Review: Prince of Persia

Background

The year is 1984. Jordan Mechner, a young aspiring cartoon artist turned game developer, decided to create a game that was as much about the animation and graphics as it was about the solid gameplay. Using a technology otherwise known as rotoscoping, Mechner filmed his younger brother performing a series of actions such as running, jumping and even sword fighting. These recordings went onto become one of the first known cases of motion capture being used in game production.

When Prince of Persia first appeared on the Apple II in 1989, both gamers and casual observers alike raved about the animations. Once gamers got over how amazing the game looked, they were equally shocked about the quality of the gameplay itself. The game was one of the first of its kind to successfully marry both challenging platforming and intense combat. At the time there was nothing available on any platform that animated as smoothly, let alone appear so lifelike.

Following the success of the game, it was ported to virtually any platform that could handle it. Every console from the Sega Master System, all the way to the Super Nintendo had a version available for purchase, but it wasn’t until 1999 that the game made the jump to 3D. The ill-fated Prince of Persia 3D had numerous bugs which led to its demise, but it wasn’t until Ubisoft purchased the rights to the franchise in 2001 that things really started to turn around.

What Ubisoft provided more than anything else was the technology and creative team necessary to truly bring the series into the three dimensional era. Under the direct consultation of Mechner, the brand was re-launched from the beginning, featuring a dramatic retelling of the Prince’s origin story. Where the original had changed conceptions about animation in games, the reboot drastically altered how designers viewed speed and pacing. By introducing the ability to reverse, slow down, speed up, and even freeze time, Mechner and his team had once again redefined the genre of action-platformer.

Each iteration in the Prince of Persia franchise has produced innovative technologies that have forever changed the way videogames are designed. Will the newest incarnation be another industry-defining rebirth, or is this simply another chance for Ubisoft to milk one of their strongest franchises?

The Story

After exhausting the Prince of Persia storyline in the last console generation, the game’s universe is getting another very necessary refresh. Gone are the days of a brooding prince, teetering on the edge of the light and dark. Instead the story once again starts off following the quest of a young man who is looking to find his way in a world going to pieces around him.

The other major player in the cast is Elika, a princess that happens to meet the Prince through an ironic twist of happenstance. Seeing a damsel in distress, our hero jumps to her aid, not having any idea what he has truly gotten himself into. Upon rescuing Elika, he learns of her royal ties and is privy to her father, who also happens to be the king, releasing an evil “corruption” upon the land.

This “corruption,” as they are called, take the form of four main bosses that you fight frequently over the course of the story. Following over one thousand years in captivity, the corruption has spread itself to the far reaches of the kingdom. Seeing as her father had unleashed the plague upon the land, Elika tasks herself with ridding the once thriving metropolis of the evil force. Being the good person that he is, the Prince agrees to lend a helping hand; little does he know what obstacles await him.

From the very first moment of the quest, it seems that Elika appears to be much more than a monarch on a mission to save her empire. She is entrusted with magical powers that give her the ability to perform numerous feats, which evolve over time. The most important of these actions is the healing of the fertile ground. Once the land has been healed, the corruption is driven out. Only then does it become apparent that not only do Elika and the Prince have to free the land, but bring a God to its very knees.

The Good

Based off of the graphically stunning and tremendously detailed Assassin’s Creed game engine, Prince of Persia makes a radical departure from the aesthetic of previous installments in the franchise. Where most developers would strive for more realism, the designers took an artistic U-turn, instead favoring cel-shaded imagery. The character models cartoon-like animation style is offset by dramatically detailed environments. Despite the fact that there is a definite clash in art direction, they meld together quite well, producing an appearance that is uniquely different from anything else this console generation.

Where the Mario franchise set the bar for platforming in two dimensions, Prince of Persia does the same for three dimensions. Using a series of timed button presses and interesting level design, the game engine makes the player feel like they are a god among men. Anywhere place that is visible on the screen can be reached in numerous different ways. Don’t feel comfortable jumping from wall to wall across a chasm? Try using a double jump from stalactites in order to cross the gap. Under most circumstances, using the phrase “the sky is the limit” would be a way to describe a wide variety of options, but in this case its use is quite literal. If you can see something, you can explore it.

The Bad

More than likely, the player will be first introduced to Elika’s magical powers as they seemingly plummet to their death. However, at the very last second, the mystical madam will materialize out of nowhere, teleporting back to the last piece of solid ground, and preserving your life. No matter how hard you try, there is no way to escape rescue. It seems odd to complain about the inability to die, but when that dimension is removed from gameplay, there is no sense of risk/reward when a particularly difficult piece of platforming is completed.

Unlike most games that tell the story through scripted cutscenes, Prince of Persia gives the player the option to only become as involved they want to be. At any point, there is a button that can be pressed to enter into discussion between Elika and the Prince. While it is a refreshing design choice to allow the story to be determined by the player’s involvement, those that want to explore all of the different dialog trees will find that the time consuming interactions interrupt the flow of the game.

As is the case with any rebooted series, sometimes new characters need to be added into the mix. In this case, Elika is the new addition. Unfortunately, she falls into the character rut of being nothing more than a flawed stereotype. Princess Leia of the Star Wars franchise falls into the same mold as Elika. Both are strong women that like to assert their power over men, yet when the chips are down they are more than happy to faint, waiting patiently to be rescued. Ubisoft, if you want to make Elika a believable empowered feminine personality, let her save the Prince for a change, and being a glorified safety net doesn’t count!

The Ugly

Interestingly, Prince of Persia suffers from the same lack of variety that ailed Assassin’s Creed. Throughout the span of the entire title, the relentless platforming is broken up by a grand total of five different types of enemy encounter. Making things even worse, four of the five different adversaries were the end level bosses. What this leaves you with is an enemy that can potentially be killed before it even spawns and four other very repetitive and increasingly irritating boss encounters. Hammering the final nail in the coffin is fact that the each boss has to be fought four to five times before completing the game.

Earlier in the review, it was mentioned that the platforming is among the best of this console generation. Unfortunately the fluid platforming mechanics didn’t translate over to the level design. Stages seemed to have a defined line that needed to be followed, but the branching stage construction would cause inadvertent backtracking, constant retreading, and sometimes downright confusion and disorientation. It can get so confusing that the developers had to actually add a button that shows the where the next waypoint is.

The inclusion of numerous features like Elika’s safety net, repetitive boss battles, and a dummy button to aid in navigation make tremendous strides towards streamlining the overall game experience. All of the benefits aside, these additions removed one critical element, challenge. This is a circumstance where the effort to appeal to the masses may have neutered the overall experience. Hopefully the developers can learn from this for the eventual sequel.

Conclusion

Prince of Persia is a piece of art set in motion. Sadly, this is another case of beauty only being skin deep. The fluid platforming and kinetic chaos do very little to disguise a flawed and endlessly frustrating combat system. Worst of all, the game suffers from a serious lack of challenge. It will provide one quality play through, but don’t plan to see it leave the shelf once it has been vanquished.