Prince of Persia 2008 Review (PS3)
Introduction
This is a reboot of Prince of Persia games, featuring an adventurer with the nickname of Prince in a very different world. This game also uses cel-shaded graphics style, making it visually different than other Prince of Persia games. The game's genre is action adventure and platformer game, like previous Prince of Persia games.
Story
This game takes place in a distant lands, where an adventurer with the nickname Prince encountered several people who cornered Elika, a mysterious woman who can use magic. As they adventured together, they had to work together to prevent the resurrection of the dark god Ahriman. They will also encounter several corrupted figures who are under Ahriman's influence.
The story and lore are interesting. The main character Prince is interesting due to his mysterious background, but his personality in early game and voice direction may out off some players. Elika is a strong character too, with likable personality and background. Other characters such as The Mourning King and The Concubine are interesting too despite not many expositions on their backgrounds. You may also chat with Elika at many points in the games for some background story on the areas and enemies that you encounter in this game.
Gameplay
This game plays a bit like Prince of Persia games, with a balance of exploration, combat, puzzles, and platforming sections. However, you are almost always be accompanied with Elika as your character's partner, in all four sections.
This game features five interconnected areas, with four areas have sub-areas that need to be liberated by the Prince and Elika to progress the story. In order for you to purify each sub-area, you need to collect enough Light Seeds to learn a certain Power, which then can be used to purify a sub-area. Corrupted areas often have traps and enemies to be fought, so watch out. You may also fight the same bosses several times while exploring the sub-areas.
As you acquire new powers by collecting Light Seeds, you will also use the new powers to clear sub-areas in the game. For example, the blue magic plate allows you to do super jumps with the Prince and Elika in the game. Different coloured plates required different power to be used in the game to clear certain platforming sections. Puzzle sections are also present in the game, where you must work together with Elika to complete them.
Combat is simple in this game, as it is a two-on-one combat, as Elika will aid you in combat. As the Prince, you can attack enemies using your sword and gauntlet, or ask Elika to use her magic attack. You may also dodge by rolling over the enemy or block enemy attacks with the sword. Regular enemy encounters can be skipped if you destroy the dark aura spawning in an arena quickly. Boss fights are unskippable, however. With Elika, you can do combo attacks with her magic attack, your sword attack, gauntlet attack, and etc. Quick Time Events are also present during certain combat situations as well.
This game features a slightly different death system where the Prince can never be killed in combat or fall off from high places, as Elika will always save him. However, the penalty of Elika saving the Prince during combat will restore the enemy's health. It is imperative that you defeat the enemies quickly.
The gameplay is good. Good balance of combat, puzzles, exploration, and platforming sections. The only issues I have with the gameplay are the combat variety and enemy variety. There are no upgrades and customisations to make the combat fun, such as new powers in combat. Enemy variety is also lacking, since you will encounter the same generic enemy and bosses throughout the game. The game could use more unique boss fights to make the game more fun, in my opinion. Regardless, the gameplay is solid enough to play without many issues.
Graphics
This game has really good graphics. Excellent cel-shaded styled characters and environments, and good framerate performance. No gamebreaking bugs or glitches encountered while playing the game.
Sound
This game has pretty good voice acting. All characters in the game are voiced pretty good. Took me a while to get used to Nolan North's voice performance as the Prince compared to other characters.
The soundtrack is pretty good too, with some nice themes such as the theme when you purified an area from the Corruption and the first section where you control the Prince.
Replay Value
This game has low to moderate replay value. Once you have finished the game, you can replay the game again to get all Trophies, purify all areas, and collect all light Seeds. It is a short game, so don't expect it to have higher replay value than other action adventure games. There is a DLC available for the game that acts as the Epilogue, which can be purchased from your region's PlayStation Store.
Conclusion
This game is a pretty good game, and it serves as a good reboot for Prince of Persia series. Unfortunately, this game still does not get a sequel until this very day, possibly due to the immense popularity of Assassin's Creed franchise and the low sales for this game. It is a unique game, and the cel-shaded graphics make it stand-out like other games such as Okami. Solid game and recommended for action adventure and platformer fans.
Score
Story: 8/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 8/10
Final Score: 8.0/10 or 32/40
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Interesting story and lore.
- Elika is a likable character.
- Good combat system.
- Great balance of combat, puzzle, platforming and exploration sections.
- Great cel-shaded graphics.
- Gorgeous environments and character models.
- Good voice acting and soundtrack.
Cons
- Epilogue is only available as DLC.
- Prince's mannerisms and voice direction take time to get used to.
- Not many variety of combat situations, such as two-on-two combat.
- Not enough enemy variety.
- Low replay value.
**Screenshots are from official Ubisoft game page and UK PlayStation game page.
This is a reboot of Prince of Persia games, featuring an adventurer with the nickname of Prince in a very different world. This game also uses cel-shaded graphics style, making it visually different than other Prince of Persia games. The game's genre is action adventure and platformer game, like previous Prince of Persia games.
Story
Meet the Prince and Elika.
This game takes place in a distant lands, where an adventurer with the nickname Prince encountered several people who cornered Elika, a mysterious woman who can use magic. As they adventured together, they had to work together to prevent the resurrection of the dark god Ahriman. They will also encounter several corrupted figures who are under Ahriman's influence.
The story and lore are interesting. The main character Prince is interesting due to his mysterious background, but his personality in early game and voice direction may out off some players. Elika is a strong character too, with likable personality and background. Other characters such as The Mourning King and The Concubine are interesting too despite not many expositions on their backgrounds. You may also chat with Elika at many points in the games for some background story on the areas and enemies that you encounter in this game.
Gameplay
Platforming and puzzle-solving sections are the norm in this game.
This game plays a bit like Prince of Persia games, with a balance of exploration, combat, puzzles, and platforming sections. However, you are almost always be accompanied with Elika as your character's partner, in all four sections.
This game features five interconnected areas, with four areas have sub-areas that need to be liberated by the Prince and Elika to progress the story. In order for you to purify each sub-area, you need to collect enough Light Seeds to learn a certain Power, which then can be used to purify a sub-area. Corrupted areas often have traps and enemies to be fought, so watch out. You may also fight the same bosses several times while exploring the sub-areas.
As you acquire new powers by collecting Light Seeds, you will also use the new powers to clear sub-areas in the game. For example, the blue magic plate allows you to do super jumps with the Prince and Elika in the game. Different coloured plates required different power to be used in the game to clear certain platforming sections. Puzzle sections are also present in the game, where you must work together with Elika to complete them.
Fight against the dark beings with Elika while purifying other areas from darkness.
Combat is simple in this game, as it is a two-on-one combat, as Elika will aid you in combat. As the Prince, you can attack enemies using your sword and gauntlet, or ask Elika to use her magic attack. You may also dodge by rolling over the enemy or block enemy attacks with the sword. Regular enemy encounters can be skipped if you destroy the dark aura spawning in an arena quickly. Boss fights are unskippable, however. With Elika, you can do combo attacks with her magic attack, your sword attack, gauntlet attack, and etc. Quick Time Events are also present during certain combat situations as well.
This game features a slightly different death system where the Prince can never be killed in combat or fall off from high places, as Elika will always save him. However, the penalty of Elika saving the Prince during combat will restore the enemy's health. It is imperative that you defeat the enemies quickly.
The gameplay is good. Good balance of combat, puzzles, exploration, and platforming sections. The only issues I have with the gameplay are the combat variety and enemy variety. There are no upgrades and customisations to make the combat fun, such as new powers in combat. Enemy variety is also lacking, since you will encounter the same generic enemy and bosses throughout the game. The game could use more unique boss fights to make the game more fun, in my opinion. Regardless, the gameplay is solid enough to play without many issues.
Graphics
Good cel-shaded graphics.
Sound
Good soundtrack and voice acting.
The soundtrack is pretty good too, with some nice themes such as the theme when you purified an area from the Corruption and the first section where you control the Prince.
Replay Value
Low replay value, if you only play the game once.
Conclusion
Pretty good and fun game.
Score
Story: 8/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 8/10
Final Score: 8.0/10 or 32/40
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Interesting story and lore.
- Elika is a likable character.
- Good combat system.
- Great balance of combat, puzzle, platforming and exploration sections.
- Great cel-shaded graphics.
- Gorgeous environments and character models.
- Good voice acting and soundtrack.
Cons
- Epilogue is only available as DLC.
- Prince's mannerisms and voice direction take time to get used to.
- Not many variety of combat situations, such as two-on-two combat.
- Not enough enemy variety.
- Low replay value.
**Screenshots are from official Ubisoft game page and UK PlayStation game page.
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