EaglesEye379

User Score
6.0

Presentation - 8.0
Gameplay - 6.0
Value - 5.0

Prince of Persia (2008) is an action adventure platforming-style game set within an ancient land (supposed to be ancient Persia). The land is broken up into 4 regions. You take the role of the Prince and soon meet Elika, your sidekick who takes you on a mission of 'cleansing' the land from the Corruption that has been spread from the dark god Ahriman. To 'cleanse' the land, you have to reach the 'fertile ground' within each area. Once this is cleansed, the area's environment/colour palette changes, and you then backtrack to collect orbs which have now appeared all over that area. In order to unlock the other regions to explore, you need to collect a set number of orbs to progress.

The combat is quite light, with only one enemy at any time which is similar to the boss battles. Its more a matter of timing as each button has a different sort of attack and blocks allow you to perform powerful counterattacks. Some enemies spring up during the actual platforming gameplay but they dont offer much variety. In terms of difficulty, Elika saves you if you die or fall off which brings down to the challenge factor quite a lot. There is an Achievement to minimise the times Elika saves you though.

The fluidity of the platforming aspect and the art style are the key pluses in this game. There is satisfaction in performing the right timings for your jumps, slides, hooks and there are also special nodes that allow your special skills to be used. These special skills are tied to the specific region and does break the repetition somewhat. For example, one such special skill is flying which you then fly across the region having to avoid hitting any obstacles in order to progress. The art style is magnificiently cel-shaded and really is a sight for sore eyes.

Halfway throughout the game though, I felt it to be too repetitive and the only thing left to drive me to complete it were the Achievements. I wanted to do so much more as the Prince, I wanted more characters (because you do grow fond of Elika), I wanted multiple enemies to kill and I wanted to like the ending. For me, I smelled what was going to happen in the end from a mile away and almost didnt finish the game just to ensure it wont happen. A new DLC titled Epilogue has been released but I dont feel compelled at all to get it since it probably is more of the same thing.

Therefore, with so much potential for this game, the repetitiveness and sense of emptiness (pretty as it is to look at) in the game has caused me to drop my score. It is a great game to sit back, relax and take it all in (for a nice weekend or extended holiday) but it ended up being a rather bland adventure.

Prince of Persia (2008) was developed and published by Ubisoft.