I decided to write a post before midnight for once, which is rather uncharacteristic of me. Then I started playing Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, and as a result, this post comes to you after the clock strikes midnight and my laptop turns back into a pumpkin.
So, I started playing Sands of Time a few weeks back on the PC, had PC issues about 12% into the game, and then went out and picked it up for PS2 because I wanted to play the other 88% of the game. Coincidentally, as I got about 50% into SoT, the new Prince of Persia arrived via Gamefly for my Xbox 360. So, I decided to play that one and finished it in a few days. Now, I’m back to Sands of Time, and just got to the 75% point in the game. It was an interesting experience going from one Prince to another, and since it’s an issue of apples to apples, here’s just a few thoughts on comparing the two. PoP will designate the newer title, while SoT will obviously designate the Sands of Time.
First off, SoT excels in the one place the Prince is known for, and that is his platforming ability. While the skill sets between the two Princes largely overlap, the only thing I miss going back to Sands of Time is the gauntlet for sliding down a wall (which I had tried to do earlier tonight when I got back to SoT only to find out harshly that it was not available anymore). What I didn’t miss were the Elika powers. Namely, the one I referred to as Prince the Hedgehog, the green plate, which caused the Prince to run headfirst in a single direction: up. This meant the player controls his horizontal movement, dodging obstacles and enemies, however, the game forces you into quite a bit of trial and error with this section, since you can’t exactly see too far ahead. Most of all though, this detracted from what I wanted to do the most in the game, and that was jump between ropes and walls and platforms. The moves were more gratifying to perform in SoT, simply because it did not simply feel like a series of implied quick time events, where I knew I had to hit only one button to move from one action to the next.
However, PoP may not have mechanics that are up to par with its predecessor, but it really excels in the narrative and graphical directions. I know comparing this generation’s graphics to the last is not necessarily a fair fight, but hear me out. A lot of the environments in SoT are dark palace rooms or caverns, without a lot of glitz and glamour to them. Even as far as PS2 games go, there are other games from 2003 that look better, such as FFX-2 (which is not a good game by any means), but the game is not about style, it is about platforming. The world of PoP is dark and and depraved after the release of Ahriman, and lush and vibrant after Elika begins healing the world. Assassin’s Creed showed a lot of potential in the engine, and I really loved the environments that game created. Coupling that with the distinctive art style of PoP creates a really impressive world that I simply loved exploring just to see the art style and graphical design of the areas. The world had a good sense of openness to it as well, giving me a few issues of GTA-esque “wrong turn” syndrome as I suddenly found myself facing an enemy in combat.
As for the combat and narrative, well…. I’ll leave that for tomorrow (cliffhanger!).
