"Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" is a pleasant gaming-experience with a unique atmosphere and truly stunning visuals (see the animations for yourself, and you'll know what I'm talkin about!).
To be honest: PoP - Sands of Time lacks innovation, as most elements of gameplay have already been seen before. Many camera-techniques, most riddles and a fair share of the controls have obviously been inspired by "The Legend Of Zelda - Ocarina of Time", some visuals (especially the outdoor locations) resemble "Ico", and if you ever played "Soul Reaver 2", you won't lose the feeling that you somehow know what's gonna happen next.
Nevertheless, PoP was one of the most capturing and entertaining pieces of software to hit my system in a "long" time, because all the (wisely chosen) elements were put together so artfully, that the final product is at least as "fresh" as most of its mental predecessors were at their time. One thing that impressed me was the nearly endless repertoire of moves the Prince can perform and combine without ever leaving the player's control. You never really *notice* the engine enabling you to perform the moves at ´the specified spots... everything just WORKS, and it works well. The Prince is without a doubt one of the most agile heroes ever to appear in a game: He runs up or along walls, climbs most any surface, walljumps like mario and does somersaults, cartwheels, backflips and helldoIknowwhatelse when and wherever you want him to. As for the fighting system, PoP has taken a great leap forward in comparison to everything available up to now, as it combines the arcade-like fighting with a blocking-system quick as lightning and some matrix-moves that are marvelously cool to look at. The graphics are well done (best hair animation ever!), although some people might not like the blurry filter that lies on the entire scenery, but in my opinion it just helps creating a wonderful "Arabian tales" atmosphere. Music's alright when it's playing (mostly in fight scenes... silence is your friendly companion for the largest part of the journey). Just imagine oriental tunes with a slight touch of industrial. If you like atmospheric adventures with a lot of artistic jumping, climbing and swordfighting, this one's for you.
8.5/10
To be honest: PoP - Sands of Time lacks innovation, as most elements of gameplay have already been seen before. Many camera-techniques, most riddles and a fair share of the controls have obviously been inspired by "The Legend Of Zelda - Ocarina of Time", some visuals (especially the outdoor locations) resemble "Ico", and if you ever played "Soul Reaver 2", you won't lose the feeling that you somehow know what's gonna happen next.
Nevertheless, PoP was one of the most capturing and entertaining pieces of software to hit my system in a "long" time, because all the (wisely chosen) elements were put together so artfully, that the final product is at least as "fresh" as most of its mental predecessors were at their time. One thing that impressed me was the nearly endless repertoire of moves the Prince can perform and combine without ever leaving the player's control. You never really *notice* the engine enabling you to perform the moves at ´the specified spots... everything just WORKS, and it works well. The Prince is without a doubt one of the most agile heroes ever to appear in a game: He runs up or along walls, climbs most any surface, walljumps like mario and does somersaults, cartwheels, backflips and helldoIknowwhatelse when and wherever you want him to. As for the fighting system, PoP has taken a great leap forward in comparison to everything available up to now, as it combines the arcade-like fighting with a blocking-system quick as lightning and some matrix-moves that are marvelously cool to look at. The graphics are well done (best hair animation ever!), although some people might not like the blurry filter that lies on the entire scenery, but in my opinion it just helps creating a wonderful "Arabian tales" atmosphere. Music's alright when it's playing (mostly in fight scenes... silence is your friendly companion for the largest part of the journey). Just imagine oriental tunes with a slight touch of industrial. If you like atmospheric adventures with a lot of artistic jumping, climbing and swordfighting, this one's for you.
8.5/10