Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

When Prince of Persia was first unleashed to the public in 1989, gamers were stunned with it's deep puzzle solving and impressive animations. It was hailed by critics and quickly went on to become a cult classic, seeing release on every platform imaginable. It was the inspiration for Sony's hit Flashback and the genesis for motion capture video games today. 1993 saw the release of the second in the series of Jordan Mechner's tale of love and honor in the East and was met with yet more critical acclaim and even more commercial success. Unfortunately, as the 90's wore on, the Prince lost his way, fumbling in 3D and fading into obscurity by the millenium.

After years and years without an original title in the series, gamers will finally see the triumphant return of the Prince of Persia

Enter Ubi Soft. Under the penmanship of Prince of Persia creator Mr. Jordan Mechner, Ubi Soft Montreal, the creators of such praised blockbusters as Splinter Cell, are resurrecting the legendary franchise and bringing it - beautifully - into the 21st century. Armed with a newly redesigned Prince and Princess, Sands of Time hopes to breathe new life into the 3D adventuring genre as well as re-invent Prince of Persia itself. The story kicks off with the Persian army kidnapping and enslaving Farra, the daughter of the Indian Maharajah, as well as the theft of artifacts from her late fathers Kingdom which include a mysterious hourglass, a medallion given to her by her father and an ornate dagger. Contrary to it's predecessors, the Princess in Sands of Time is neither a hopeless romantic nor a helpless victim. Instead, she is one of the games principal characters, possessing invaluable information regarding the Sands of Time and lending a helping hand in fighting off the forces of evil with her bow and arrow. You can even use her to solve puzzles with the Prince.

At the beginning of the story we are introduced to the new dynamic in that the relationship between Prince and Princess is not one that is a perfect example of a story book romance. In fact, Farra is initially disgusted with the Prince which spurns a somewhat volatile relationship between the two characters which gradually evolves as the story progresses. The Prince first begins to interact with Farra upon the quick realization that the Sands of Time, which have been disimprisoned and are wreaking havoc across the world, have had no effect on her as they have had no effect on him. This is because of the medallion her father gave her and because of the ornate dagger that the Prince happened to acquire. The Prince's magic dagger adds a new dimension to the classic platform adventuring as it enables the Prince to manipulate time. Players can effectively 'rewind' and 'fastforward' the passage of time ala Blinx the Timesweeper on X-Box, or slow it down, ala the bullet time featured in the now legendary Max Payne. Needless to say the effects of such manipulations are breathtaking.

Here is our hero the Prince, in all his 3D glory.

While the time traveling aspect of the game is a fresh perspective on the same platforming formula, the game itself is still centered on puzzle solving and adventuring, sometimes boiling down to simple trial and error. The Prince is a gifted athlete, swinging off poles and bouncing off of walls and performing all sorts of acrobatic feats, all beautifully animated in the true tradition of Prince of Persia. The combat, while not the focus of the game, is simple and intense, using simple direction based attacks and evasive maneuvers and provides ample balance for the puzzle solving and adventuring so heavily featured in the game.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is expected to arrive for the GameCube on the 18th of Novemeber. Expect a review here on Toocubed not long thereafter.