After a long absence from the videogaming scene, the prince is back and is swinging his way onto next-generation consoles. Scot Bennett finds out if, fourteen years on from his debut, he's still got what it takes…
Back when Lara Croft was still in nappies, Prince of Persia was the first game to successfully blend together vital elements from platform games and puzzle adventures, as well as incorporate some tense battle sequences, into what now is regarded as one of the pinnacle moments in the launching of the action adventure genre. Fourteen years later, the series still continues to grow, but after a less-than-convincing update to 3D four years earlier is the series stuck in the claustrophobic 2D corridors of yesteryear?
Fortunately not, and with Jordan Mechner, the original creator of the Prince of Persia series working closely with Ubisoft, The Sands of Time is nothing short of astounding. The game takes place in a beautifully crafted environment, filled with luxurious palace rooms, exotic outside locations and wonderfully crafted puzzles, all designed brilliantly so that while initially daunting, there's always a way ahead. In fact, the environment as a whole is probably the biggest star of the game, as well as the prince's deadliest adversary.
It all starts off after his father has performed a successful pillage on the nearby palace of Maharajah. Tricked by a deceitful vizier, the prince uses a magic dagger to release the mysterious Sands of Time which cause torment and destruction to anything in the immediate vicinity. Now the prince must set off to gather the Sands of Time he has unwillingly unleashed before they spread beyond the reach of hope.
Still, for all the death and destruction that the sands cause, they have some useful powers that the prince can harness to his benefit, the most useful of these being the ability to turn back the clock for a brief amount of time. This gives the player another chance to make an all-important jump or avoid that swinging scythe that skewered you a few seconds ago. You're limited to the amount of times you can rewind by the amount of sand you've collected in your dagger (more on this later) so while you're allowed some margin of error, there's still a certain degree of pressure on you to preserve as many units of sand as you can.
The key to the game's success is largely in thanks to the wonderful control system. Most actions in the game are context sensitive, so most actions can be performed by a simple press of one button. For instance, running alongside a wall will allow the prince to perform a wall-run, while standing next to a crate will allow you to pull it around. It's the simplicity of these controls that makes navigating the environment so much more enjoyable, something vitally important where swings and jumps need accurate handling and timely reflexes.
The game is centred on the use of the Dagger of Time, a powerful weapon that is used to collect the Sand from around the in-game world. Sand can be collected in various ways. First of all, it can be drawn from sand piles dotted around the world. By collecting enough of these piles, you can unlock hidden powers within the dagger, unleashing a variety of specials on your enemies. Secondly, the only way to defeat an enemy is to floor it with a variety of sword attacks and bury the dagger deep inside, drawing the sand from their body and vanquishing them completely.
The combat system is also wonderfully simplistic. It's all too easy in games of this stature for combat to become repetitive and mundane but here we have such a simple system that puts a lot of more combat-orientated action games to shame. A press of the attack button performs a strike, with subsequent button presses launching combos. Pressing the jump button close to an enemy will vault the prince over them, slashing the enemy on the landing, flooring them immediately. And yes, this all may sound familiar, but it's the fluidity that it all happens with that makes the system work so well.
Taking it a step further, you can run up and off walls, launching attacks with a greater force than commonly possible. Fighting multiple enemies has never been done with this much ease. A simple tilt of the analogue stick in the direction of the enemy will turn the attention of the next attack to that particular opponent, pulling off the kind of moves you'd expect to see in the Matrix movies.
Speaking of The Matrix, The Sands of Time is filled with a heavy influential presence. Amongst the more obvious influences is Ico, with the sprawling environments that need to scaled and clambered through as well as the interaction between the prince and Farra, an NPC who helps you out later on through the game.
In The Sands of Time, Prince of Persia finally has a sequel worthy of carrying its moniker. The luxurious environments are among the most impressive seen on any console, with the smooth gameplay and innovatively simple combat system pushing the game forward. Consequently, Prince of Persia does exactly the same thing as the original did fourteen years ago - firmly roots itself as one of the noteworthy titles in the action adventure genre.