Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003) (VG)

Writer:

Jordan Mechner (writer)

Release Date:

4 November 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Plot:

A young prince with expert fighting skills acquires the Dagger of Time, and unknowingly releases the powerful Sands of Time with it. Now he is trapped in a palace with sand creatures and most undo the unfortunate deed he has done.

Plot Keywords:

Narrated | Prince | Prison | Palace | Coughing Blood

Awards:

10 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Yuri Lowenthal	...	Prince (voice)
Joanna Wasick	...	Farah (voice)
Barry Dennen	...	Vizier (voice)
Warren Burton	...	King Shahraman (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
William Knight	...	Sultan (voice)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Certification:

Australia:M | Germany:12

Company:

Ubi Soft France

Trivia:

This was built on a more powerful Jade engine, the same one used for Beyond Good & Evil.

Quotes:

Vizier: Give me the dagger, and I will give you power! Eternal life will be yours!
Prince: To live forever... While those I love are dead and I to blame? I choose death!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "How It's Made: Electric Baseboard Heaters/Molded Pulp Containers/Chicken/Video Games (#3.12)" (????)

Jordan Mechner and Ubisoft have truly created a classic.

Review: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a masterpiece in every sense of the word. Why? Let me tell you why.

Story: This game has one of the best stories in any game (ever). It was written by the Creator of the original Prince of Persia game (made back in 1989) Jordan Mechner, who also wrote what may be the best adventure game ever made The Last Express (1997). Jordan weaves the complicated narrative into a story that is exciting, romantic, and actually intriguing and involving. The characters are interesting and complex and the hero is far more interesting then most video game heroes (not you're typical one-liner spewing space marine).

Sound: The sound design in this game is excellent. The voice acting is very good for the most part. But, what makes the sound design really remarkable is the excellent soundtrack by Stuart Chatwood. He skillfully mixes traditional Middle Eastern music with electric guitar and drums and some excellent vocals. The music reminded me of the wonderful score for Gladiator (2000).

Graphics and Animation: The graphics in Sands of Time are breathtaking! The environments and characters are amazingly detailed and rendered. So much attention to detail on every character and area. And best of all the videos in the game are absolutely stunning, at first glance you will think you are watching a live-action Hollywood movie. The Prince is animated very well and the game manages to make all of his very acrobatic moves look real. They developers also gave him and the other characters very realistic facial animations.

Game play: And most importantly of all the game play, all those other attributes don't really matter if the game isn't fun, and this game is most definitely fun! Most of the game play consists of getting from one place to another in the giant palace that the entire game takes place in. The fun part is how you get there. The prince is some what of a Middle Eastern ninja in the way that he can run along and up walls. The game isn't to big on traditional puzzles, in Sands of Time the environments are the puzzles. The most flawed part of the game is easily the combat, it starts out great, with you being able to pull of all sorts of moves like jumping over an enemies head and slashing them in the back, however as the game progresses the enemies begin to be able to block all the interesting attacks and thus you are forced to use only a few different moves. This is a minor complaint considering how good the rest of the game is.

NOTE ABOUT DIFFERENT VERSIONS: The Xbox version of the game is the best all things considered. If you have any of the three consoles (PS2, Xbox or Gamecube) I recommend that you buy it for one them. However, if you only have a PC don't deny yourself this fantastic game.

Overall: The game is an excellent, well written, amazing looking, involving and entertaining experience. I absolutely recommend it to anyone who enjoys games. 5 out of 5.