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Prince of Persia (Xbox 360) | 
| From: Ubisoft
Category: Video Games
List Price: £49.99
Buy New: £22.98
You Save: £27.01 (54%)
New (17) Used (11) from £19.00
Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 61
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: action-games
Rating: To Be Announced
Media: Video Game
Operating System: Xbox 360
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.1 x 0.6
EAN: 3307211609389
ASIN: B0019JZATC
Release Date: December 5, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk
Facing imminent danger, the Prince flees to a deserted kingdom that seemingly offers sanctuary. Already touched by the evil Corruption, a dark substance that physically contaminates the land and the skies, the kingdom is filled with adventure, challenge and intrigue. As the Prince seeks a way to fight the spreading Corruption destroying the land, he encounters a partially infected creature that promises salvation. But is the creature truly an ally or merely an enemy in disguise? It seems this perilous alliance may be the only way for the Prince to face the forces of darkness and save the Persian kingdom from the Corruption once and for all. The epic journey continues in an all-new adventure:
Immerse yourself in the captivating Prince of Persia universe with an original and independent story that closely coincides with the action of the console & PC editions of the game. Unique visual style:
Brand-new art design delivers incredible environments in over 50+ maps. Explore deserted cities, dark labyrinths and forbidding jungles to battle the evil Corruption. Play as the all-new character: the Magus:
Switch between the Prince and this mysterious new ally to fight, solve puzzles and utilize his magical powers to make your way through the corrupted land.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Princey needs polish January 4, 2009
First off, I'm not going to lambast this game for being too easy or not catering for the hardcore gamer. The fact that you can't die is a nice exercise in reducing frustration for everyone, but it really isn't much of a leap from the time-turning abilities seen in previous Persias. Also, I think a lot of people mistake not being able to die for not being able to FAIL; you still fall of cliffs and meet a sticky end in fights - the only difference here is that irritating death and loading screens have been replaced by a brief rescue screen, which then drops you on the last safe spot you were on. 3 seconds pass and you're free to try again. Good work, Ubisoft.
But frustrations appear elsewhere. The jumping/climbing aspect seems to divide people due to its simplicity - it feels less tactile than previous Prince of Persia games, and I often got the sense I was playing one long interactive cut-scene rather than actually controlling the characters (it's possible to complete large sections pressing a single button repeatedly). Ubisoft make little effort to disguise this, as the world is basically constructed of the same pieces - poles, running walls, vines to climb, metal hoops to grab onto, shimmying ledges, slidey-hill-bits - laid out one after the other in various different orders. The gameplay involved is basically remembering what button to press when the Prince approaches each one. This feeling of non-interactivity is exacerbated by the way the game automatically snaps to each thing, and the instant death (sorry, instant-rescue-cutscene-then-restart) that occurs if you try to deviate from the path.
Still, if you can get used to the slightly tight leash on the platforming, it can be pretty good (just different). When it works, it's great - it looks lovely and it all flows very nicely. There are a fair few occasions where it fails while leaping around - either the camera isn't quick enough to show you what the next object you need to use will be, or (more often in my case) you'll misjudge the size of a gap and forget to use the double jump, falling to your... er, restart. Infuriatingly, most of the time if you double jump where you're not meant to you'll overshoot the jump and fall. Some sections prove to be more trial-and-error than a fair test of reactions, which isn't great, and can be frustrating when you've been jumping a fair few minutes without stopping (Elika pops you back on the last bit of solid ground you were on when she rescues you, you see).
Combat was my biggest gripe. Moving around feels slow and sticky, making getting close enough to hit an enemy needlessly tricky - particularly frustrating given how picky the game is about the distance. Quick-time events (or 'interactive cut-scenes') occur frequently, and without warning - usually when the player or enemy approach the sides of the arena, but often whenever the game feels like it. The lack of warning or any audio cue for the button press just makes these sections an irritating mess. Thankfully you get a pretty generous window to press the button to stop bosses instantly killing you - a good thing, considering they regenerate health if Elika has to save you, and they take long enough as it is. Once you get used to it, it IS possible to pull off some nice combos (each face button performs a different type of attack, which you can string together in pre-set combos), but it could have done with a lot more fine-tuning to make it more accessible. Combat outside of bosses is completely pointless, as the Prince instantly kills the enemy if they go near the edge of the arena, which is weirdly annoying and unsatisfying. I dug up Sands of Time on the original Xbox after playing this and was amazed at how much more fluid and satisfying the combat is in that game.
But anyway, enough gripes. Prince of Persia isn't awful - it just isn't perfect either. A couple of things that are done very well are the visuals - with beautiful environments, some of which are reminiscent of Rayman 2 (a good thing!) - and the (largely optional) dialogue, which is mostly well-acted, charming and often very funny (see if you can find the game of 'I Spy' - it's brilliant). Even if Elika's personality seems to change at the drop of a hat.
The changes in this Prince of Persia from its last-gen predecessors are significant and bound to annoy the fans, but the fact that it's different doesn't necessarily make it terrible. A lot of it you can enjoy as soon as you understand it's different and just go with it... some of it less so. With a bit more polish, it could've been a much more agreeable game. But despite the controversial lack of death, this is a game that offers its own type of player punishment.
 OH MY GOD I LOVE IT! January 4, 2009
now when it comes to video games, there are only a select few that i would call brilliant. Metal gear solid (PS1), Call of Duty 4, and of course Prince of Persia: the sands of time (not so much the sequels) and a couple of others i can't think of now.
but when i saw that this was coming out, i just thought it was just going to be another sequel to add the rest of the dismal Prince of Persia sequels, but boy was i wrong. I LOVE IT. of course the environmental graphics are brilliant, you either love or hate the character graphics (i love them) and the most important and best part of the game is in the relationship of the the main characters. I thought that it was intriguing and kept me rooting for them which doesn't happen usually in video games, but i really wanted them to succeed.
Even though it is impossible to die, it does seem to give you a sense of determination to get it wright, because if you do a sequence wrong or mess up with a jump then you have to do it all over again, which might sound bad, but kept me playing it for hours.
At the end you find they have left the end open for a sequel which as long as they keep to this formula then i really wish they do. I LOVE IT. Hope you love it too.
 One big collectables mission. December 31, 2008
Basically the entire point in this game is to collect these things called light seeds. You dont do much else. There is the occasional 1 on 1 duel with some weird darkness creatures and then collect more seeds. Once you have enough seeds you can spend them on a new ability that allows you to, yup you guessed it, collect more seeds!
Although the game is kinda charming and the relationship and dialogue between Elika and the prince is interesting. The graphics and sound are also very good on a whole too. It's just let down by the repetitive mission system (which killed Assassin's Creed for most people and the developers feel they need to remind you at every turn they made that game too) and the generally dull opponents.
Chances are that if you got bored of Assassin's Creed after a few missions then you will with this game too.
Superb! December 29, 2008
One of the best games I have played this generation and the Best looking one. Bought this for 19.99 and What a Bargain!
I loved every minute of it. Gorgeous graphics, brilliant level design, superb sound and music and the story isn't bad either. Will definately look forward to the sequel now!
 Very Unrewarding December 29, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was ssssssssssooooooooooo excited by this, a brand spanking new PoP on the hallowed 360. I jumped out of bed and hit the streets on day of release, bought a copy, returned home. With trembling hands and the odd high pitched squeal of excitement I dropped the disk in, sat in my big comfy chair, grabbed the pad and prepared myself with a quick series of meditation techniques to get my chi flowing towards my fingers............ and it was ALL FOR NOTHING.
Honestly, PoP is just so damn boring. You CANNOT DIE (well you can in the duels but if you lose one of them you shouldn't be trying to play games in the first place.), the levels (so far) pretty much involve climbing a big tower, killing whatever's at the top, then spending some mind numbing hours collecting orbs which then in turn unlock new abilities, which do nothing other than get to you previously out of reach areas...etc etc, yadda yadda, dulldulldull.
I mean fair enough in the previous games you could rewind time to save yourself after a particularly bad fall, but at least it was finite. If you blew all your sands on doing big fancy things you were humped. In this new incarnation though we don't have sands of time, we have Elika. Elika will never let you die, you can leap away to your hearts content and she will always make sure you land on your feet. Sounds ok, but it really takes any sense of excitement or accomplishment out of the game.
The fighting system is awful, wheras in previous titles the Prince was an uber ninja - flying about the place, decapitating monsters before bouncing up a wall to land on anothers head. Now te fights have been reduced to one on one duels, about on a par with the duels in Sid Meirs Pirates - not cool. they're far too easy as well, block block, oh you you're standing staring at me, ok, so I just hit these buttons and you die? ok. Wow that was fun. Oh good I get to collect MORE ORBS. Rubbish. I've made myself upset now.
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