adventure

This is a highly polished title that has been implemented very well on the 'cube.

It looks fantastic, from the scenes to the animations and the special effects deployed. The texturing and lighting is well done and there is much atmosphere to the levels.

The gameplay is reasonably easy to learn, progressively challenging - yet also very rewarding. I am finding this to be very playable and enjoyable throughout.

The fight sequences are well implemented and fun. Moves are context sensitive rather than overloaded with combos to pull off moves, therefore it is reasonably easy to perform some very pleasing and satisfying combat sequences. Battles can still be quite frantic as you move from character to character, slaying them and sucking sand from them to power your dagger.

I enjoy the special effects associated with the combat, which are 'matrix style' motion blur, slow motion, etc. I find Prince of Persia to not only execute these effects better than many other games, but also to be a very good game for which it is well suited. There are too many games that introduce these effects for little valid reason other than 'we can do this so why not' and as a result they are often out of place, with little visual or gameplay benefit. In this example, this isn't the case and the general level of polish to Prince of Persia is raised as a result. A whole lot of passion went into developing this game and I applaud those involved.

Although the character is free roaming, the levels and storyline are laid out so that challenges are presented in a totally linear fashion. While could be considered a constraint to the title, it was probably a very good choice as it helps to pull the character through the story. The developers chose to focus a little more on the gameplay issues that mattered, rather than having the player distracted or frustrated by having them deal with seemingly random, unrelated events in the background.

Many of you will have heard that this game also has a unique time travel mechanic. Again, this is well executed, not cheesy and fits well with the storyline and game mechanics. I appreciate being able to undo my recent progress and try again in places where I have not been so successful. I feel this adds a very unique element to the game...in that it can be appealing to replay a recent scene just to do better. This is a different type of replay value, let alone a great mechanic that helps prevent frustrating circumstances with awkward challenges.

You'll find this game enjoyable and I would recommend that you buy it. You'll not be disappointed - this is such good fun and very high quality.

Not to sound like an idiot, but I have loved Prince of Persia since the beginning of the series. Prince of Persia 1 amazed me, Prince of Persia 2 seemed like it had to be the best game ever, and when Prince of Persia 3D cameout I couldn't wait!!

As it turned out 3D didn't really do much for the Prince franchise, but this game makes right everything that was (barely) made wrong with the prior attempt at 3d-izing Prince of Persia. If you're reading this review, you've probably already read 80 reviews that say this game is the game of the year, BUT THERE IS A REASON EVERYONE IS SAYING THAT!! This game is an amazing amount of fun, and was definitely worth the $50 I spent to buy it.

The Sands of Time feature is amazingly cool, and is probably the most exciting thing to add to gaming since bullett time in Max Payne. The Prince's swashbuckling kickass sword play is sooooo much more fun than shooting, punching, or jumping on (think Jak and Mario) your enemies!! All video games should have swords as mandatory weapons because they are such a better weapon (you all know how much cooler Pirates of the Caribbean was than the Matrix Revolutions and it's because of the swords!!).

My biggest complaint about this game is the health meter. The designers should have stuck with the typical life potion bottles that the Prince games have always had, but whatever, it's not really that big a deal.

I know this isn't the most descriptive review ever, but you've probably already read those in the gaming magazines. This review is simply to say from one gamer to another that this really is a fun and enjoyable game. Buy it. You won't be disappointed.

First off, let me say I like the "set-up" of this game a great deal. The game is actually a story told in the first person view by the main character. The plot therein is actually fairly well thought out considering the linear type story (a fault of the genre, nothing against the play of the game).

The true problem of the game is (while beautiful) that it's just very boring. After about the third "level" the puzzels and such go from intelligent to tedius. Nothing however burdens this game like the fighting. Wave after wave of the same enemies at periodic intervals throughout the entire game. While the fight scenes probably look interesting to your friend watching you over your shoulder, they are in reality, just the same 4 buttons combos over and over and over and . . . well you get the point.

A promising start, but in the end a bit of a snoozer.