First time touching this since it was initially released, and time (sans sands) has not been kind to the limits of my patience for it.
It's not completely without merit - the storybook look to the visuals is probably the high point of the game, and I do like building the world and the story around the Zoroastrian theme, tying it all to actual Persian myth and belief. I think the design of the "Prince" (he's not a prince!! I'm calling Trading Standards!!!) is actually fairly decent, and would think he looked like a pretty cool protagonist for an action-adventure game with literally any other title. I like the idea of the combat being these one-on-one duel affairs, harking back to the original Mechner PoP and a more romantic idea of swordfighting compared to something like Forgotten Sands where you're just mowing down ragdolls.
In practice, though, most of this stuff just doesn't hold up: the combat is mechanically just a little too simple and comes off dull when paired with the game's focus on making sure you never actually die. The world looks nice and the mythology of it is cool but actual locales just feel bland, and running around collecting orbs (2008...the immediate post-Crackdown world...) is just not exciting. The platforming is functional and from what I remember of the later-game stuff gets kind of rhythmic once you get into the longer sequences, but what's the point if you're never doing all this running and jumping and climbing anywhere interesting? On top of all this, going from Yuri Lowenthal's arrogant fop-turned-hero to Nolan North doing his Nathan Drake voice is the mother of all downgrades. I think I hate it! Maybe this Prince shouldn't talk!
Couldn't finish it. A game where everyone was right about it the first time round. That said, I guess I never finished it finished it originally, because I never bought the actual ending to the game that they brought out as paid DLC (the Asura's Wrath Manoeuvre). And that one DS game is the sequel and came out the same day as this game! Decision makers at Ubisoft should be shot out of a cannon.
It's not completely without merit - the storybook look to the visuals is probably the high point of the game, and I do like building the world and the story around the Zoroastrian theme, tying it all to actual Persian myth and belief. I think the design of the "Prince" (he's not a prince!! I'm calling Trading Standards!!!) is actually fairly decent, and would think he looked like a pretty cool protagonist for an action-adventure game with literally any other title. I like the idea of the combat being these one-on-one duel affairs, harking back to the original Mechner PoP and a more romantic idea of swordfighting compared to something like Forgotten Sands where you're just mowing down ragdolls.
In practice, though, most of this stuff just doesn't hold up: the combat is mechanically just a little too simple and comes off dull when paired with the game's focus on making sure you never actually die. The world looks nice and the mythology of it is cool but actual locales just feel bland, and running around collecting orbs (2008...the immediate post-Crackdown world...) is just not exciting. The platforming is functional and from what I remember of the later-game stuff gets kind of rhythmic once you get into the longer sequences, but what's the point if you're never doing all this running and jumping and climbing anywhere interesting? On top of all this, going from Yuri Lowenthal's arrogant fop-turned-hero to Nolan North doing his Nathan Drake voice is the mother of all downgrades. I think I hate it! Maybe this Prince shouldn't talk!
Couldn't finish it. A game where everyone was right about it the first time round. That said, I guess I never finished it finished it originally, because I never bought the actual ending to the game that they brought out as paid DLC (the Asura's Wrath Manoeuvre). And that one DS game is the sequel and came out the same day as this game! Decision makers at Ubisoft should be shot out of a cannon.