Prince of Persia Comments by Tom Bramwell

Oh ho!

Jesus this review took it's sweet ass time didn't it?! Oh ho! Indeed.

Oh well - perhaps I'll pick it up when the price is slashed to 17.99 in a few weeks. :D

Funny thing, I was just talking to a friend yesterday how good the game might be and we both agreed that it had to get worse than 8/10 on Eurogamer, since the Eurogamer review isn't up pre-launch. Of course all the glaring reviews were up long before today, which to me is more of a dent in the game, than if the bad EG review was released with all the others.

This marketing behavior lends more weight to this review, since holding back bad reviews somehow indicates that those bad reviews are onto something the other articles missed.

Money saved. Phew!

Any idea if there will be a demo on Live?

Had this through the post last night, and have spent an hour or so with it. It's "nice", without being particularly a standout. It is a bit frustrating at first, especially wall-running (for me at least), but the banter between the Prince and Elika is nice, and on the whole I'l looking forward to exploring it and taking my time with it.

It does feel a bit like Assassin's Creed in that I wanted to like it a lot more than I do - it does so many things right - art design, the voices are excellent and nowhere near as annoying as they could have been, the whole thing looks polished, but underneath it all, the actual levels and tasks that you have to go through/perform are just a little underwhelming.

6/10 is fair, I'd say maybe add a point if this sort of game is your bag. It's a 7 for me.

Another low EG score. This game is fantastic to play and beautiful to look at. It's Metacritic average is 86/100, so this reviewers opinion of POP is lower than his peers.

Anyone see the cover art for the 360 version with the plastic slip off?!
It gets my game cover of the year award.
Stunning cover art, where less is actually more in this case!

Oh dear.

I nearly popped the cash for this yesterday - glad I didn't now.

"It's Metacritic average is 86/100, so this reviewers opinion of POP is lower than his peers."

I'd wager that's because any reviews not showering it with praise have been held back by Ubisoft. Games journalism is a joke.

I am not a consipracy nut but I agree with Aretak. All the early reviews have been glowing. Too much and unbalanced praise.

"I'd wager that's because any reviews not showering it with praise have been held back by Ubisoft. Games journalism is a joke. "

24 reviews though. I reckon that, as ever, Eurogamer as just more demanding

It's a really good game. Much better then the boringness Assassins Creed was.
However I tend to push to much buttons since I'm used to much more challenging platform games while the Prince does most of his stuff automatically.

But all in all a 8.5/10 for me.

I'll still get this though. It looks fun and well, I play games for fun...

Sounds to me like Ubisoft need to hire some new game designers.

I'm a fan of Ubisoft but one thing I must comment on is the poor quality of the tutorials in their games. It is obvious with most of their games they are trying to open them up to a more casual audience these days but then go and ruin it by creating tutorials that generally fail to tell you how to play the game if you aren't already familiar with the mechanics. The last Splinter Cell springs to mind as one of the worst tutorials for new comers i've ever seen.

Anyway, this seems like it might be worth a bargain bin purchase after xmas. How long does it last Tom?

"Money saved. Phew"

Read the IGN review and spend the money instead. If that is how it works.

Mr Bramwell!

I agree with the score for once!

I got this through the post yesterday and even though I am enjoying the game. There a few things that bug me

Casual Play: The game practically plays itself. Gone are the timing of platforming. Press circle when the prince grabs a ring and the he will automatically run on for you. QTE anyone?

Level Structure: Don't think for one second that you will come into a room like the original games, scratch your head and say "hmm where do I need to go now?" Platforming is linear as hell but the Ubisoft designers have cleverly put multiple paths in each level to create the illusion of free roaming level platforming.

Mission Structure: The same shitty mission design that plagued Assassin's Creed is present in this game. Find corrupted area, kill boss , collect light seeds and repeat. repetitive nature, the mission designer needs to be shot.

Not one fucking puzzle: I am four hours in and not found not one fucking puzzle to do. What the fuck is going on. I am not holding my breath.

Gotta collect them all: The fact that Ubisoft's Producer for Prince of Persia believes that hardcore gamers will be satisfied with collecting light seeds to get their kicks. This is not some shitty EA Simpsons game boys.

However with all my ranting, I don't feel as I have been robbed of my hard earned cash. It still an experience I would recommend. It is a damn better than warrior "emo" within and two thrones. Just wait for the price to come down a little if your worried. But if you like platforming games, purchase this immediately. Just don't get from GAME, Shopto are currently doing the game for a reasonable £33.99 (where is my 15% VAT?) or wait a few weeks and if it not selling well. It will be £24.46 like Tomb Raider.

An interesting take on the game. I've been playing this a lot and I really enjoy the contrast between the 'corrupted' level and the time you spend in it after you have freed it. In the later levels where they are 'corrupted' it feels like a race against time to get to the end, quite often with the level boss taunting you as you go. Then, after you've freed it, you get to stroll around at your leisure and collect the light orbs. Some of the set pieces during the boss fights are great to watch too.

The ease with which you can string together combo runs is fantastic - not once have I blamed the control system or the camera for a miss timed jump (although sometimes it does appear to be on-rails like the aformentioned Assassin's Creed). During long combo runs it feels more like 'Dance Dance Prince of Persia' with the emphasis on button timing more than directional skill. The benefit of having Elika drop you back to the nearest flat platform if you fall is that it leads to far more experimentation than if you had a set number of lives/limited 'rewind' bar. And this IMO is a great move - especially when it comes to collecting the light orbs after an area has been freed.

I also like the way the story is not forced upon you, and you can find out more about it as you go by talking to Elika. It's worth doing as there is quite some chemistry between the two.

Things I don't think work that well - I don't think the symbiosis between the two main characters is that well used. Yes, they work well in combat, but there is little to no puzzle solving involving their unique skills, and it seems that most of the platforming sections could be achieved by each of the characters in isolation. I've also noticed a few parts of the level design where the 'invisible wall' syndrome kicks in - for example platforms you should be able to climb up, or walls you should really be able to claw-fall down, or drops off the end of platforms you should be able to make. In general though, these aren't enough to spoil the game.

So for me, it's more of an 8/10 game. Ubisoft would be crazy to not release a demo of this on Live, so I guess for those people with too many great games to play over xmas it would be worth waiting for that to make your mind up.

Epic Fail

Now You see guys: casual gaming has brought doom upon us.

/*searches for his ninja gaiden disc*

"I reckon that, as ever, Eurogamer as just more demanding"

LOL :)

Love this game atm. Difficulty also just perfect for me (im rather crap at games in general).
I dont look for challenges in games, I just want to experience them. Like reading a book or watching a movie.

Another low EG score. This game is fantastic to play and beautiful to look at. It's Metacritic average is 86/100, so this reviewers opinion of POP is lower than his peers.

Oh really, it's lower? I thought 6/10 is higher than 86. Thanks for the insight mate, I was never good with numbers.

I read like two not very positive reviews and those actually motivated me to get the game. I like easy, short and pretty graphics every now and then. Seems PoP is bringing all that.

I'm about halfway through and it's definitely better than a 6.

So this is worse than Warrior Within (which got 7/10)? Don't think so.

Another EG review that goes against the grain like the Banjo-Kazooie XBLA one... hmmm...

I've got the game coming this morning and I'm liking the fact that this is an easy entertaining game with eye candy personally so I expect I'll enjoy it far more than Tom Bramwell. At least I know I'll be able to finish the game and get my money's worth from it... I was never struck on challenging games anyway...

Odd though how one reviewer can proclaim a game great and go so far as to call it the best Ubisoft game in ages (VideoGamer 9/10) and another deem it only just above average (EG). It's times like this when a pre-release demo is pretty much a must as it's hard to know from the reviews just who is "right". I mean I loved Banjo-Kazooie XBLA and consider it worthy of a 9 so I'm hoping that Prince of Persia turns out to be another such game.

P.S. What Krelle says echoes my own feelings about games actually. :)

@ [eSc]Demon - If every game was like Ninja Gaiden in difficulty then I'd have given up gaming years ago. :P

"I dont look for challenges in games, I just want to experience them. Like reading a book or watching a movie."

Varies from game to game for me. But I agree it doesn't always need to be challenging. For a shooter it's essential, otherwise there's little left to play the game for. But for a game based around exploration, it's not.

Good review - nice to get a balanced opinion from this vs the other sites out there. Sounds interesting but far too passive an experience for me. Maybe 'Lego PoP' would have been more challenging?

Ubisoft is the new EA then. Selling nice looking games with shitty gameplay (ACreed, Far Cry 2, Shaun White, etc.). If this disappoints me as much as FarCry 2 did I'll never pay for a Ubi game again.

Oh dear. Was really looking forward to this but not so sure now.

"It's actually impossible to die."

Really can't understand this game mechanic. A good game should allow you logical ways of avoiding dying (as opposed to learning by dying) but at the same time reward you for overcoming a challenge.

This seemed great on the first page, then the second page took a surprising turn :(

Any of us could have written the same, damning review from just 5 minutes watching the pre-release trailer. It was never going to be a game worth the time of anyone after challenge, puzzles or adventure (though if you enjoy modern Sonic games then I'm sure it might offer some thrills).

I don't get Ubisoft, they make games that look like they're pushing gaming into new, brave new areas but then seem to pull in the reigns at the last.

"It's actually impossible to die."

Because of unlimited lives in most games where you can actually 'die' it has become rather meaningless. Not being able to die isn't a bad thing in my book. Definitely is more consistent within the game world than dying with arbitrary checkpoints.

Yes, good work holding back the review until after all pre-orders have been shipped.

@ siro - Don't mention it - glad to help. I've heard he rumours you're a bit slow.

Well, I absolute love the game so far (3 hours in), it's just my cup of tea.

Horses for courses and all that.

For those who missed the forum thread yesterday, sorry the review's late, but it took a while to get hold of the game for reasons I won't go into.

ouchie!

There not also the same reasons it received a much lower score than meta is it?

Hmm my card was already billed and game sent to me ;p and since I ordered from UK and live in Poland I can't be arsed with returns, oh well, I wanted either this or Mirrors Edge, picked this and will prolly pick ME anyway.....Tho i hoped it would be better :/

Pretty much exactly what I expected after the Expo.

Ha, everyone arguing about the score (as usual) and not citing the actual text? Sounds like bloody good reasons for it to be 6/10 to me. I'm still interested as it looks like a nice time passer, but it's a shame the depth the series is known for has been lost. Considering this alone is a damning indictment an average review, considering how wonderful the original game is, doesn't suprise me in the slightest.

First of all can I say thank God that the Animal Crossing advert is no longer on the front page.

EG - please never put an ad on your site wich automatically creates a sound effect (without clicking on it) again!

My main point is this: At what point did game designers think it would be a good idea for your character not to die. I am all for diversity and clever game design (best case in point I can think of is the rewind function in GRID) but dying is a fundemental ellement of gaming. It is "the draw" that keeps you playing. If I want to read a book or watch a film I will (and often do) so.

Are these games designed for people who play a 2-D shooters with unlimited lives? If so, you might as well stick the fire button down with some chewing gum and go and do something else.

It might sound petty but I have stopped playing a perfectly good game for this very reason (Fable 2). If game designers keep doing this, then it is going to save me a lot of money.

/rant off

Bloody hell, 6/10? Has, for the first time in a long time, a reviewer for this website actually reviewed a high profile game without instantly claiming its the best thing since sliced bread?

I was fully expecting a 9/10 or 10/10 review for this game even though it clearly deserves neither. I am quite shocked, but still, this review is still a long way from healing the wounds that 10/10 Fable 2 reviews have inflicted on this website.

Oh dear - maybe its time for Tom to hang up his reviewers hat and cloak...

It's interesting that EG took the integrity route rather than the review first if you score 8 or above route that gametrailers and IGN took. I played my friends review copy of this and was about to warn everyone that the game is incredibly easy and has pretty much zero actual challenge. I definitely wasn't expecting EG to mention any of these things after the resistance 2 review they did.

Totally agree with this review. The new POP director really doesn't understand the series at all. He nailed the visuals but, didn't understand what made the gameplay work. He tries very hard to create the ICO relationship but, the prince is so obnoxious that it simply fails on the grounds that you really hate the main character right up until the end (after the bloody end credits no less).

Why didn't they use the assasins creed engine asit was, and do POP directly on that. This would have been a completely new perspective for the series right there!

Played this for like an hour or so, the combat till now is very easy, hardly any enemies spawn. The platforming sections do get you thinking on how to collect the obrs.

6/10 is too harsh, I would lean towards 7/10