Prince of Persia (2008) review.

Prince of Persia.

• Offical homepage - Link
• Developer - Ubisoft Montreal
• Publisher - Ubisoft
• Genre - Action Adventure
• Release date (PC) - 9th December 2008

Offical description

The game has an ancient Persian setting, although the exact century and country is not revealed. In the game, the player assumes the role of the Prince, whose name is not revealed in the game. The Prince is accompanied by a girl named Elika, whom he met after a large sandstorm diverted him from his course and he ended up in a mysterious land. Players traverse many different environments using the Prince's acrobatic abilities to scale walls and even crawl on the ceilings. Throughout the journey, players combat various different enemies as they attempt to cleanse the land of corruption.


System requirements (minimum)

• Supported OS: Windows XP/Windows Vista
• Processor: Dual core processor 2.6 GHz Intel Pentium D or AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ or better recommended)
• RAM: 1 GB Windows XP/2 GB Windows Vista
• Video Card: 256 MB DirectX 10.0-compliant video card or DirectX 9.0-compliant card with Shader Model 3.0 or higher (see supported list)*
• Sound Card: DirectX 9.0 or 10.0-compliant sound card (5.1 sound card recommended)
• DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0 or 10.0 libraries (included on disc)
• DVD-ROM: DVD-ROM dual-layer drive
• Hard Drive Space: 8 GB
• Peripherals Supported: Keyboard, mouse, optional controller (Xbox 360 Controller for Windows recommended)

Setup


As you launch Prince of Persia Launcher, you'll have three options :

• Launch The Game! - which does what it's supposed to do.
• Settings - which opens up the options menu, you can change resolution, mark if you want the game to run on widescreen and add vertical sync. Antialiasing up to 8x, and change overall graphics quality from Low to High and lastly you'll have an option for High Resolution Textures.
• Quit - closes the launcher.

I'm running it 1280x800 (my native resolution) with Widescreen and High Resolution Textures box ticked on and overall Graphics Quality set to Medium.


Review


As you launch the game it'll go to the main menu quite fast so it has only few second loading times which is a really good sign.
You have some options on the main menu, like starting a new game, continiue from your last save and options. Under the options you can change game brightness and choose wheter you want subtitles or not and lastly you can change controls.
This is kinda weird not to let you change any graphical options, because once you're in the game I believe you would want to test some settings how it'll run on your computer and not to re-open the game each time you need to adjust something.

As you start a new game you'll see how the artwork really makes this game look amazing, I couldn't imagine running this on High settings while already Medium settings look really good.


Few screenshots from the beginning (To avoid stretching I resized them)










Gameplay.


For me, it was the first Prince of Persia game so I'm new to the series. While you're moving around and discovering new things to do you'll see subtitles appearing on top of the screen guiding you what button should you press at this situation - a really useful thing for amateurs like me.

At first you'll be learning how to climb on walls, running on the walls, moving and pushing yourself from one ledge to another and such, it's really well done as the action is smooth as easy to master.
Next you'll be taught how to fight, at first there are only two buttons avalible - attack and block. By default you'll be moving the camera with your mouse and attacking with left click, defending with right click, and again - fairly easy to remember and master. As soon as the next enemy appears you'll be taught how to use "grapping" or something, it's when Prince uses his left arm (with metal claw) to grab enemy and throw him into air or to ground so you can do combos like this.

So basically, all the running around and jumping kinda reminds me Tomb Rider, though it's more awesome over here.
The action reminds me God Of War, it's important to be ready to block but at the same time you really want to do some awesome combos to finish the enemy off, it's well balanced too - as the enemys will try to block your attacks too.



Graphics


The game uses heavily modified Scimitar engine, which was used to make Assassin's Creed. Developers chose to use a modified version of this engine because it would allow them to enhance the game by adding more open land, and less linearity. Developers also chose to implement an illustrative graphical style, similar to cel-shaded graphics, but with more detail drawn in.

Basically it's very diffrent from your regular PC game in terms of visuals, as they seem more animated, which isn't a bad thing. Personally I really like this style, it really gives you the feeling like you're playng something next-gen as the gameplay is smooth and visuals are nice.



Some screenshots again










Sound


Ahh, a place where this game really shines. All the characters (so far) have perfect voice acting, all the movements and sounds match perfectly. Overall the music is good, it varies by the situation like it should.


Overall


Ubisoft has succeeded in making a truly epic game once again, it's very well ported from the consoles as my fps was around 27~45 and had no lag at all with a mediocre videocard. The story is promising, I won't spoil anything for you guys so I can't really say anything about it.
The gameplay is easy to master and it's really fun to play, because basically you can't die - Ellis will save you when you're about to fall from too high or if you get killed in battle - she will revive you with her "magic".

The game also focuses more on one-on-one combat, similar to the original Prince of Persia trilogy, rather than fighting dozens of enemies, as in the Sands of Time trilogy. Ubisoft stated that the reason for changing the combat was that it would give players the impression that each enemy was a unique challenge in itself, instead of " just another enemy".


Score

• Graphics 9/10
• Sound 9/10
• Story 8/10
• Gameplay 9.5/10

• Overall score 9

That's it. If anyone here enjoys Action Adventure games, like God Of War, Tomb Rider, Uncharted or anything like this, then you should most definetly check this title out.
It supports Xbox360 controller too, so it'll be more comfortable for you to play if you dislike to play it with keyboard & mouse. ;]


- Akuma

 

good review but you could talk more about the fighting and gameplay. i would rep you but i don't rep people

 

is this game a performance-hog, or is it good on low end gpu's?

 

I wouldnt call it a performance hog. Look at my signature, I was playng medium/high with my native resolution and fps was very stable around 27-35fps.

A really well done port.

I believe low-end gpus can play it too, just with a little lower resolution.

 

LOL. I still play Prince of Persia II, from the early 90s.

 

is there a demo? i have an overclocked 9200m gs, so i dont want to buy the game and then find out its unplayable. If it has lots of video settings, then I will probably find a good combination.

 

good review

 

Sorry Darth Bane, there is no demo at the moment, but Ubisoft did mention about releasing it soon after the real game.

 

can you post some screen shots at the highest settings if you can just to se the difference between your settings and the max.

Thanks

 

I run it at WUXGA, max details, VSynced, and it works awesomely..

Only quarrel I have with it is the way the prince looks, as if he's added into the image with a dark border,not 3d like...
Nice review dude, the game is super

 

Hello, I never play any Prince of Persia series before and I'm pretty interested in this one.

I would like to know how do you find the game handle the camera? I've got the Tomb Raider Underworld with the semi-auto camera handling I'll call, it just drive me crazy, when you happen to jump to a certain spot with obstacle/wall, the semi-auto camera will start to act funny by repeating to adjust itself and look like its stuttering.

And lastly, appreciate your simple and nice review! Enjoy reading it.

 

It should be easy to get used to.
The whole POP series is really fun, too bad this one does not continue the storyline from the first 3...

 

Your review didn't really sway my opinion of the game. I still don't know much of anything about it. While you've written about how it performs, looks, and the very basic gameplay, you didn't really say anything about the game that I didn't already know. A few things I was looking forward to hearing about, how long is the game? How large is it, and what about the open world? Having played the older PoP games, I can't really see how this would work if it were non-linear. Basing off of your review, I take the assumption that the game is very repetitive because all you really said about the gameplay is that you can do the basic wall running and acrobatics of the older ones, and a basic attack and defend button with some claw tool thrown in. Also, without going into the story, aren't there any platformer style puzzles in the game?

I don't mean to be ungrateful, but it seems like you wrote this review without actually beating it, and basing it completely off of the wow factor of playing a new genre of game after the first few hours.

That right there turns me away, so there's no repercussion for dying? you just plain can't die?

 

Alright, in a hour or so I'll post some screenshots with the highest settings.

@nic : Well, you'll get used to it. You're supposed to move the camera with you mouse but you can change it. It's *way* more combortable with X360 controller. And no, haven't encountered any camera tricks yet. ^^


@unknown555525 : Sorry, I havent played it that much to know how long it is, but I've read that it's around 15-20 hours. As soon as you complete the intro, you'll be with Ellis and you can choose the place where you want to go (like a map) and you'll see directions to it. It's not so linear as the previous titles were.
So far it's repeative only about the jumping around on the walls, but it's actually quite nice, as you need to collect some light-seeds from diffrent locations and such. The battles are the best part - you can do awesome combos, tricks in mid-air (throwing, hitting, jumping on him, cutting and such) and they arent very long. Yes - there are alot puzzles too, some of them require fast reflexes and patience, though it can be irritating when you're tryng to get somewhere but you fail a few times..

And yeah, you can't die in this game. When you're about to fall because you jumped to the wrong place or didn't slide on the wall long enough your partner Ellis will save you and you'll be back at the place before you jumped.
The world itself is very impressive, it's huge.

You will enjoy the game if you're not bothered that you can't die, it's really great so far.

 

Either way, the story matters...not so much as not dying..
Anybody who played POP series knows what I`m talking about...

It`s like reading a book

 

Not being able to die isn't a drawback here. It's essentially just a checkpoint system except instead of a loading screen, you get an animation. Functionally, being rescued after a botched fall and being sent back is no different from dying and going back to a checkpoint.

 

^ is right

 

i think thats kind of arrogant but whatver.

decent review +repped

 

Great review!! +Rep!

I hope you continue to add more to the review as you progress further into the game.

I've played every PoP game to date, and even though this game has some great advancements to offer for the franchise...I still felt it didn't reach up to the standards set by Sands of Time.

 

The DOS games, too? :yes:

 

Yup. Back in the good old days on my uncle's 80286 computer on a VGA (16 color?) glory.

 

Wow. I so want to get an old box. I'm kind of bummed I missed those days. But there's DOS Box.

 

I play emulators from time to time..Heck , I played Prince Of Persia , the tv game some months ago, just for fun.


I really like this one though, seems quite catchy,story wise...

 

Ubisoft is getting really better here... Assassin's Creed, Farcry 2, and now this..

 

Ubisoft was good for a while now, the POP series is simply amazing...blame canada

 

Good review - another thing worth mentioning is that the game has no DRM on the retail version.

 

Game runs nicely, looks good, although it isn`t quite as challenging as a POP veteran might expect.
Developers said they made everything in the game accessible for any gamer,so that explains why.
I`m in for the story, I just love a good storyline...and of course , the characters, their inter-relation, the humour involved...quite fun

 

UBISOFT RULEZ....
POP is awesome...
It runs perfect with everything as maximum as it has...lie resolution and settings...in 8800m sli...
Well must say that it is a well optimized game...with good gameplay but I feel that there is less action and more wall climbing like a old classic pop series..

 

So any POP fan can try this game...one more thing that the graphics of this game is completely different than other usually coming games which focus on reality of characters...but this game is like comic characters...
anyway love to see this gameplay..

 

hehe the dos ones were fun. i played both prince of persia 1 and prince of persia 2. never beat either of them...came close to beating 1 but 2 was a bit too much.

POP 3D was awesome as well for its time. i dont know what it got such bad ratings. i had a great time with it. i skipped the two that came out after sands of time but this one looks like it might get me back into it! thanks for the screens

 

Review was alright. I was hoping to hear more about the combat and controls. Screen shot comparisons would be good too!

I have read this game does not really have large scale puzzles like Sands of Time did which is too bad, but the platforming and combat looks to be very fun. I never finished PoP 2 (lost interest) and didn't bother with 3. I have this one on order and am looking forward to it. Ubi certainly has delivered this year for the PC and am VERY glad to see it from them (finally).

 

Combat is very easy , with a few combos you can easily kill enemies, if you time them right...
Controls are very easy, all you need are the directional controls, 2 fighting keys, and mouse...very easy to handle.
Wall walks and climbs are very easy, basically the prince does it all, you just have to time everything .
I can tell you anything you want, but it`s better to try it yourself..it`s absolute fun.
A tad repetitive in some areas, but the story is amazing, and you can play it as you want, in a semi-non liniar way.

 

Sounds good thanks eleron. I think the $30 I paid for pre-order will be well worth it. Actually this got me interested to boot up The Sands of Time again. The platforming and puzzles in that game are fantastic. I highly recommend to anyone who has not played it yet. But be warned it can be quite buggy on new systems. At least it is for me

 

I played POP2 , WW at least 10 times. To get all the secrets and stuff, same thing for POP3..
SOT, only like 5 times

Now , this one is really cool. The freedom to go wherever is amazing...

 

controls are way easy default though you only use

E for magic attack
space for jump
left mouse button attack
right mouse button defend
R for extend movement or gauntlet use

really easy to pic up and play.

the review didnt do justice to the sound. its very immersive and natural almost like your in the place. easy to lose hours of gaming on it since its so easy to pick up and play.

seriously though they cant stop saying fertile grounds. if i had a cent for every time they said that id buy my own bmw. xD

 

Played this on my ps3 last night it's awesome.

Definitely need a controller for this game imo.

 

Has anyone tried running this on a 9600M GT?


I'd also like to know if this has a puzzle-solving element to it, or is it basically more like quests and fighting?

 

From the 30 mins i've played its about platforming and 1 on 1 duels.

Very good though.

 

Just finished this, and what-the-heck-is-up-with-the-ending. I smell trilogy again.

 

Yeah, it is a trilogy.

 

great review +rep i think they have brought back prince of persia to amazing status

 

just a note, loving the game so far, and playing it on a tablet with the ATI HD3200.... great game, and scales fairly well too!

 

on a hd3200? how well does it run?

 

playing at 800x600 on medium with high res textures.... that's the current setup, but haven't played with settings much... got sucked into the game and was more interested in the story than tweaking settings... which I suppose is a good thing ha. Using FRAPS I'm running 25-30 on average, occasional dips, but also runs higher at times. Possibly could bump the res and lower settings, but on the 12" screen on the tablet, it looks great with the cell type graphics even at that res, so haven't bothered to change yet.

Great game, having fun with it! Do recommend an Xbox 360 controller.

 

I used to play PoP 1 on an 80286 with MONOCHROME display... I never knew if potions where the good ones (+ life) or the bad ones (instant kill), so it was plain random...

from the 3D games, I only played PoPWW, and I loved the acrobatincs, but I found the combat to be too repetitive and the fighting controls too simple... just taptaptaptap and you're done...

Is this one the same?

 

Its puzzle solving feature ain`t difficult , somewhat similar to POP WW ... but rather easy.
With the right combo, you can kill enemies in 1 shot, and bosses in 5-6 repeats...

Hey, no SPOILERS, will ya? still playing it

I dont think you really need a controller, the keyboard is more than enough...

 

Finally got around to playing this one. I am not finished but here's some thoughts on it so far.

Graphics 8/10

For the most part I really love the stylized watercolour look to this game. It's original and very pretty to look at. I am running it on max settings with 4x AA on my desktop computer (AMD 2.4GHz, 8800GT, 1680x1050) and it runs smooth as butter, absolutely no problems running at these settings. With 8x AA I noticed some stuttering.

What I don't like are the shadows. 1. They are horribly jagged at the edges. 2. There is a serious lack of them altogether. I understand the art direction in this game but imo it could really have benefited from better use of shadows. If you are going to do shadows, do them right and allow users to set the detail level just like in most any other game.

Gameplay 7.5/10

The gameplay is actually quite fun. Quite different than the older PoP games and many criticize its very easy nature. The platforming is of course ridiculously easy with very little challenge but that doesn't bother me. Somehow it just works and makes for an entertaining and compelling experience. The fighting is fun too. It's more like a bunch of little boss battles as opposed to fighting hordes of enemies. Again it is very easy but rolling out some combos on the bad guys makes for a satisfying experience imo. It's great to look at and fun to execute.

It is very easy to tell this is a console title ported to PC when it comes to the controls. Overall they are not hard to get used to but the way the onscreen tutorials are presented with the coloured buttons dominating your view, it's a little annoying making your brain connect the Green button with the space bar, the blue button with the left mouse etc... (aka 360 controls on a keyboard).

What's really missing in the game though is 1. Large scale puzzles - More of these would significantly boost this games appeal and fun factor. 2. Interim fighting - Some smaller skirmishes between bosses would be nice too with a few groups of enemies scattered around randomly here and there, not just another lone soldier on a specific platform.

Story 7.5/10

The story is very much inline with what I would expect from a PoP game and is quite good. Where it falls short is in the delivery (i.e. voice acting). It is not horrible but it is not great either. Sometimes it is definitely better than others. The Prince's voice doesn't seem to match his appearance. It's too smooth and I don't like the infusion of his American accent and modern way of speaking with the ancient fantasy world this game tries to evoke. The dialog seems geared towards a young audience. And I'd have to say Elika is more likable than the Prince.

Sound 8/10

The music is good with all the expected Arabian timbre or strings and bells accompanying the story and action as you go along. The sound effects are well done and overall production value is quite high. Nothing really stands out on its own but everything just seems to work (not including the voice acting).

Overall 7.8/10

Overall the game is quite enjoyable and fun. Some might find the lack of challenge more of a strike against the game than others, but I have to say the combination of eye candy, neat platforming and combos makes for a good time. Considering I bought it off the shelf for $30 I cannot complain one bit. If I paid $50+ I might feel differently. Too bad the voice acting is kind of lame. More puzzles would definitely have ramped up the gameplay on this baby a whole bunch and like with so many games nowadays, I'd like to see more emphasis put on the PC version for PC players as opposed to just dumping a keyboard/mouse control scheme overtop a 360 game.

 

Love the art direction in this game and felt inspired to make a wallpaper out of some images and screens I grabbed off the net. If you like it, use it!

 

DLC content is due on February 26. The DLC will serve as an epilogue to the events of the game, along with adding two new player skins, a new boss, a new area to explore, new moves, a new power move (involving QTEs) and new dialogue between Elika and the Prince.

 

nice review! i wanna try this game out, love the gfx