Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
The Prince of Persia began solving puzzles and cutting down enemies 15 years ago. However, with only a handful of titles to his name (the last one received bitterly), the Prince was getting old, and by all appearances was a victim of the ceaseless march of time. But maybe time isn't as straightforward as it looks.
With the idea of making a new game for Prince, and changing him from mere royalty to an Arabian ninja, there came into being Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Development of SoT was built around the concept of making a good game independent of the Prince license, and this is evident in the power of the title as more than just a sequel.
Take a seat, and the Prince shall tell you his tale. It begins with an invasion by him and his father of the Maharajah's palace. In their pillaging and plundering, they find the mystical Hourglass of Time, and the Dagger of Time, which the Prince takes for his own. The Maharajah's Vizier (who betrayed him to let the invaders into the palace) suggests that the Prince plunge the dagger into the hourglass, and after doing so, the palace is swept by the Sands of Time, turning everyone into sandy monsters - save the Prince because of the Dagger, the Vizier because of his staff, and Farah, the Maharajah's daughter, because of her magic pendant. Faced with the guilt of destroying everyone, even his own father, with the Sands of Time, the Prince must (with Farah's help) forge his way through the palace to find the Hourglass and somehow right his horrible wrong. While the plot is simple, there are more than a few twists along the way to keep it interesting, and one of the best endings in all of gaming. The entire game is voice-over narrated by the Prince, which not only explains the game better, but makes the story that much more engrossing.
Part puzzle, part adventure, and part melee action, SoT has a feast of mind- and thumb-testing gameplay. The Prince's ultimate goal is to navigate the palace (with most routes blocked off by the destruction from the invasion or the Sands) and find the Hourglass of Time - but don't worry about getting lost, since there's only one way to go. While the adventure is linear, there's still plenty of room for trial and error; when you enter any given room (of which there are dozens, in a few different sections of the palace, each with a distinct theme), you're challenged to jump, swing and climb your way though the room's obstacles to the next, to defeat the enemies within, or to do both. It's all about level design, and the design is genius, each room a puzzle ready to solve.
Of course, the rooms would just be pretty decoration without the Prince leaping and bounding through them. His acrobatic abilities are second to none (he can even run across sheer walls), and with the power of time control granted to him by the Dagger of Time, he can rewind his mistakes and work all kinds of chronological magic on the evil mindless sand beasts. Don't think he's invincible, though - the Dagger is powered by sand, which is (usually) gathered by felling sand monsters and collecting the sand from within them (also the only way to permanently kill them). Generally speaking, the game isn't terribly difficult, but still challenging enough in puzzle and in battle to keep a player plenty interested.
Sands of Time is graphically impressive and aurally amazing. Environments and characters, while not the most refined, are richly detailed and immersive. The effects of time control and other gameplay wizardry are almost as fun to watch as they are to do. Sound effects are crisp and clear, and the music is a unique blend of medieval Persian ambient tunes and more modern rock to characterize the excitement of the game's fighting portions. The soundtrack fits and enhances the game perfectly.
An unfortunate side-effect of SoT's linear story and play is that there's not a whole lot of replay value, with the exception of collecting all the status-enhancing items (such as extra sand tanks to power the Dagger and magic fountains for a longer health bar) and unlocking the original Prince of Persia game. Aside, of course, from replaying the game just to enjoy it again, and potentially notice some story foibles that you may have missed the first time around.
Beyond a lack of replay, there are just a few other problems with PoP:SoT - occasional awkward camera angles, though they can be avoided in most situations, and some glitches which, while rare, can foil the Prince's quest for good. However, these problems are only small flies in the beautiful ointment that is Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. With huge puzzle rooms that hearken back to the simpler days of games, swordfighting against legions of mindless enemies, versatile and impressive time control, and wall-running that puts the Matrix to shame, it looks like the Prince is back to stay.
Progress: Complete