I don’t think I have played a game that so perfectly fits the description of a troubled masterpiece better than Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. The game has so many great features and gameplay mechanics that really elevate it to the top of the cinematic platformer genre that this series started. But for every great idea that presents itself, not too far around the corner is an equally worse one that just sours the rest of the experience. This game is coming off the back of Prince of Persia 3D, which is not really a game most like to remember when discussing this series. Where PoP 3D struggled with being derivative of the games the original duology inspired, such as Tomb Raider, and was plagued with a disastrous development; Sands of Time is much clearer in its design intentions, and instead of trying to catch up with the industry that had left it behind, Mechner and the team at Ubisoft carved out their own corner of the industry, which then would go on to have an arguably bigger impact of the industry at large than the original games. But, like I mentioned, this game has plenty of problems with it, which may be expected with a game that is truly the first of its kind, and it's these setbacks that prevent me from calling the game great, as much as I really want to. Don’t get me wrong, it is still enjoyable by all means, and maybe a more patient player can call it perfect, but for me, these flaws are too big to ignore.
Let's start with the good, because I think the gravity of the bad only makes sense in the context of the good. After the release of Prince of Persia 2 in 1993, the so-called cinematic platformer genre was continued, and then practically owned by Tomb Raider. The original PoP games were heavily precision based, having the player precisely time their jumps and actively think about spacing in everything that they did; Tomb Raider followed this up by taking those elements and putting them in a 3D space, and then using that 3D space to create gigantic and elaborate levels. But where I think Tomb Raider lost the plot a little bit was when it started focusing more on spectacle rather than skill; starting with the second game, Core Design began to shift their focus of design away from the skill based platforming that the first game heralded, towards using dramatic set pieces that lacked a lot of depth. Now, I believe that shift was mainly due to the yearly release contract that Core Design had with Eidos, so the more surface level, “cinematic” moments were an attempt to hold player intrigue without having to drastically change the core gameplay. But, nonetheless, by the end of the original series run, Tomb Raider kind of lost what made this genre special and unique, and it is here where Sands of Time steps in. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time is still a very cinematic game mind you, the dramatic camera angles and more linear structure reflect that, but those elements supplement the very skillful and challenging platforming. The Prince has a rather simple set of moves: he can jump across ledges, run up and along walls, wall jump, shimmy along and climb up ledges, and spin into a jump from poles. All of these moves are simple to understand, but the game really challenges the application of these abilities. The pacing of each of the moves introduction is really well done and doesn’t overwhelm the player, this leads to a train of thought that builds upon itself with each new introduction, culminating in sections that have the player on their toes the entire time; the descent into and out of the prison, as well as the final climb up the tower were the pinnacle of this. Additionally, the reverse time mechanic really allows the player to try out different options and test new abilities whenever they might get stuck, it is the perfect crutch for new players. The animations also play a big part in this. Much like the original duology, The Prince moves in a very natural way, a way that is predictable, for the most part; this creates a great sense of flow and cohesion whenever the player is doing long platforming sections. But, as good as the platforming is, it is the combat that brings it all down.
Between each of the longer sections of wall running and jumping from ledge to ledge, there is a pretty sizable combat section, that almost entirely overshadow the platforming, and not for any good reason. At first, it looks like it functions very similarly to how combat worked in Prince of Persia 2, with The Prince being surrounded by a group of enemies that he must duel by attacking, dodging, and counter attacking; and it actually goes slightly deeper than this too, letting the player vault over enemies and hitting them from overhead, as well as using the walls to bounce off of and strike a diving blow. But, as soon as the higher tier guards are introduced, it all begins to fall apart. Up until this point, the vault and wall bounce had been the players go to for taking down enemies, but the royal guards upward, enemies are able to block even the strongest of attacks, and whenever a hit gets blocked, it stuns The Prince or knocks him down. Now, this wouldn’t be that bad if there were some invincibility frames on the getting up animation, but there are not, so what usually ends is that The Prince ends up getting damage locked whenever he gets knocked down because each enemy decides to attack one at a time at the precise moment the getting up animation begins. Add on top of this an absolutely awful camera that almost never cooperates, a control scheme that correlates with the camera position and not player position, and an auto targeting system that just doubles all of the aforementioned problems, and you have a combat system that actively screws over the player. And honestly, this is not even the worst part, really what kills any fun that could have been found with this system is just the sheer amount of enemies. There are too many enemies in every single encounter that doesn’t take place within the first hour; the player will constantly be hounded by every manner of high tier enemies, which just perpetuates all of the problems this system already had. Not to mention, The Prince's partner, Farha, isn’t invulnerable, meaning that there is a very high likelihood that an enemy will stray off from the pack and target her, effectively being a game over if this happens. This entire system is plagued with so many issues that it almost overshadows any good that the platforming had.
As per usual with these reviews, I do have a couple of notes that don’t exactly fit with the structure of the rest of the review. I really love all the small nods and references to the original duology, from the little cinematic that plays after a combat encounter is finished, to some of the minor 2D sections that are very reminiscent of its forebears, and just the fact that both of the original games are straight up unlockable as extras, being the only way to legally play these classic games in HD. Thank you Xbox backwards compatibility program. As well, while not explored to its fullest extent, the time reverse mechanic is a neat little feature that I think really sets It apart from; I wish it was explored more though, Tears of the Kingdom I think created a lot of fun puzzles and utility out this idea if you want an example. Also, it absolutely baffles me that they take away the entire mechanic for the last stretch of the game, like, the entire marketing factor of the game is just absent from what is supposed to be its climax. That is such a backwards way of designing a champion's road segment. That's about it I think, it's a game with a lot of good, but just struggles with some poor execution and one of its biggest aspects. So, while I don’t think it exactly stands the test of time, pun intended, it still is a classic and worth a playthrough.
Let's start with the good, because I think the gravity of the bad only makes sense in the context of the good. After the release of Prince of Persia 2 in 1993, the so-called cinematic platformer genre was continued, and then practically owned by Tomb Raider. The original PoP games were heavily precision based, having the player precisely time their jumps and actively think about spacing in everything that they did; Tomb Raider followed this up by taking those elements and putting them in a 3D space, and then using that 3D space to create gigantic and elaborate levels. But where I think Tomb Raider lost the plot a little bit was when it started focusing more on spectacle rather than skill; starting with the second game, Core Design began to shift their focus of design away from the skill based platforming that the first game heralded, towards using dramatic set pieces that lacked a lot of depth. Now, I believe that shift was mainly due to the yearly release contract that Core Design had with Eidos, so the more surface level, “cinematic” moments were an attempt to hold player intrigue without having to drastically change the core gameplay. But, nonetheless, by the end of the original series run, Tomb Raider kind of lost what made this genre special and unique, and it is here where Sands of Time steps in. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time is still a very cinematic game mind you, the dramatic camera angles and more linear structure reflect that, but those elements supplement the very skillful and challenging platforming. The Prince has a rather simple set of moves: he can jump across ledges, run up and along walls, wall jump, shimmy along and climb up ledges, and spin into a jump from poles. All of these moves are simple to understand, but the game really challenges the application of these abilities. The pacing of each of the moves introduction is really well done and doesn’t overwhelm the player, this leads to a train of thought that builds upon itself with each new introduction, culminating in sections that have the player on their toes the entire time; the descent into and out of the prison, as well as the final climb up the tower were the pinnacle of this. Additionally, the reverse time mechanic really allows the player to try out different options and test new abilities whenever they might get stuck, it is the perfect crutch for new players. The animations also play a big part in this. Much like the original duology, The Prince moves in a very natural way, a way that is predictable, for the most part; this creates a great sense of flow and cohesion whenever the player is doing long platforming sections. But, as good as the platforming is, it is the combat that brings it all down.
Between each of the longer sections of wall running and jumping from ledge to ledge, there is a pretty sizable combat section, that almost entirely overshadow the platforming, and not for any good reason. At first, it looks like it functions very similarly to how combat worked in Prince of Persia 2, with The Prince being surrounded by a group of enemies that he must duel by attacking, dodging, and counter attacking; and it actually goes slightly deeper than this too, letting the player vault over enemies and hitting them from overhead, as well as using the walls to bounce off of and strike a diving blow. But, as soon as the higher tier guards are introduced, it all begins to fall apart. Up until this point, the vault and wall bounce had been the players go to for taking down enemies, but the royal guards upward, enemies are able to block even the strongest of attacks, and whenever a hit gets blocked, it stuns The Prince or knocks him down. Now, this wouldn’t be that bad if there were some invincibility frames on the getting up animation, but there are not, so what usually ends is that The Prince ends up getting damage locked whenever he gets knocked down because each enemy decides to attack one at a time at the precise moment the getting up animation begins. Add on top of this an absolutely awful camera that almost never cooperates, a control scheme that correlates with the camera position and not player position, and an auto targeting system that just doubles all of the aforementioned problems, and you have a combat system that actively screws over the player. And honestly, this is not even the worst part, really what kills any fun that could have been found with this system is just the sheer amount of enemies. There are too many enemies in every single encounter that doesn’t take place within the first hour; the player will constantly be hounded by every manner of high tier enemies, which just perpetuates all of the problems this system already had. Not to mention, The Prince's partner, Farha, isn’t invulnerable, meaning that there is a very high likelihood that an enemy will stray off from the pack and target her, effectively being a game over if this happens. This entire system is plagued with so many issues that it almost overshadows any good that the platforming had.
As per usual with these reviews, I do have a couple of notes that don’t exactly fit with the structure of the rest of the review. I really love all the small nods and references to the original duology, from the little cinematic that plays after a combat encounter is finished, to some of the minor 2D sections that are very reminiscent of its forebears, and just the fact that both of the original games are straight up unlockable as extras, being the only way to legally play these classic games in HD. Thank you Xbox backwards compatibility program. As well, while not explored to its fullest extent, the time reverse mechanic is a neat little feature that I think really sets It apart from; I wish it was explored more though, Tears of the Kingdom I think created a lot of fun puzzles and utility out this idea if you want an example. Also, it absolutely baffles me that they take away the entire mechanic for the last stretch of the game, like, the entire marketing factor of the game is just absent from what is supposed to be its climax. That is such a backwards way of designing a champion's road segment. That's about it I think, it's a game with a lot of good, but just struggles with some poor execution and one of its biggest aspects. So, while I don’t think it exactly stands the test of time, pun intended, it still is a classic and worth a playthrough.