Prince of Persia Redux Impressions
I think I’ve played enough of Ubisoft Montreal’s latest Prince of Persia iteration to understand the core mechanics and style of the game. And really, I think they’ve milked their last cow. Let’s call it Prince of Persia Montreal Edition, because fuck, there are so many iterations of this god damned franchise.
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I was really surprised to find that Prince of Persia Montreal Edition (or POP ME) was receiving an average 85% on both Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles. I didn’t think this game was incredibly innovate or unique, or even had that short term play-itch that tends to get me from title to title.
It’s not that the game is poorly designed or developed. In fact, quite the opposite. I really like the writing style and art direction that this game has taken. The Prince’s sarcastic but whimsical tone, combined with vibrant colours and a balanced combination of mechanical and natural environments makes It feel like I’m playing an Aladdin action movie. But I don’t know if that’s good or bad. The adult in me doesn’t really appreciate this style anymore. It feels rash and immature. On the other hand, the Michael Jackson in me absolutely loves it. Where the fuck is my genie? Oh right. Elika. I have a hot genie. Awesome.
However, this is only aesthetic. While I completely agree with Alison Haislip’s brilliant observation that the writing is good, and the graphics are good, I really don’t think the “play of the game” will keep you coming back any time soon. If anything, it’s the writing and the graphics, and even then, I crave something more.
Are Counter-Terrorism and Wall Running the only things that Ubisoft knows? Are they really milking their cows down to the last drop? Will it only be a matter of time before we see Prince of Vegas: Recon Assassin? Actually … that would be pretty fucking sick.
Let us know what you think…
No time for Prince of Persia, too little time for Left 4 Dead!
Finally got past my first campaign on expert today! Dead Air is my bitch! haha
Plus I learned of a really awesome tactic to get past the last chapter on Dead Air that worked amazingly well that anyone can do and which I will be going into more detail on later when I start putting up the first parts of SF’s Left 4 Dead Strategy Guide in the coming days.
So yeah just to reiterate, I’m not excited to play Prince of Persia at all, the one on one (or 2 on 1) combat feels a little tacked on to me. The real gameplay, lies in the platforming elements but I find the the addition of Elika makes it seem a little too easy. If you die trying to get across a drop, she’ll just grab you and tell you not to do that again. They replaced the Sands of Time with this chick, and while she does her job admirably, not getting in the way, having smooth animations and the like, she actually removes the depth that could have made the game a little more challenging and therefore a little more enjoyable.
I think Ubisoft is too busy trying to out pace the critics by striving for the illusive “moving target” in terms of this latest IP reset. I haven’t played the game aside from a small demo at a Playstation event last month, but it seems to me they were receptive to the ‘fatigue’ the franchise was showing from its decidedly ‘emo’ undertones (as Jon so aptly illustrated).
So what do they do? Let’s change how we look at combat. Let’s alter the way we punish the player for missed jumps. Let’s change the colour pallet and characters. Let’s re-think how players will navigate stages.
It seems, however, they failed to re-capture their still-jaded audience. It’s just too hard to get excited about Prince of Persia anymore. Wall-running was really cool six or seven years ago, but gamers demand more. And why shouldn’t we?
I’m wondering how this game compares to the new Tomb Raider, another fledgling franchise not immune to the occasional reset. To the indiscriminate gamer (or for someone like me, who hasn’t really spent any time with either), these games draw a lot of parallels in terms of basic gameplay. Run, jump, shimmy, roll – followed by the occasional baddie. And while both games were generally well received, neither managed to resonate with gamers the way Sands of Time did way back on the last gen consoles.
I think I’m just yammering at this point, but if I have to distill my long-winded soap-box commentary into something coherent, I’d say that there are some franchises you have to let die in the ground before you go digging it up again. Prince of Persia deserves a good dirt nap.
Splinter Cell, on the other hand, is a franchise I’m looking forward to getting into again. I thought Double Agent was a fun diversion, and I think Conviction has a lot of potential, provided they can get that ’social camouflage’ thingy working correctly.
Bill – All too observant. You’re absolutely right, they made various attempts to rework combat and movement, but didn’t find anything that actually allowed a player to flow, as some hipsters would pretend to say. But they flopped. Instead of a graceful wallrun somersault vault over the spiked chasm, they fucking fell in and were consequently stabbed in the face.
Okay, maybe that’s a bit extreme. It’s not a bad game, but its definitely nothing to stop time over (see what I did there?). In any event, it’s not up to snuff for Ubi. Amrit’s right too, the combat does feel tacked on, and they have replaced the sands of time with a tanned genie girl.
I did manage to play the Tomb Raider Underworld demo … if both Prince of Persia and Tomb Raider series are in need of taking a dirt nap, I know where we can get a shotgun and some molotov cocktails.
Jon – let me just say that “fucking fell” is the epitome of alliteration and the inclusion of “stabbed in the face” really brings it home. As someone who appreciates a lot of fucking violence and curse words, I salute you.
Prince of Persia is definitely one of the best movies this year…`