re-envision the Prince of Persia series, they had made the original trilogy (Sands of Time, Warrior Within and The Two Thrones) as wonderfully clever and dark as they could. This time around, its far more light-hearted, its an adventure, with great humor and real characters (Elika is one of the most welcome new additions to the game) and their interaction with eachother fits perfectly to that genre à la Indiana Jones.

When I saw the first trailer at the Games Convention in Leipzig, I was impressed with the cartoon-like graphics. The characters stood out and seemed to pop right off the screen while the backgrounds and scenery were so vast and amazing, that you actually wanted to take time and just look around. (Which by the way is how you get one or two achievements on the 360: just trying to get a good view of the landscape)

I was, however, a little worried about this whole "Elika-thing." She saves you everytime you fall, she saves you in battle...blah blah...If there is no way to die the game is going to be way to easy right? Well, its not that hard, Ill say that much, but its a welcome change to the frustrations and time wasted on Warrior Within, or worse : Two Thrones with their stupid unbeatable bosses just because you didnt find all the sand vessels (so annoying). Actually it improves the game alot, because now you can run just like the prince can, youre faster, more agile, more fluent and flexible: you are the Prince. And on the Xbox 360, the framerate is perfect so you can really jump, run, hang, swing, slide or grind down whatever you want - if you see it you can try to run to it. Gone are the annoying set ways and because you started out a little low on your jump he misses the next bar. (Sigh: finally) Also, gone are the annoying button combos (In the original trilogy-which I still love by the way-you would have to jump with one button, wall run with another combine it with something else to make it over a gap, it was a pain...Now its pretty simple, especially with Elika in tow.

Besides the great controls, great graphics, great writing and style, there was also great music. I know they are making Prince of Persia into a movie now with Jake Galalallalahagenheimerschen but, I think that this might be another great story to tell on the big screen. One can only wish, by the time that rolls around, by children will probably be playing Prince of Persia XXI only using their brainwaves and their ocular implants. Ah well.

Cheers POP. I shall see you soon again (now i just gotta finished The Two Thones on the Wii - because the Xbox version is completely unbeatable.