by Jody - February 7, 2004

Ever since the original Prince of Persia on the PC in 1989 and 1993, the series has been nothing but fun. Wanting more, the fans of the games got yet another game in the late 1990s - Prince of Persia 3D. These games were great for their time... but now, you just... want... more. Now that Ubisoft has released Prince of Persia for all next generation systems, we see something that completely blows its predecessors away. Can this installment rank higher than the originals? Yes it can, and yes it did.

Don't fall... oh wait, you stopped time.

Starting off, you play as a Prince. Messing around, you mistakenly release the deadly sands of Time. Because of this, the sands corrupted and turned humans and animals into creatures. Because of all of this, our young Prince doesn't look at a sane and calm world anymore... he looks straight into the eyes of chaos. Since the world has changed, you're probably going to go ahead and guess what the goal of our hero is -- to kill the monsters and turn the world back to normal. Going about doing this is easier said than done though. To do this, our Prince has to collect ancient artifacts found in extremely race places and on people that are hard to find. Even though this may seem like a rip off of an old Tomb Raider game, it does have its originality and is a very unique game. With the Prince and his dagger, the adventure really begins.

Unlike Tomb Raider, you can actually reverse time. Corny? Not really. Even though this may seem cheap, it is actually very helpful -- as you'll notice that it is pretty much impossible to beat them game without stopping and rewinding time. Also, it can be used to save yourself from faithful leaps and being crushed by big blocks; so doing so would stop you from dying. Another thing though, is that when you die, you have to start over from the beginning. Not the beginning of the game, but the beginning of the section where you are -- and that becomes very annoying. Using the dagger to prevent this is an extreme essential thing to do.

As you may have seen from a trailer or commercial, the control in this game is THE best in an action game. Hell, even the camera angles are amazing. Adventure games plus camera angles are never this good... and therefore, I recommend this game to ANYONE. In the event where you have to run up ledges, kill enemies, run and kick off walls, swing from bars, and climb up columns -- your camera angle maintains in tact and stays with you (not getting in the way) until the very end... and even then it continues to excel past what you expected.

Eye Candy

As soon as you boot this game up, I'm pretty sure you'll notice how vivid the graphics are, no matter what console you are playing this on. Everything from the walls, the water, grass, planes, and buildings are nicely detailed. The in-game animation is beautiful and is perfectly frame-rated. Through my times of watching them over and over, I've never seen a single frame skip. Mixed with the best particle effects and you have a game that is full of eye candy. Don't believe me? Play it for yourself.

Ear Candy

I don't know how to go about saying this... so I'm just going to say it bluntly -- Prince of Persia's soundtrack is AMAZING. I've never seen every background tune fits in perfect and just blazes to your ear. The voice acting is probably the best I've seen in any game, hands down. I know I've probably said this a lot, but I seriously believe that Prince of Persia's is on top of the list -- the Prince's accent is even great. You'll fall in love with his voice; Prince narrates the entire story like a book.

Short, but fun.

The biggest downer in this game is the fact that it doesn't take long at all to beat. Even my un-gamer friends who just got an XBOX and Prince of Persia, beat it in nine hours -- it took be about 7 or 8. The good thing out of this though is the fact that it is so much fun to play... you'll end up playing it over and over. Hence, the replay value in this game is excellent. There is just always something that you've missed and you'll always have that thorn in your side to go back and get it. The game is pretty linear -- there aren�t a lot of off-the-main-quest things to do. It does have its specials though with extra videos of how everything was created. I also admire the fact that you can connect your Game Boy Advance to the game (If you have the Sands of Time for it) and unlock stuff. Amazing, eh?

Prince of Persia is for everyone.

Prince of Persia is an incredibly game. In fact, I'm going to go so far as to say that it is the best action/adventure game of 2003. Even though it was pretty short, semi-easy game, there is just a lot to do that makes the full game play time go up about ten hours. There is no reason at all why you shouldn't be playing this game. If my redneck friend can buy a XBOX and this game and sit down for hours, then you can also.