An Ode to Prince of Persia: Part the Third: The Sands of Time
October 23, 2008 Filed in: Gaming
In late 2003, and new Prince of Persia title hit
shelves with little fanfare. French gaming company
Ubisoft published the game, and
it was developed internally by the same team who
was behind the original Splinter Cell games. Details on
the development of the game were scant, and
Ubisoft didn't even reveal the title until a few
months before its release. It had been four
years since a Prince title had come out, and
expectations were low. Could Ubisoft bring the
Prince into the modern gaming age where others
had failed?
They did.
When playing the newer Prince of Persia games, the camera is puled back from the Prince most of the time, giving you a better view of the surrounding environment. The acrobatics are facilitated by (what I like to call) magnetic physics. Knowing the limitations of 3D terrains in performing complex platforming, Ubisoft coded a fairly forgiving physics engine that granted some leeway in lining up jumps. It is implemented so smoothly, though, that the gamer is seldom aware that the game is compensating a bit. Additionally, it helps that the Prince himself has a will to live and will grab ledges and cliffs you might accidentally walk him off. Still, it is easy to die a lot in these games because it can take some experimentation to figure out exactly where you're supposed to fling the Prince.
That's where the Dagger of Time comes in, a magical weapon powered by the titular Sands of Time. As long as the Dagger is powered up, the Prince can alter the flow of time around him. He can slow time down while he keeps moving at normal speed. The sands can power devastating attacks, but, most importantly, the sands allow the Prince to rewind time, giving the player an instant retry in the case of a missed jump or a fatal fall. The acrobatic exploration coupled with the time manipulation mechanics gives this trilogy a very unique place among modern games.
In the third game, The Two Thrones, he heads home with the Empress of Time only to find it ransacked by the betrayer Vizier the Prince killed in the first game, who isn't dead now thanks to the second game. The Vizier kills the Empress, recreating the Sands, and the Prince has to fix everything. In the process, the Prince (now partially turned into a sand monster) runs into the Princess he saved in the first game, who – of course – has no idea who he is, and together they redeem the kingdom and the Prince's slowly corrupting soul. In the end, the player hears the Prince narrating the exact same dialogue that opened the first game, thus bringing the convoluted timeline full circle.
Hey look, an hourglass, and spike traps are very popular in Persia!
Levels are gorgeous, and the Prince can run on walls!
The Warrior Within features even better level design and a sprawling temple that fits seamlessly together, allowing the player to explore the complex in a far less linear progression than the fist game. The combat system is tweaked, allowing for dual weapons and specialized combos. You can also take more advantage of the environment when fighting enemies. Another high-point comes with the Dakhaka chases that demand fast thinking and precision controls to complete. However, the games darker tone and dominatrix female villains take something from the game. It's hard to take a fight seriously when you're wondering how on earth her outfit is staying on during combat! Aesthetic issues aside though, Warrior Within is an improvement over The Sands of Time in almost every way. In some ways, it's my favorite of the three even if it is the hardest.
Time traveling and fighting a woman in a metal thong. You'd think that would put her at a disadvantage. You'd think that, but you'd be WRONG!
Some enemies are pretty manageable, but others are ginormous!
The Two Thrones mixes the two previous games, bringing the Prince out of the darkness and back to the light, so to speak. It added a few mechanics to the gameplay, such as the Dark Prince abilities when his corruption is threatening to take over. (These sections are made all the more difficult because the Prince's health drops continuously when he is the Dark Prince.) Also, a stealth mechanic allows the player to bypass some of the normal combat. This game's Achilles' heel comes by way of graphical glitches. The game feels slightly rushed through development, and this is evident in the visual glitches and clipping issues that pervade the game, though they never affect gameplay. While still a great game, the Two Thrones left me wondering where they could go from here.
Breathtaking level design and the Dark Prince.
It's easy to die on a chariot, and the Prince shows off his balancing skills.
In our final look back at the Prince of Persia franchise, we'll look ahead at the Prince's newest outing on the PlayStation 3 and XBox 360.
All images in this post are from the great mobygames.com.
They did.
Entering the Third Dimension the Right Way
The new Prince of Persia games, released in 2003-2005, create a trilogy named after the first game The Sands of Time. The other two games were called The Warrior Within and The Two Thrones. These games feature intense combat as well as the acrobatic standard set by the original games. The developers introduced a variety of new moves for the prince, including rolling, wall-running, and wall-jumping. The combat system was equally refined, initially allowing acrobatic melee combat and eventually allowing multiple weapons in the second two games.When playing the newer Prince of Persia games, the camera is puled back from the Prince most of the time, giving you a better view of the surrounding environment. The acrobatics are facilitated by (what I like to call) magnetic physics. Knowing the limitations of 3D terrains in performing complex platforming, Ubisoft coded a fairly forgiving physics engine that granted some leeway in lining up jumps. It is implemented so smoothly, though, that the gamer is seldom aware that the game is compensating a bit. Additionally, it helps that the Prince himself has a will to live and will grab ledges and cliffs you might accidentally walk him off. Still, it is easy to die a lot in these games because it can take some experimentation to figure out exactly where you're supposed to fling the Prince.
That's where the Dagger of Time comes in, a magical weapon powered by the titular Sands of Time. As long as the Dagger is powered up, the Prince can alter the flow of time around him. He can slow time down while he keeps moving at normal speed. The sands can power devastating attacks, but, most importantly, the sands allow the Prince to rewind time, giving the player an instant retry in the case of a missed jump or a fatal fall. The acrobatic exploration coupled with the time manipulation mechanics gives this trilogy a very unique place among modern games.
As Sand Through the Hourglass, So Are the Days of Our Prince
This trilogy has the most complicated plot of any Prince of Persia game to date, and the player actually has to pay attention or end up terribly confused. I'm not going to go into details here (lest this essay become too epic), but here's the gist. By the time you complete the first game (as a new Prince) and slay a Vizier who betrayed the Prince's father, you've erased all of the events of the first game because the Prince ends up killing the traitor before he gets a chance to do his thing. This makes the Dahaka, the Guardian of Time, very upset, so it decides it must kill the Prince to set the timeline straight. This leads to The Warrior Within where the Prince goes to the Island of Time, travels into the past, and prevents the sands from ever being created, thus undoing everything that even led up the first two games and getting the Dahaka off his back (only if you get the good ending).In the third game, The Two Thrones, he heads home with the Empress of Time only to find it ransacked by the betrayer Vizier the Prince killed in the first game, who isn't dead now thanks to the second game. The Vizier kills the Empress, recreating the Sands, and the Prince has to fix everything. In the process, the Prince (now partially turned into a sand monster) runs into the Princess he saved in the first game, who – of course – has no idea who he is, and together they redeem the kingdom and the Prince's slowly corrupting soul. In the end, the player hears the Prince narrating the exact same dialogue that opened the first game, thus bringing the convoluted timeline full circle.
Practically Perfect In Every Way
The Sands of Time nails the level design and platforming elements. The time manipulation prevents the challenging jumping and climbing puzzles from becoming frustrating, and the visuals are stunning. The only place where the Prince lacks in his first new outing is in the way of combat. He really only has two or three attacks, and the fights can become very repetitive. Fortunately, combat is not central to this game. Also interesting is the introduction of a second character. The player never controls the princess Farah, but she helps out both in combat and in figuring out environmental puzzles. You have to be careful in combat though. Both enemies and the Prince can damage her, and her death ends the game. This adds an element of strategy to combat situations.
Hey look, an hourglass, and spike traps are very popular in Persia!
Levels are gorgeous, and the Prince can run on walls!
The Warrior Within features even better level design and a sprawling temple that fits seamlessly together, allowing the player to explore the complex in a far less linear progression than the fist game. The combat system is tweaked, allowing for dual weapons and specialized combos. You can also take more advantage of the environment when fighting enemies. Another high-point comes with the Dakhaka chases that demand fast thinking and precision controls to complete. However, the games darker tone and dominatrix female villains take something from the game. It's hard to take a fight seriously when you're wondering how on earth her outfit is staying on during combat! Aesthetic issues aside though, Warrior Within is an improvement over The Sands of Time in almost every way. In some ways, it's my favorite of the three even if it is the hardest.
Time traveling and fighting a woman in a metal thong. You'd think that would put her at a disadvantage. You'd think that, but you'd be WRONG!
Some enemies are pretty manageable, but others are ginormous!
The Two Thrones mixes the two previous games, bringing the Prince out of the darkness and back to the light, so to speak. It added a few mechanics to the gameplay, such as the Dark Prince abilities when his corruption is threatening to take over. (These sections are made all the more difficult because the Prince's health drops continuously when he is the Dark Prince.) Also, a stealth mechanic allows the player to bypass some of the normal combat. This game's Achilles' heel comes by way of graphical glitches. The game feels slightly rushed through development, and this is evident in the visual glitches and clipping issues that pervade the game, though they never affect gameplay. While still a great game, the Two Thrones left me wondering where they could go from here.
Breathtaking level design and the Dark Prince.
It's easy to die on a chariot, and the Prince shows off his balancing skills.
Fun Facts
- The forgiving physics allows you to glitch your way out of the library in The Sands of Time. I actually didn't discover the proper route out of there until my second play-through.
- The second two games are very gory, but you can turn off the blood in the settings menu. With this option, villains will "bleed" sand instead. It actually looks pretty cool.
- You have to get the good ending in the second game for the third to make any sense. In fact, you need it for the third game to exist at all!
- The clipping issues in the third game sometimes result in Farah's hair coming out of her chest!
- The third game has "nudity" cited as a reason for the M rating. I don't know why.
- Prince of Persia Revelations for the PSP is basically the same as The Warrior Within, and Prince of Persia: Rival Swords for the Wii is the same as The Two Thrones. Why do they have different names? You got me.
Wrapping Up
The Sands of Time trilogy proved that the fundamentals of Prince of Persia gameplay could indeed enter the third dimension successfully. The use of time manipulation was a brilliant addition to the mechanics as well as a nice way of reducing frustration. In all, these games rank among my favorites on the PlayStation 2.In our final look back at the Prince of Persia franchise, we'll look ahead at the Prince's newest outing on the PlayStation 3 and XBox 360.
All images in this post are from the great mobygames.com.