Prince Of Persia

[bingowings]

late to the party as usual. just picked the Xbox version up this weekend :/. and the only question i have to ask is why didn't i get this earlier!? quite, quite excellent. about 85% through already, which worries me a little bit. only gripes are the wild camera during combat - any room with pillars, or an enclosed area and it goes a bit wonky. plus the voice track is way off, which i've heard other people complaining about.

it is a pure joy to play when you are in full swing, running along walls and swinging from flagpoles. making giant leaps from ledge to ledge, bouncing from pillar to pillar. wonderful like i have said, i have no idea why it has taken me so long to get this. i'm glad i have though.

[Len]

It's great isn't it...?

I've even taken to forcing and then watching my flatmate play his way through it after enjoying it so much the first time round.

[spagmasterswift]

Started playing this too, I'm about 1/3 of the way through trying not to watch the visions (had to check one so far as I was completely stumped - turns out I had to leave the room and back track which I wasn't expecting).

Keep think to myself "If that?s how I have to get there this game is sooo clever" and then comes the big smile!

Not loving the combat though, there seems to be one set of spawning bad guys too many in each encounter.

You been busted by the girl for checking her out yet?

[bingowings]

finished it today - over a bit too quickly for my liking, although i did enjoy every minute. the visions were a little intrusive and sometimes ruined the exploration, but i soon forgot about them once i was actually playing the level(s) because the paths and routes seemed entirely natural and logical. a triumph of thoughtful level design - never once did i get comletely stuck. combat can be a bit of a trial, but after a while it becomes second nature to guard, parry, roll, leap, duck, bounce, flip, stab, hack and run away .

[spagmasterswift]

I'm down with the running away bit!

[Matt]

Guess I'm not the only one who has just started playing this! I like it a lot, but the combat is crap. Sorry, but that spoils the game for me. If they'd removed that element it would be brilliant. At least the combat gets better when you get the final sword - if you had that from the start I'd have enjoyed it more.

Still the platform stuff is great, very much like Ico. Quite surprised how quickly you can get through it (a day) but then I'd prefer a focused 8 hours to a rambling 20.

[spagmasterswift]

At the start I wasn't feeling the rewind. I know its part of the game but it pained me to have to use it (especially the sound it makes), if I'm going for a jump I needed to be pretty sure I could make it, scouting out all the angles.

I'm just over halfway through now and the tempo has started to pick up, with crumbling walk ways and bat attacks its getting quite exciting. No time for checking out a route, just leg it!

Love the pick up and put downess too, shed loads of save points = just the game I need at the moment.

[Ady]

Thought I'd bump this as I'm finally playing through this game properly right now and I'm really enjoying it (PS2 version).

It features some ingenious level design, and the way the Prince's many moves all work together is laudable.

My only gripe is the camera that can sometimes be incredibly treacherous. Sometimes, it just doesn't give you the view you need of a given area, making it difficult for you to manouvre properly. Having it disappear behind a pillar during combat is also incredibly trying.

The controls can also be a little unresponsive at times as well, which has cost me many a valuable rewind in critical moments.

As for the combat, I love it. A lot of people complain about this area the most, but I think it's great fun!

A special mention must also go to the dialogue, the interplay between the prince and Farah is very well executed and adds a charming touch to the story. That the game integrates story progression with gameplay (rather than constantly stopping the action to show cutscenes) is an especially noteworthy touch.

[Geoff D]

A special mention must also go to the dialogue, the interplay between the prince and Farah is very well executed and adds a charming touch to the story. That the game integrates story progression with gameplay (rather than constantly stopping the action to show cutscenes) is an especially noteworthy touch.

Absolutely - this for me was the strongest aspect of the game; that their relationship manages to be genuinely affecting adds a superb emotional slant to proceedings.

Great game. I'm going to play through it again at the weekend I think.

[Ady]

OK, I finished this last night.

Lovely game. It really is. I enjoyed every minute.

The ending also made me laugh when

->Open Spoiler<-

the prince kisses Farah before handing her the dagger, only for her to recoil in shock, causing him to rewind it!

The only complaint I have isn't the combat (I actually enjoyed most of it), but the camera, which has a habit of giving you some truly awkward views. Oftentimes, it suddenly switched to a view behind a wall in the middle of a huge melee, which exasperated me no end.

Anyway, I now have two questions:

1. Under 'Options' on the title screen, there's a greyed-out 'Prince of Persia' option. I assume it's an unlock of the original? How do you access it?

2. Does anyone know where to get an mp3 of the end theme?

Er... that's it.

[Commander Marklar]

1) It's in the bit where the mirrors are; there is a breakable bit of wall IIRC, one finds it there.

2) I have one but you can't have it 'cos I'm such a nice guy. P2P it or something, I've uploaded the soundtrack enough times before now. I think Ubi had it for download at some point.

I thought he deliberately rewinds time, that's the impression I got. But there you go.

[Ady]

So the game does have replay value then.

Thaks for that, I can always rely on you to be obnoxious over and beyond the call of duty.

[Commander Marklar]

Replay value? Nope, most of us were good enough to unlock it first run through. And here you go love, don't be a dirty pirate all your life.

[Ady]

most of us were good enough to unlock it first run through

Ooh! Get her!

Anyway, it's alright I don't need your services anymore. Love.

And asking where something can be obtained doesn't break any laws I know of.

Do run along, your bridge is calling.

[mid]

asking where something can be obtained doesn't break any laws I know of

Do not provide links to, or ask for Iso's, Roms or any other such "warez" .

Last I looked, copyrighted mp3 files come under the heading "warez".

As for unlocking the original PoP, it was covered just about everywhere (I remember reading it on the First Play thread) at the time of release. In addition, he looks at the wall rather pointedly when you come into the room, if I remember rightly. It certainly wasn't difficult to find, I thought.