Enemy Down

The Fresh Prince of Baghdad

A Jolly Romp through ‘Prince of Persia’, a Game of Contradictions.

Posted by Dekko on Jan 22nd 2009 18:43

Spare a thought for the hero of our game, out in the wilds on his way home from some worthy quest, his donkey Farah Fawcett laden with gold and as much Turkish Delight as a boy could want when a disaster befalls him; Ms. Fawcett-Majors goes a’ missing in a sandstorm! What is a boy to do? 
Well that is just the beginning of his troubles for when calling for said mule a wholly different kind of ass drops into his lap, that of the second hero of our piece & one with a name no less; Elika the Princess. Cue chase scene and introductory tutorials.

OK so the first thing that hits your face like a frying pan with our new ‘Prince of Persia’ is; “What a bland, homogenised Prince & very watered down dialogue to allow for the supposed middle America, the same thought process that allows films such as ‘Failure To Launch’ to be continually churned out”.

And you’d be correct. The Prince seems to be from California and oh does he have a line in snappy repartee, in the movie of the game the Prince would be played by Matthew McConaughey.
It is a weak decision by Ubisoft Montreal and head designer Jean-Christophe Guyot to make the lead character so westernised, his turban looking more like a hastily placed scarf than the original 1989 Princes all over head dress and the voice over is cringingly bad, it snaps you out of any Middle Eastern promise the graphics may try to convey with an instant pop. There is a thin undercurrent within the game that hints to the depth of Islamic history, mentioning the old love of science, religion versus reason, plays & music, all of the things which form the Islamic renaissance but they appear only in snippets of dialogue, voiced by Generi-bot 1200.

Which also brings to mind the relationship between the Prince & Elika, naturally the script & voice acting being the keys for us, the gamer, to involve ourselves in their relationship & it is a weak attempt here by the devs who would have you/us feel the Prince is a Han Solo with Elika a Princess Leia but this is part of the problem for me & a moment of thoughtlessness in what could be a truly immersing experience as it keeps dragging you back to pop culture iconography, whether knowingly or through the writers haste with the script and his or her own reference points, a tad of research could of gone a long way.

Back to the chase and your tutorial; it is an awkward first five minutes as you chase the strange woman who landed on you with you falling down like a baby chick with each attempt but you’ll soon be wall running & making up the distance.

Hark brave warrior for roughians doth want to harm fair maiden & thus the fight tutorial which is uncluttered and simple, however one snag when the fighting tutorial asks you to press ‘RT’ quickly just before an enemy attacks for a counter it is hard time right & when you get it wrong you take a hit with the Prince then squatting & looking like a three legged cat taking a dump on a frozen lake.
Combat is pretty fluid (once you get into the flow, oh the pun!) and dare I say it has an element of the grand about it, only an element mind, with your moves coinciding with the sometimes beautiful animation to create a fulfilling experience, such as the camera changing to a close up for a second, just little acts that make up a whole. (I do hate having to keep repeatedly tapping the bloody button though!)

Some may feel that the combat in ‘Prince of Persia’ is but a quick time exercise but I reckon those people should buy new shoes and step into a richer world for the combat can be much more, if your imagination will allow. However, I too own more than one pair of shoes & at times can see how the experience could feel a tad QTE but as I said before, bare with it. Sometimes combat has a ‘Too Human’ feel, the sword play obviously as there are no plasma rifles here. The combat in that game soon got old so you’ll have to decide for yourself just how quickly you’ll tire of it.

After these initial tutorial elements which are, for the most part corridors there is the pay off; your first open expanse which is quite pretty with a good, vast feel; the desert spreading on, with a valley below in the distance & the mountains behind it is suitably grandeur and sits well with the graphical style. It has a ‘Shadow of the Colossus’ feel about it at times.

Your reason thus far is to head to the Temple; all is a bit confusing from the Princes’ perspective but follow he does.
Once inside the Temple you’ll see dusty floors of a blue mosaic tile, incense burners hanging from the Arabic arch ways, torch light flickers eerily from the high mounted placing’s which work with shadow and the thin, streaming rays of sun light to give off the appropriate air of mystery and that Middle Eastern love of adventurous story, the first time the game conjures up such imagery which is sadly sullied by the before mentioned Generic American Voice Over Actors number one and two (mainly number two!).

The art style is a hot potato for this version of the Prince and one you’ll either love or despise with every ounce of your being, I, for the most part, am of the former persuasion. It has its ups and downs, ups being a touch of the majestic to scenery and flowing robes, downs being some black edged pixilating. I think it captures a 21st Century feel to that old ‘Prince of Persia’ animated quality quite well, you always have a sense of the art style and its idealised form, with its stark outlines and rich contours that give a texture to the area & to faces, mainly that of Elika, who is a decent enough companion (the ‘LT’ prompting to talk to her can get annoying, fast though).

To not give the story away I’ll just put a few pointers out there, just so you can get a taste of the game play, a major piece being just after your second ‘big’ fight with the Alchemist the game changes itself and Elika feels the need to collect light seeds from the new fertilised lands to help on your quest, these light seeds are glowing orbs and they’ll lie regularly dotted about the completed levels.
You have the option to press the Select button to pick your next destination on the World Map but to do so would be to miss out on the heart of the game itself, for collecting these light seeds allows you to travel through the level and to see its design, to explore by every nook, cranny and ledge after its change back to bright & cheery, travel in all directions is encouraged & this free exploring section is my favourite bit of the game.

The level design is pretty groovy, with access to and fro from beginning to end thought out for the Prince and his companions claw handed, wall grabbing needs. At first you wont even see the possible avenues for exploration, such as vines and pipes, as they aren’t blatantly obvious but soon you’ll see the path like an old game huntsman who has hunted in the same woods for sixty years and even if you do get lost Elika has her handy in built GPS system that should come equipped with all female companions to save for the needless but inevitable Road Atlas arguments; just press ‘Y’ and Elika will emit out a blue orb that will streak off in your desired direction.

The World Map itself is intriguing, looking like one of ‘Too Humans’ Skill Trees & allowing you a ‘tree’ like blossoming of level completion, where you can play through which level you choose by picking the appropriate orb, which are all laid out in such a pattern as to block you from the latter levels at an early stage. You don’t have to teleport straight to the next area though as you can travel there using Elika’s blue blob GPS as guide, this is the most fun way.

A quick word to the feel of the game; you’ll be wall climbing, roof climbing, extending the runs, long jumping and ledge surfing to your hearts content in a really short time, with the ease of your movement barely noted as you play (the buttons are mapped out well by the way & tutorials can be turned off in the pause menu) through the different ruined environments before you as you try to stop Ahriman, God of Darkness before he can spread his evil with the Corruption throughout the land.

 I have another warning here though because if you get stuck on a certain section (and it’ll usually be a very simple mistake, usually a wrongly timed button press that does it) then you’ll be repeating it over and over as you do not die, that’s right, no death, due to the miraculous Stretch Armstrong like arms of Elika which save you from every fall.

I’m not sure if this helps or hinders game play; taking away the risk of death takes away the joy of landing perfectly just as much as it saves you from the frustration of dying mid-flow. I think that without the death you are robbed of the highs of making a section safely, perhaps the Ubisoft big wigs knew that the game could be frustrating if you couldn’t time something and thus added this feature which, in turn makes the game frustrating. Oh dear. I think it’s a bit of a gaming Catch 22.
In all the game is full of contradiction, both beautiful and at times looking like it’d just pass a PS2 graphics audition, it is both smooth to control & frustrating, both enjoyable & imaginative and a repetition of the same QTE type experience followed by the ‘Prince of Persia’ Platform Experience ™. You’ll either find the whole thing addictive or repetitive, there is no in between. A side must be chosen.

What to do?

I guess you’ll just have to play the game for yourself and enjoy its highs and lows; you’ll have to decide which bits are the highs and lows because I’m stumped! If you have played ‘Sands of Time’ then the elements of the game will feel similar, just not the structure.
I like it but will you? Perhaps this is a ‘rent first, buy later’ deal? Go with your instinct and jump out for that ledge and, like the Prince, you’ll either land safely to gaming happiness or plummet only to feel the rubber grip of Elika Stretch Armstrong-esque hand (otherwise known as the money back guarantee).
Time to jump………….

Overall: 6 out of 10