Games: Prince of Persia

Remember Casino Royale? That was one surprisingly good Bond flick considering that they decided to reboot the series and start anew. By now you’re wondering, “What does this have to do with gaming?” but those of you in the know are already nodding sagely. And here is why.

Taking a cue from Mr. Bond, the fine folk at Ubisoft decided that Prince of Persia would bear absolutely no resemblance or connection (barring a highly comical one) to the epic trilogy that precedes it. Though old timers in the crowd will cringe, starting the series afresh is possibly the best thing Ubisoft could have done.

You don the role of a thief only known as “Prince” who, in the midst of a sandstorm, stumbles upon Elika, a princess with a checkered past. One thing leads to another and Elika and you find yourself on a mission to stop the God of Darkness, Ahriman from unleashing the apocalypse all over the again.

The first thing that hits you is the unique art style, the comic-book-come-to-life feel combined with some next-gen spit and polish resulting in a game that looks quite like no other. Graphics aside, the gameplay is tight and the controls are easy to grasp. At the press of a button you’ll find yourself performing gravity defying stunts, be it wall runs or scurrying across ceilings. It’s really that simple. And if that wasn’t enough, it’s quite impossible to die. If you end up falling off a cliff while trying to execute a move that would give the Matrix’s Neo an inferiority complex, your trusty sidekick, Elika will swoop in and pull you back to a nearby ledge.

Now, this is something that a lot of us would get rabid and foamy mouthed about but remember how in the previous version, when you messed up your timing on a jump, you’d immediately get the “Game Over” screen? Multiply that by the number of times you actually mistime a jump and you’d actually want to break your controller. But in this version, you won’t ever have to deal with that. So it’s a pretty sweet addition.

While we’re on the topic of violence, the combat is a notch over your regular fare. In stead of flooding the screen with a billion generic foes, fighting is a one-on-one (two-on-one rather) affair, usually against a boss or one of Ahriman’s soldiers.

Apart from your regular sword and gauntlet attacks, you can call on Elika to dish out some heavy magic spells. The game employs a fairly deep combo system allowing you to mix up your sword, gauntlet and magic attacks as you wish. And the results look splendid with each combo having its own unique and destructive animations. Oh, and just like the platforming segments of the game, you can’t die in combat either, which is a good thing considering that some of the boss battles are borderline frustrating, requiring you to press the appropriate button at the right time.

Earlier, the Prince of Persia series was known for some unique puzzling elements, this time around, however, you won’t find anything that will require you to strain your grey cells (or search for a walkthrough on the web), and they’re just diversions from the hectic combat and platforming; the only downer really.

All in all this is one title you can’t afford to miss. Prince of Persia serves as a hallmark of how good this generation can actually get. Here’s to hoping that Ubisoft score one over the Bond franchise by ensuring that the inevitable sequel isn’t of Quantum of Solace standards.