Prince of Persia

 Xbox 360
User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 223 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 121 out of 223
  2. Mixed: 67 out of 223
  3. Negative: 35 out of 223
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  1. jt
    Jul 25, 2009
    5
    Do you like collecting orbs? If you said no, then don't bother with this game. Do you like challenge? If you said yes, then don't bother with this game. If i had to sum up the PoP experience in one word, it would be "shallow". As beautiful as the game is (and it is gorgeous), it just doesn't have enough substance to feel satisfying. It absolutely baffles me to think that Do you like collecting orbs? If you said no, then don't bother with this game. Do you like challenge? If you said yes, then don't bother with this game. If i had to sum up the PoP experience in one word, it would be "shallow". As beautiful as the game is (and it is gorgeous), it just doesn't have enough substance to feel satisfying. It absolutely baffles me to think that respected reviewers gave this game a better than mediocre review. Let me explain the problems systematically. 1. There is no challenge. At all. The main character can not under any circumstance die or fail. Ever. If you fall off a cliff, miss a quick-time event, or just suck at combat, the game will literally hold your hand until you get it right. Each time you do something that would have caused your death, Elika saves you. This would not be such a problem if not for my next point. 2. You're not playing a game. You are "interacting" with a game. What does that mean? In a real platformer, getting from point a to point b involves skill as you time your jumps and movements just right. This is not the case in PoP. I literally moved from one side of a level to the other by touching my analog stick once then just pressing buttons. In fact, moving around a level is honestly just a cleverly engineered quick time even where you are trained to notice certain objects as specfiic button presses. If you see a ring, you press B, if you see a plate, you press Y, if you see a gap, you press A, the game does the rest. I moved across an entire level by pressing A, B, and Y when the game told me to. And remember that hand-holding i mentioned earlier, it's in the movement too. The window of opportunity is so large that it's almost insulting. 3. The levels are very, very small. From the time you enter a level to the time you get to a boss is generally about ten minutes. I'm not exaggerating. This is a good deal if you're renting the game, a horrible deal if you bought it. 4. Bosses? Hah! The game has four "stages". Each stage has one boss that you fight a total of five times. I could deal with this if the boss fights varied substantially or increased in difficulty as you went, but they don't. Two reasons they don't: one, the game is non-linear, so the bosses weren't designed to be harder than each other, two, it holds your hand remember, you CAN NOT DIE. 5. Orb collecting. Remember when i asked if you enjoyed collecting orbs. I was serious, you better love it or you are going to hate this game. Getting to, and defeating a boss takes about ten to fifteen minutes per level, after that you're expected to spend a good twenty to thirty minutes scrounging around the level picking up orbs so you can unlock magic for elika. not you, elika. 6. There are no character upgrades. There's a game called metroid, it came out in the 80's for the original nintendo, it included upgrades for the main character. Why, twenty years later, can this not be accomplished. You start with a sword and a gauntlet, you end with the same thing. You don't learn to double jump. You don't find a better sword, nothing. 7. I'm done, i've put too much energy talking about how mediocre this game is already, when there are GOOD games out there waiting to be played. in short, rent or borrow this, but DO NOT BUY IT.… Expand
  2. JohnnyLamont
    Jan 17, 2009
    5
    Great visuals, great fighting, but...I got sick of it pretty fast. Having to collect hundreds of blue orbs really bored me, and the positive things about the game couldn't outweigh the extremely boring navigating and collecting of blue orbs. you'll see why it's so annoying if you buy this game.
  3. DME
    Sep 22, 2012
    5
    I bought this game due to the high reviews it's been getting and what a mistake. I hate nearly everything about it. Camera is annoying, the controls feel all wrong, voice acting and cutscenes are laughable, and the animation is poor. And the things is so freaking repetitive... The only redeeming quality I could find was the graphics, which, unfortunately, doesn't work for this game. II bought this game due to the high reviews it's been getting and what a mistake. I hate nearly everything about it. Camera is annoying, the controls feel all wrong, voice acting and cutscenes are laughable, and the animation is poor. And the things is so freaking repetitive... The only redeeming quality I could find was the graphics, which, unfortunately, doesn't work for this game. I want the time and money that I spent on this game back.… Expand
  4. TheQuietGamer
    Aug 18, 2011
    5
    I am a huge fan of the original Prince of Persia trilogy, and when I heard about this game I was a little worried that they would change to much of what made the original games great, and I was right, the gameplay has been completely destroyed, platforming is awkward do to too may actions being mapped to the same buttons, combat is tedious and unenjoyable, it's EXTREMELY repetitive, havingI am a huge fan of the original Prince of Persia trilogy, and when I heard about this game I was a little worried that they would change to much of what made the original games great, and I was right, the gameplay has been completely destroyed, platforming is awkward do to too may actions being mapped to the same buttons, combat is tedious and unenjoyable, it's EXTREMELY repetitive, having to search around for light seeds just to advance the plot is stupid, and do to the fact that you can't really die the whole game just feels like trial and error, and the new Prince character is completely unlikeable, while they messed up most of the game it's got some good things going for it, the voice acting is solid, the graphics are beautiful, and the ending does have interested in seeing where the story goes from here, but I'm not sure if I want to pick up the next game they come out with, this was a huge disappointment and isn't worthy to bear the Prince of Persia name.… Expand
  5. RobH
    Mar 13, 2009
    6
    As a big fan of the newer Prince of Persia: Sands of Time games, this game is a huge disappointment. It feels like a "kiddie" version in every way: the cartoony art, the corny accent-free dialog, the simplified battles, not to mention the fact that you can never die. It doesn't feel anywhere near as rich or detailed as the earlier games, and so I'm very surprised by the high As a big fan of the newer Prince of Persia: Sands of Time games, this game is a huge disappointment. It feels like a "kiddie" version in every way: the cartoony art, the corny accent-free dialog, the simplified battles, not to mention the fact that you can never die. It doesn't feel anywhere near as rich or detailed as the earlier games, and so I'm very surprised by the high review scores. All this is not to say that it's a bad game; it just doesn't meet expectations and is a step backwards for the franchise. A renter.… Expand
  6. EricE
    Sep 5, 2009
    7
    I really enjoyed this game other than the combat. To me the combat really took away from game. It was very frustrating to push buttons and not have them register. The quicktime events were really bad. They would flash really quickly and most of the time even if you did hit the button it wouldn't register it in time and fail. This game would have been a 8 or 9 for me if it hadn't I really enjoyed this game other than the combat. To me the combat really took away from game. It was very frustrating to push buttons and not have them register. The quicktime events were really bad. They would flash really quickly and most of the time even if you did hit the button it wouldn't register it in time and fail. This game would have been a 8 or 9 for me if it hadn't been for the combat. I really enjoyed the wall climbing and collecting all the energy orbs. It was a definite rental for me and maybe a $10-15 purchase eventually.… Expand
  7. SamuelHutchison
    Dec 6, 2008
    7
    Non-linear gameplay is a big buzzword these days, but it only adds replay value if things change depending on what order you do them in. In PoP you can do things in any order you want, but which zones you've already cleared has no affect on what you're doing now, or what you do next. You could play it again and do everything backwards, but why?
  8. TjarkK
    Jan 18, 2009
    6
    In the visual department, Prince of Persia is simply brilliant. I applaud the choice of using an artificial instead of realistical look. It is nice to see that developers start using the graphics power available to them for more innovation, e. g. the way the "corruption" is drawn. The other aspects of this game, however, are deeply lacking. It's not a bad game as such, but it plays In the visual department, Prince of Persia is simply brilliant. I applaud the choice of using an artificial instead of realistical look. It is nice to see that developers start using the graphics power available to them for more innovation, e. g. the way the "corruption" is drawn. The other aspects of this game, however, are deeply lacking. It's not a bad game as such, but it plays way too easy, except for the end, when the difficulty is suddenly raised. Platforming is unchallenging, there's only a handful of situations where you really need to find out a tricky jump sequence or the like - and that only if you want to collect all light seeds. Level design is repetitive in terms of gameplay and looks. The game contains concept art galleries which show what could have been - unfortunately you won't find most of the ideas and looks in the actual game. The fights suck. First of all, you cannot move freely, instead you are connected to your opponent via an "invisible rubber band". In theory, you should try to master the various fight combos, but in reality many opponents have blocking moves that will interrupt your chained combo. It's easier to just keep hammering away on the buttons. Elika can be used in combat only when you are standing near enough to your target, which is hardly believable for a game character that flies around between "power plates" in the rest of the game. Stopping the enemies' special attacks requires you to quickly press a button displayed on the screen. This type of "challenge" has never been one of my favourites. PoP screws it up even more by not consistently matching recognizable attack patterns and required button presses - meaning that it becomes a test of reaction, not skill. The most annoying and disappointing things about PoP are the dialogue and the characters. The Prince and Elika both change their mood all the time during dialogue, and their lines sound like they've been ripped from either a crappy buddy movie or romantic comedy - yet romance is the least that comes across in the dialogue, which makes a significant aspect of the game unbelievable. Why couldn't Ubisoft keep with the mystical, oriental fairy-tale approach that they used for the graphics? The dialogue is plastered with stereotypical patterns which seem to cater very much to US-centric culture - and in a very unimaginative way, too. The stereotype used for the prince seems to have been "cool, careless surfer guy", which is totally unbelievable in the given setting. Some examples for cringe-worthy dialogue: When Elika saves the prince from a drop etc., she says things like "Try to be more careful". She constantly repeats lines like "We have to keep moving" or "We have to reach the top" over and over. It's hard to believe that an independent rogue character would follow this bossy, even condescending girl, however pretty she may be. Conversely, I don't see why Elika would put so much trust into a dumb, sometimes whiny "Prince". It's really a shame how much Ubisoft failed with the characters. Had the stunning visuals been paired with characters true to the fairy-tale background, more interesting platforming and less annoying fights, this game could have been brilliant. It's still some fun to play through, but only once.… Expand
  9. dupplawt
    Apr 25, 2011
    6
    Having never played a Prince of Persia game before, this was my first and I enjoyed it from start to finish. The gameplay was repetitive, but I enjoyed the company of the characters and I love the art style. There isn't much to go back and replay once completed, but I found that just playing to try and collect all the orbs was fun enough to keep me interested, disregarding the bossHaving never played a Prince of Persia game before, this was my first and I enjoyed it from start to finish. The gameplay was repetitive, but I enjoyed the company of the characters and I love the art style. There isn't much to go back and replay once completed, but I found that just playing to try and collect all the orbs was fun enough to keep me interested, disregarding the boss battles. It's definitely worth a rent, or £5/$10. 3/5.… Expand
  10. aspentitan
    Feb 11, 2015
    6
    This is a game that you can pass on playing simply because there is no challenge being that you cannot die. On one hand its nice to save you from aggavation but on the other I don't really enjoy the whole feeling like that game assumes you are an idiot and this is necessary. It made me think im in the wrong demographic for this game and at first i thought that was the issue but then iThis is a game that you can pass on playing simply because there is no challenge being that you cannot die. On one hand its nice to save you from aggavation but on the other I don't really enjoy the whole feeling like that game assumes you are an idiot and this is necessary. It made me think im in the wrong demographic for this game and at first i thought that was the issue but then i thought about it some more and the game could have been made for noobs and hardcore fans with various difficulty settings. Anyway the game is a trivial time waster one of those games you just play until eventually the software ends. The game reminded me of being in a cartoon and at times i enjoyed the lightheartedness and the characters were moderately cute but ultimately on a system with so many games and so little time id have to say that this is an easy pass.… Expand
  11. Flapjack
    Oct 22, 2010
    7
    Well made and a joy to run around in. I found this game quite relaxing and it's no way as bad as most people would say. A game I want in my collection.
  12. Notdavidbowie
    Jun 21, 2012
    5
    Prince of Persia is a game that always had a place for me. The two thrones being one of my favourite games to date. This game, does not hold such places. When I started up the game I found myself going, "wow! This looks great!", which honestly, it did. The Graphics are beautiful with great surroundings to fit. Though the gameplay does not hold up. The game is fun for about 3 hours untilPrince of Persia is a game that always had a place for me. The two thrones being one of my favourite games to date. This game, does not hold such places. When I started up the game I found myself going, "wow! This looks great!", which honestly, it did. The Graphics are beautiful with great surroundings to fit. Though the gameplay does not hold up. The game is fun for about 3 hours until you get sick of the fighting mechanic. In short it's basically, Hit hit hit, use magic, use claw, hit hit hit OR hit hit hit kick off edge. The game is FULL of quick time events, they practically populate the boss fights, most of them being button mashers with unfair expectancy to complete. You can't actually die in this game either, you're brought instantly back by your partner. This sounds great, but destroys any use of difficulty. If you want a Prince of Persia were there is violence, difficulty, time reversal and epic weapons, this is NOT the game. Sadly.… Expand
  13. Aquaris475
    May 26, 2013
    6
    Prince of Persia is a great series. the original games are pretty cool, and the sands of time games are my favorites in the series. But did anyone, ANYONE, ask for a reboot? I know I didn't. The story for the game is probably the best aspect of the game. It is very well written, and I found myself surprised that I cared for the characters. The gameplay actually isn't that great. most ofPrince of Persia is a great series. the original games are pretty cool, and the sands of time games are my favorites in the series. But did anyone, ANYONE, ask for a reboot? I know I didn't. The story for the game is probably the best aspect of the game. It is very well written, and I found myself surprised that I cared for the characters. The gameplay actually isn't that great. most of the time, you're just climbing around areas, trying not to die(Which you cannot do, as Elika will always save the Prince.), which gets real boring, and the combat was very minimal and bland. The graphics for the game are nice. the many colors in the world make the world of this game feel alive, and you feel like you want to help a corrupted environment. the soundtrack is ok at best. Most tracks are forgettable, but some, like the main theme, will be ones that get stuck in your head. one aspect that turned me off of Prince of Persia is the orb collecting. there are so many orbs to collect, and after flag collecting in Assassin's Creed, I really didn't want to bother. The problem here, however, is that a certain number of orbs are required to continue the game. This was what shut me down on Prince of Persia for a couple months. Another poor aspect is voice acting. the main characters, The Prince and Elika, are well developed, but their voice actors, or anyone else, don't seem to fit the part for me. Overall, Prince of Persia is a reboot that wasn't needed. the story and graphics are nice, but the gameplay, a game's most important aspect, is seriously boring, the voice acting wasn't that good, and the combat is bland. If you like the Prince of Persia series, I wouldn't recommend this title.… Expand
  14. Steyraus
    Sep 13, 2020
    5
    Definitely not the prince at his best. A lot more platforming, lesd combat, a lot more trial and error in traversal and a lot more frustration as you try to collect all the orb.. I look like Ellica is a doll, but I could not stand the princes voice acting, it the same guy that sounds like he is in every games these days.
  15. Harbyinger
    Nov 19, 2017
    7
    I picked this game up over 10 years ago, attracted by the "Prince of Persia" logo

    The good in this game 1)the graphics, i'm not a graphics mad guy, but this game for the time it came out was gorgeous, this is certainly a big point in favour for this game 2)The dialogue While some hated the dialogue, i liked the PC talks with Elika, slowly opening up with each other with the sharp    I picked this game up over 10 years ago, attracted by the "Prince of Persia" logo

    The good in this game
    1)the graphics, i'm not a graphics mad guy, but this game for the time it came out was gorgeous, this is certainly a big point in favour for this game

    2)The dialogue
    While some hated the dialogue, i liked the PC talks with Elika, slowly opening up with each other with the sharp humor of the PC apparently selfish hiding a good side with the good natured naivity of Elika making the bond they form feel real.

    The bad
    1)The combat
    The combat feels bad, even if some of the animations look cool, they don't give a satisfying feel of giving a good thrashing to the bosses.
    The combat is QTEreaction based where you have to press the right button to pierce the enemy's defenses (the right object you need to use glows alongside the enemy, blue for sword, yellow sparks for gauntlet and black for Elika's magic)
    The most annoying part is that some of the bosses have the ability of countering you and doing random special attacks that can instantly take you out and require you to press a button (QTE) to avoid their attacks otherwise you lose and while Elika saves you, the enemy regains around 30% of their health
    also if the bosses are pushed against a wall, they teleport behind you while if you are pushed on a wall you're forced to do a QTE or else lose and let them regain health.
    These last "special" attacks increase drastically as the game progresses

    2)The art concept and 3d design failed communication
    Let me explain this as this a big negative point.
    TL,DR

    It doesn't feel like the area they described, but just a weirdly assembled empty corridors faked as buildings

    Watching the extra videos that show the concept art of the game, i was shocked that the in-game area it looked nothing like the art concept where the concept was showing really beatifully designed areas that fit the description that the in-game dialogue and story gives us
    .
    The areas for example the citadel concept was showing a mostly intact yet deserted military fortification complex with interior areas with watchtowers and rooms
    the mills concept shows the structure separated but close to the citadel ,looked like a proper mill with the water flowing to make the mechanism work, while the in-game version shows nothing of this.

    the city concept showed abandoned streets with ruined market stalls, houses, temples and the towers.

    The royal palace concept showed the royal towers built on these rock spikes rising up from the chasm, connected by long bridges and corridors(not in the game) while was showing explorable interior rooms with decorations that made it actually look like a palace, it was really cool looking.
    The in-game palace is not connected by these bridges but conveniently placed wooden poles and pillars sticking from the ground , as the great majority of the path are non existant and stairs don't even exist, also when you're inside the "palace" is just a bunch of ruins that require platforming fest same like the other areas to get through
    no interior rooms, no stairs, no decorations, just a bunch of poles and rings to get to the top with the occasional power plate.
    Taking one area, the royal gardens, the "gardens" are just a water feeding mechanisms but no space for the plants, yet no hints that originally there were, Elika says that the corruption killed the trees but for some strange reason the grass is just fine.

    As if they were designed so to fit the level designer that felt that to get anywhere we need the repetitive platforming,while i don't mind platforming, it would have been good to reward the player by making them able to have a "quick" way up and down to the fertile ground once healed, like a corruption covered staircase.    … Expand
  16. gamingisgreat
    Jan 2, 2017
    5
    Prince of Persia's 2008 reboot is a mediocre game and very disappointing compared to the Sands of Time trilogy.

    The gameplay is decent,with solid platforming,though the combat is terrible and the controls are very unresponsive at times.Also,you cannot die,as the girl you have to protect always saves you if you get slaughtered in combat or fall off a ledge in platforming.I actually quite    Prince of Persia's 2008 reboot is a mediocre game and very disappointing compared to the Sands of Time trilogy.

    The gameplay is decent,with solid platforming,though the combat is terrible and the controls are very unresponsive at times.Also,you cannot die,as the girl you have to protect always saves you if you get slaughtered in combat or fall off a ledge in platforming.I actually quite like it as you don't have to go through loading screens,which is nice.

    The graphics are beautiful,and the framerate is solid.

    Sound design is decent,and the soundtrack is decent aswell.

    Overall,Prince Of Persia is a decent action-platformer    … Expand
  17. Charlybs
    Jan 30, 2018
    7
    Estéticamente es bonito aunque el diseño del mapa en general no me convence. Muy rejugable para conseguir todas las semillas de luz y los logros de ir a un sitio a otro en un tiempo determinado. La historia es lo más genérica del mundo y los combates un poco simples.

Awards & Rankings

41
#41 Best Xbox 360 Game of 2008
32
#32 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2008
17
#17 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2008

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 73 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 57 out of 73
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 73
  3. Negative: 0 out of 73
  1. GameCritics
    70
    The game's core mechanics are all still there, neatly created and presented stunningly. But underneath this evident beauty, Prince of Persia fails to deliver on any sort of a challenge, and instead of carrying on the proud tradition of the series, deviates to a considerable and damaging extent because of its simple gameplay and excessive accessibility.
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  2. Game Positive
    80
    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.
    Read full review
  3. Xbox World 360 Magazine UK
    61
    Newcomers are likely to get more out of this new trilogy's opening than veterans, who know much better. [Feb 2009, p.74]
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