Prince of Persia Comments by Ellie Gibson

congrates

"Someone should tell her pedal pushers are well Y2K5, too."
Lost on nerds :/

"His new sidekick, Elika, also sounds like she's from Montreal, though she's dressed like a mail-order bride from Minsk."

Know a lot of mailorder brides, do you? Maybe from personal experience, eh? *wink* *wink* *unudge* nudge*

QTE I see. Also, I thought Sands of Time was slow already.

Alarm bells are ringing in my head...

They started when I heard that you are being forced to play the game the way the developers think you should.

And then when the description of how the developers think it shold be played sounded incredubly dull, they got louder!!

This whole preview has triggered massive alarm bells. It sounds like there are still an awful lot of problems to overcome between now and release. Certainly sounds like this could be less essential than I first thought.

I like the idea of a slower more considered approach to fights. Button mashing can be fun every once in a while but I prefer the one-on-one do or die fight where skill is the determining factor rather than how much caffeine you have in your system.

Shame about the dialog though.

What was wrong with making a more elegant combat system with what they already had?

QTE's are QTE's, not matter how you dress them. A single evade button would suffice.

"rather than the aggressive, spastic button-mashing that other combat games sometimes feature"

Did he really say that? Sheesh.

Sound like the voice acting suffers from 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves' syndrome.

Bad voice acting and dialogue is not a game breaker for me, but it does seriously diminish any enjoyment I have (See, particularly, Yakuza 1, MGS4, any FF game and Assassin's Creed).

I don't like the sound of just jumping at a wall to 'wall run'. If I'm not mistaken Ninja Gaiden employed a similar system and I found it to be horribly trail & error and random; luckily it wasn't all that necessary in that game, in POP however I imagine it's alot more vital.

Reading throguh the rest of the article, and taking my comment above in hand, Mattes seems to have a bit of a chip on his shoulder about traditional quick paces fighting games.

I realise that PoP isn't God of War, and neither should it be. However, being different is only good if you provide at least the same level of quality. I worry that change for change's sake has crept in here.

I hold judgement for the full review though.

Not sounding good. Pity.

Well, at least they changed that combat... That has always been the worst bit. Whether or not it is better remains to be seen though....
Platforming sounds worrying though - why can't they make it fluid speed-run through a massive tower, like the best bits in the original? Sounds (dare I say it) a bit dumbed down, as if building on the assassin's creed engine left them with some over-simplified platform controls.

So they really messed it up basically. It sounds like it is neither fun nor instinctive to play in any way what so ever! Basically, in order to get a cinematic combat system, they have resoirted to the old press X to watch cinematic combat move A, then press Y to see combat move B etc. etc. No real player initiative in the combat at all. Then compund that with the wall runs not working unless you are at the right angle and you just know that the producer simply doesn't seem to understand how to create fun gameplay!

Basically he's taken over the POP franchise without understanding it.

That whole adding a big button and than questioning why people would feel it was a QTE screams of fail already.

I'll wait for the reviews, don't need another AC.

"But Prince of Persia will by no means be the first or last videogame to feature rubbishy dialogue"

Look, videogames need creative scriptwriters and creative editors and creative directors, otherwise they will never grow up. Videogames are becoming so popular amongst the great unwashed, that it's embarassing being a 25 year old playing a game about a Tree of fucking Life in front of your parents, girlfriend, friends, whatever.

I mean, a game like Animal Crossing is obviously aimed at kids, but it's got enough wit and charm in its dialogue to even make grown-ups smile. For action games that are aimed at teenagers, I often think you'd be better off leaving out story, script and dialogue, which would not only save the developer money, but the gameplayer time.

Crosses off the very populated "must buy" list and puts it on the equally populated "maybe" list with games like Mirrors Edge.

Girl looks annoying.

The combat sounds horrible. And the presence of QTEs all but guarantees I won't want to play it.

A bloody shame :(

Could be brilliant, could also turn out as a complete disaster.

I'm not sure I like the idea of the game actually 'punishing' the player when they choose to explore alternate strategies to the one the developers have in mind. I like to experiment throughout when I play games and the idea of there being a 'right' way with everything else 'wrong' may bring a degree of certainty for the more casual player but falls flat for more experienced gamers who are always looking for chinks in the armour to exploit, ways of finishing battles quickly, ways to exploit the AI etc.

It sounds like they're building on the Assassin's Creed template to make something even more casual.

Hmmmm....reading this made it sound like comparing Exploding Fist from the Spectrum to Tekken on the PS.

While it WAS fun to think at about one move per second years ago - things have moved on to split second - making an action adventure game seemingly frustratingly slow to play sounds like a very high risk move that was implemented to try and open it up to the lowest common denominator.

I worry the net result will be a panning by the critics, derision from the old fans ( including me), and the casual gamer it maybe target to capture will ignore en mass.

Dear me, sounds like a lot of hard work.

Think I will pass.

What is it with developers and Quick Time Events? They don't add anything to the game, in fact they ruin the flow of the game. Let us beat the enemy in our own way and then show the stupid cinematic. My high hopes for this game have been diminished after this preview, let's hope Ubisoft pull it together.

And as for Canadian accents and modern language?! Oh dear oh dear...

Facking QTEs...

/shakes fist at Ubi

I'm a big fan of the series and absolutely adore the visual style of this game, but it sounds like it's going to fall short of its potential quite a bit.

I was aware of the "rubbishy dialogue" and poor voice-acting already, which is where I knew that even at its best it could only be a 9/10 game. I mean RE4 had a crap story and poor dialogue, but it's still a game that I've played to completion 3 times and has held up miraculously well over the years. I figured even though this would be no Shadow of the Colossus, it might still be a near-great game.

But the combat does sound worrisome here. I'm all for the slower pace, but it sounds like there's only one right way to get through the combat sequences, which in essence makes them QTEs. That sounds much less fun to me.

The platforming still sounds great and visually it looks as amazing as ever, so I'm sure it will still be pretty good. But I'm not getting my hopes up quite yet about it being worthy of a purchase at launch.

I'm a bit upset about the very un-pc use of the word spastic in the review.
Very un-necessary.

I haven't finished reading this preview yet, but just had to come here and comment on the script. Sounds horrible and pretty much guarantees I won't enjoy whatever the plot is.

I'd rather have a PoP game with as little combat as possible, but lots of puzzles and platforming instead.

Even the otherwise excellent Sands of Time had too much combat for my liking.

Tbh i think they've milked this title waay to much now...
Time for the prince to hang up his boots.

"I'm a bit upset about the very un-pc use of the word spastic in the review.
Very un-necessary. "

Good job the preview's not sponsored by Sony otherwise you'd have to wait 2 weeks to read it.

Lol very true..
how a bout a 'patch' for the preview instead to remove the offending word.

"I'm a little surprised to hear you call it 'quick-time eventy,"

Oh dear. So he's packed it full of QTE's, but he doesn't think they are QTE's, so now he's upset that a professional games journo thinks it's full of QTE's, and he's probably worried because everyone hates QTE's.

Okay, I'm not convinced... first of all, someone should tell this guy that pressing a button at a designated moment to instigate a pre-rendered animation is a Quick Time Event, however you try to dress it up. Other than that, the combat might be a change for the better - it was increasingly focal in the SoT trilogy so a twist and a different pace might be for the best. The platforming sounds dumbed down (how can you get any more simplistic than pressing X to jump and R1 to handle wall-running?!) and the plot and script sounds bloody awful.

To me this sounds like a potentially good game with a shit load of stupid flaws. But of course, we shall keenly wait for the review.

From the review it sounds like POP ver 2.0.

POP for dummies. Did you find Sands of Time or Two Thrones too difficult? Did you struggle to work out the puzzles? Were you defeated by enemies that required skill to defeat? Sick of having to learn how to play the game?

Don't worry! POP the ADD version is here now. With clear easy to understand accents and nice big flashing buttons.
You will have beaten the game in under 6 hours and you can move on to the next title!

Hurrah.

Seems odd that they've decided to use the same platforming controls as Ninja Gaiden, which always seemed less precise than PoP's system. Not that it mattered, because NG was always about combat, with platforming a bit of an afterthought, kind of the reverse of PoP. Then again, if this game is even slower than Sands of Time, which was already far slower than Ninja Gaiden, maybe the control system will be a little more precise.

Not really liking the sound of how this game is turning out, though.

Clearly Dear Ellie, you have no idea how the previous prince of persias were like.

1. in the sands of time trilogy, the prince, farah and all other characters had an american accent, I dont see why this is a problem now ?
2. Combat has ALWAYS been slow in Prince of Persia. looking back at the prince of persia series, the combat system in this game is closer to what the games were like before the sands of time trilogy.
3. QTEs: come on, you can bloody turn them off!!! why is this game being critisized for QTEs when games like Heavy Rain with heavy QTEs us, are being praised ?

I suggest you go play the sands of time trilogy again.

Honestly, the combat has always been a bit rubbish in PoP games, so I doubt the new system will be much worse. One of the best things they added to Two Thrones was the stealth kill mechanic, because it meant you didn't have to labour through the clunky combat as often as you would have before.

I'm actually more interested after reading that preview than I was before because it sounds like they're trying to do something a bit different. Can't blame folk for wanting traditional Prince of Persia mechanics in a Prince of Persia game though. Perhaps Ubisoft should've used a new IP instead?

@drfaulk - they don't hire us. Too expensive.

alimokrane - I think the problem with the overall speech here is the scripting and delivery. No-one wants contemporary jokes or language in a game supposedly set about 3000 years ago (except Ubi, apparently), particularly if they are delivered with an abhorrent American accent.

Also, you can turn off the QTE button prompt, but I doubt you'll be able to disable them entirely. You'll still need to press a certain button at a certain time to instigate a certain animation. It takes all the skill out of it. And I think the reason people are more concerned about QTEs here than Heavy Rain is that the PoP series doesn't need them - as proven by the last three games. I didn't like them in Fahrenheit, so for that reason HR is not particularly on my radar.

Also, I'm 90% sure Princey was English in TSoT, possibly in the other two as well? Not sure about Farah, but either way their accents were more in-keeping with the period than generic emo US accents. Obviously someone speaking with a Persian accent would be optimum, but Ubi would never do that as the US market wouldn't like it.

Lol, did Ted Price model for the Prince character? That drawing on the main page looks so much like him it's uncanny!

"I'm a bit upset about the very un-pc use of the word spastic in the review.
Very un-necessary. "

Well you know what to do then ...

"What we want, as a player experience, is sitting back, pressing the buttons more methodically and strategically, and therefore getting sucked into the flow of the game - rather than the aggressive, spastic button-mashing that other combat games sometimes feature."

Can't see what's wrong with that philosphy. Whether it's well implemented remains to be seen. Controls (or user imput) are what limits games the most. Anything that helps to make a game better within the limits enforced by the controls is a plus IMO.

I think this'll be lovely.

"Lets remove all interaction and have scripted cutscenes. Absolute pish. They are hollow and completely pull you out of the "moment".

What was a novel gimmick in the previous generation has no become a tired shortcut for developers today."

I really don't see what QTE has to do with this gen versus the previous. Controls for 360 and PS3* haven't changed and that's what QTE is a solution for: The inability of contemporary control schemes to supply the imput required for complex interactions between avatar and the rest of the game world.

* Of course PS3 does feature motion sensing but it's too new for most developers to actually do something useful with yet.

When Sands of Time was announced it was an exciting re-imagining because it had been so long.

This second re-imagining isn't coming with that same sense of "Oh I get to play a game I haven't played in yonks" kind of deal.

@alimokrane

"Dear Ellie"? Patronising, a little? Bit childish don't you think?


"the prince, farah and all other characters had an american accent, I dont see why this is a problem now"

The prince character in Sands of Time had an english accent. Can't remember if the Farah character did or not. And everybody complained about the accent of the Prince in every sequel after SoT, so it was a problem back then.


"Combat has ALWAYS been slow in Prince of Persia. looking back at the prince of persia series, the combat system in this game is closer to what the games were like before the sands of time trilogy."

How are you able to define what "slow" is without having played the game. Ellie has played it (and has obviously played the previous games). Perhaps she should have said "slower", but she probably didn't think splitting hairs like that mattered.

Some of the text in the article (Mattes himself says "You can press B and literally wait almost a full second before you need to input the next key" at one point) suggests to me that combat is a LOT slower than in previous versions, so what are you referring to that makes you think otherwise?


"QTEs: come on, you can bloody turn them off!!! why is this game being critisized for QTEs when games like Heavy Rain with heavy QTEs us, are being praised ?"

Who is praising their use in Heavy Rain? Everything I have read has said good thing about HR, BUT referred to QTEs as an as yet unresolved point of concern. In fact QTEs are the main thing everyone refers to negatively when talking about HR.

And turning off the onscreen button prompt is not the same as turning off the QTE itself. This may be a leap of faith, but I'm pretty sure the thing people object to with QTEs is the game mechanic, not the onscreen button symbols used.


I am sensing a chip on a shoulder here, but I'm not sure why.

"Of course PS3 does feature motion sensing but it's too new for most developers to actually do something useful with yet. "

Multiplatfom game rules that out, and quite frankly, I could live without the function entirely. I'd even prefer QTEs if that's the alternative.

@menage: really? Rather than flick or tilt the sixaxis to the left, you'd prefer to just press some random button? The sixaxis would allow a lot of QTE to be replaced with something a bit more intuitive imho.