Prince of Persia

It has its shortcomings, but I already sense that Prince of Persia will be one of the few games from this generation that I carry with me for the next decade.

One of the finest-looking games this year.

The new title combines strong platforming fundamentals, Assassin's Creed's open-world structure, and some of Okami's wonderful aesthetic flourishes. What it introduces to action games is something truly wonderful.

While this one doesn't quite reach some of the stylistic and gameplay-oriented heights of Sands of Time a few years back, this re-imagined Prince of Persia delivers great thrills and plenty of accessibility inside a very pretty package.

Prince of Persia is an odyssey that manages to transmit the undeniable magic of its proposal. Ubisoft achieves the best adventure game of the year.

The new visual style works and the technical side of the game is flawless but ultimately this re-imaging of Prince of Persia ends up being a bit short and easy. In the quest to rid the game of all potential sources of frustration, the low difficulty level is unfortunate collateral damage. Fun and accessible but fails to match the brilliance of Sands of Time.

Well set up, because you set it up, but an effective and fun combat system.

A sweet love story, mixing humour and romance just right to enchant female and male players alike. Like in most new Ubisoft games it's necessary to accomplish the same tasks over and over again, but it's not as annoying as in other games. The unusual graphical style is beautiful.

The Prince returns, and does so with a fresh new style, a phenomenal game world, and in stunning visual detail. The addition of Elika is a nice touch, but takes away some of the initial challenge in the game. The fact that you can’t die is a real shame, but the choreographical fighting mechanics keep the gameplay interesting and fun, and turn Prince of Persia into a small masterpiece.

Prince of Persia is repetitive in more ways than one, though nevertheless still highly enjoyable. If the nowadays ever-present backtracking is your thing and if you enjoy the gorgeous cell-shading graphics to boot, by all means, pick up the Prince. [Issue#17]

A fast and aesthetic action-adventure, that easily overcomes its monotony and lack of challenge due to responsive controls, two heart-warming heroes and the sheer beauty of its visual design.

Having said this, Prince of Persia is one of those games that has obvious flaws but manages to pull together to become so much more than the sum of its parts. The charmingly cliched story, the visuals, audio, and their sparkling polish come together to make the Prince of Persia a modern epic. [January 2009, p.51]

While its lack of challenge may lull fans, its ease of use will delight newcomers and draw in anyone who appreciates a touch of magic.

This action platformer makes no mistakes in presentation and excels in its great relationship between hero, his heroine, and the player – all together it’s fun for both hardcore and newbie gamers. [Issue#173]

While Prince of Persia is definitely flawed and can even become tedious at points, it creates a dreamlike world that keeps you interested. It is an interactive extension of what good fiction tries to be, and while it's not for everyone, it can often leave you with a desire to come back for more.

While beautiful, the sometimes frustrating combat and last-minute rescues aren't quite a patch of the "Sands of Time." [Feb 2009, p.88]

It feels like I'm playing an absurdly extended minigame, leaping a pit here, using a glove there, pushing a button from time to time and generally enjoying the movie-like experience. But if you don't find any of the aspects of it enjoyable, the whole puzzle falls apart and even Elika's charms won't save it. [Jan 2009]

Were it not for obtrusive hints and copy/pasted design, Prince of Persia would have taken its rightful place in our Hall of Fame.

It's not the lack of death that drains the game of its urgency and suspense; it's the lack of purpose in each level, other than to show off the lovely design of virtual monkey bars topped off with some fireworks at the end. [Feb 2009, p.66]

All of these things only take me to one conclusion: the stream of conceptual smoothness from the Sands of Time trilogy is gone, replaced by a lot of glossy plastic that can be seen by anyone, anywhere, anytime.

It's undeniably charming, but how long you remain charmed depends largely on your patience. [Feb 2009, p.68]

Continuing the theme of simplification that was prevalent throughout Assassin's Creed, Ubisoft's attempt to reinvent the Prince of Persia series is considerably disappointing.

A gorgeous, if uneventful platform game to some - Sands of Time with its brains kicked out to others. [Issue#15, p.60]