Like a Mid-Eastern Spider-Man, he can defy gravity to a certain extent, by triangle-jumping from wall to wall, running horizontally along vertical surfaces, balancing on narrow ledges, swinging wildly from ropes or horizontal bars, jumping from pillar to pillar, and more. The prince has a great variety of really impressive moves at his disposal. Should you ever get stuck, just head back to a save point, watch the "vision" again, and you'll probably figure out what you're supposed to be doing. You'll soon discover that this is basically a built-in hint system.
Additionally, at each of the game's frequent save points, you'll see a "vision" of what lies ahead-a quick sepia-toned montage of the trials and tribulations to come in the next area. Doors will slam shut behind him, forcing him to press onward, and each time you enter a new area, you'll see a quick fly-through showing where it is you're trying to go and what it is that stands between you and that goal. Also, despite the convincing look of the game's huge environments, the game is completely linear, and the prince's course tends to be very clear. Though other action adventure games involving a lot of death-defying leaps and other such bravery tend to force the player to perfectly time his or her maneuvers and often force him or her to wrestle with issues concerning the controls or camera perspective, Prince of Persia is set up in such a way that it's remarkably simple to pull off all of the prince's spectacular moves. The prince's acrobatic moves make Prince of Persia nearly as enjoyable to watch as it is to play.Ī highly responsive, very forgiving control scheme further ensures that at no point during Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time will you get particularly stuck, if at all. In practice, you won't often run out of sand tanks, but even if you do, you'll restart the prince's story from a recent location. Each time you use this ability, it costs a "sand tank," which you earn a greater quantity of as you get farther into the game, and which you restore by defeating sand creatures. In most cases, should the prince fall to his death or be slain by a sand creature or a trap, with his last breath, he may use the dagger to "rewind" the course of time to a point prior to the unfortunate incident that would have ended his life. It's the key to defeating the evil spread throughout the palace, and it also makes the prince virtually immortal. The prince's new dagger of time has other uses besides causing calamity. You'll want to know exactly how his complicated ordeal will unravel. So, for instance, should the prince fall and die at a certain point during the game, you'll hear him say, as narrator, something like, "No, that's not how it happened." Not only is this an interesting technique, but it compels you to keep pressing on. The game's story takes a backseat during most of the game, but it is bookended nicely and is framed as the prince's own retrospection. In the prince's efforts to undo his mistake, he'll join forces with Farah, seek out the hourglass, and confront the vizier. The sands from the hourglass blow forth, enveloping the kingdom and turning its guardsmen and citizens into, for lack of a better way to describe it, "sand zombies." The prince, the vizier, and a young woman named Farah are among the only survivors. When his nation's traitorous vizier compels the prince to use the dagger to unlock another treasure, a huge hourglass, everything goes wrong.
Early on in the game, the prince steals the dagger of time, a treasure from a rival nation, as a token for his father the king. You play as a young prince who possesses exceptional athletic and acrobatic skill. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time takes place in a mystical Middle Eastern setting, all bathed in soft, warm light and looking like something straight out of a storybook. Now Playing: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Video Review By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's