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Video Game Review: Prince Of Persia
DOUG BUEL
TBO Extra correspondent
Published: January 22, 2009
System: Microsoft Xbox 360TBO Extra correspondent
Published: January 22, 2009
Also available for: Sony PlayStation 3, Windows PC
Publisher: Ubisoft
Reviewer's rating: ***1/2
ESRB rating: Teen
Game type: Third-person adventure
Kind of like: "Soul Reaver"
Best feature: The nonlinearity is a refreshing change for this type of game.
Worst feature: When you fight some of the low-level bosses, movement becomes slow as if mired in mud.
The bottom line: The "Prince of Persia" series has been a vaunted one for ages. The newest entry is a worthy addition, doing some things better than ever before.
As the prince, who apparently is a "prince" by nickname only, you meet a mysterious woman named Elika who needs your help stopping an evil god from appearing on Earth.
To help her, you must travel around the lands of a ruined kingdom, jumping and wall-running through incredible terrain and fighting the occasional boss enemy.
"Prince of Persia" is very nonlinear -- after an introductory portion, you will decide which of four ways to travel. After that you will decide from among many more paths, so you really feel like you're in control.
The world reminded us very much of "Soul Reaver" or even "Ico" in its colossal scale and utter ruination. The game looks fantastic.
The jumping action is awesome, too. The prince and Elika can run along walls, climb and leap from pillars, scale tremendous heights and more. Elika's magical powers enable you to make assisted double-jumps, and later you'll use her powers to briefly fly, leap impossible distances and so on.
Fights against bosses are interesting, but the game limits your mobility to keep the fight from being too easy. This can be annoying.
If you fall, Elika saves you with her powers, so you can't actually die.
Games are rated on a scale of 0-4 stars.