Review Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Publisher: Ubisoft Genre: Action/Adventure Release Date: November 2003 Platform: (version reviewed) Review by Scott Jelinek & Randy Sluganski December 16, 2003

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Amidst the scorched sands of ancient Persia, there is a legend spun in an ancient tongue. It speaks of a time borne by blood and ruled by deceit. It is within this war torn land that a young Prince discovers a magic dagger. Drawn to its dark powers, he is led to unleash a deadly evil upon the reaches of his father’s vast kingdom.

Aided by the wiles of a seductive princess and the absolute powers of the Sands of Time, the Prince stages a harrowing quest to reclaim the Palace’s cursed chambers, and restore peace to the very fabric of Time itself. He must tread these dangers carefully, however. Because in this world, there is only one rule: master the Sands, or be buried.

By now, you’ve surely read all the hype about Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, seen the television commercials and drooled over the screenshots. Well, we’re here to tell you, believe it all, ‘cause this game rocks the casbah.

This Christmas season has offered some great presents for console gamers. There are so many exceptional games being released that it is difficult to choose what to play first. The Haunted Mansion, Beyond Good and Evil, FFX-2, Max Payne 2, Castlevania and True Crime have all been recently released for the holiday season, but how does once choose which one to play first? Prince of Persia was not our first choice – mainly due to a sort of ‘been there, done that’ mentality - but once we did, it was sort of trying to eat only one Lay’s potato chip – we just couldn’t quit.

Simply put, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time is brilliant game that looks as though it were ripped from the pages of a storybook. It is a tribute to old school gaming, but at the same time also sets the standard for the next generation of games. It features eye-dropping graphics that draw the attention of bystanders and non-gamers alike. This is a game that stops people in their tracks as they sit down and just watch in awe.

The main character is - of course - a Prince who steals the magic dagger of time as a gift for his father. His impudence though backfires with major repercussions when a traitorous vizier convinces him to use the dagger to unlock a huge hourglass, unleashing a deadly sandstorm that decimates the kingdom leaving only the Prince, the vizier and Farah – a young lady who will aid the Prince on his quest to restore the kingdom.

But the dagger has dual uses as it can also be used to manipulate time. You can rewind time for up to ten seconds to undo untimely deaths, slow down time to gain an advantage over opponents, freeze time to halt the movements of others so you can perform other chores and fast-forward time to accelerate your movements.

Your goal is to navigate a huge palace – much like we did in Ico - to undo a great evil. The story is told partly through cut-scenes, but more by the prince’s narration as he wanders through the castle. Of course no story of this magnitude would be worth it’s weight in rubies unless there was a hapless princess involved, but there is a nice twist as the Prince develops a love/hate relationship as he is called on to save her time and again. The story is very well told, and you will empathize with both players.

What Prince of Persia does best though is instill a constant sense of excitement, much of which comes from discovering new moves. One such move is the wall run, where the prince can run along side a vertical wall from one platform to the next. This creates a whole new thought process for gamers. It used to be when you saw a platform in the distance, your first thought was ‘there’s no way I can make that jump!’ In Prince of Persia, you can do a long wall run and then leap off the wall onto the platform. There is no amount of words that can aptly describe seeing not only this move firsthand, but also watching in awe as the Prince runs up the front of an opponent’s chest and then vaults over him to attack from behind. It is pure gaming nirvana.

Now, there are other moves that are just as impressive, but at least 80% of the gameplay itself is puzzles – and yes, the spiked floors and walls are still a big part of the game. You will enter a huge room and look up at the ceiling and see your next goal. You will have absolutely no clue how to get there. Certain pillars of sand will perform visions giving you an idea of how it is done, but you will still need to put the pieces together yourself. All the puzzles are logical, which makes them an exercise in how well you can remember your own strengths and weaknesses.

Thanks to one of the best control systems in any game ever made, it is a breeze to pull off all the moves. In most platform games, jumping becomes a chore of lining yourself up correctly. In Prince of Persia, jumping to ropes and pillars is easy, as the prince lines himself up for the next jump. Even jumping from platform to platform is easy enough, and if you miss the jump, you can rewind time to right before you jumped and try again. This makes playing less frustrating for the player and leaves you free to just try to figure out what to do next, without worrying if you have the skill to pull off the feat.

The Prince will have to combat monsters, but he has a wide variety of moves and is quicker than most monsters he will encounter. He does not only fight the monsters, he humiliates them, as he jumps off walls and leaps over them to strike them from behind, does summersaults on them, or races around them and kicks some major butt. The Prince is always outnumbered, but never outclassed. A few combat sequences drag out a bit too long, as you will fight what seems like twenty or so monsters, but those instances are few and far between.

This game will definitely change and influence future platform games. It raises the bar in much the same way Grand Theft Auto 3 revolutionized car chase games. Although the game is a little on the short side - about 12 hours - it is the best 12 hours of gaming you will ever get for your money. The Xbox version we played also includes an added bonus - the original Prince of Persia 1 and 2. Also included are several documentaries on the making of the game. As for replay value, this is a game that is a pleasure to not only play repeatedly, but to also watch others play. From graphics to sound to music to plot to gameplay, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time is the best console game of 2003.

Final Grade: A

You can read more about the history of the Prince of Persia series at the official website, download wallpaper for your pc and enjoy various other goodies including an opportunity to win a free copy of this magnificent game.

System Requirements:

• 800MHz processor
• 256MB RAM
• 64MB graphics card
• 1.5GB hard disk space.