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18th October 2003:
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Take a tour of seven magical levels, from Ubi Soft's upcoming stunning action-adventure.
Posted by John Grothier - Xbox,GameCube,PlayStation 2,PC - UK and Europe

One game that really turned our heads at this years ECTS was Ubi Soft's upcoming action adventure, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Just a few days ago preview code for the PlayStation 2 version of the game arrived here at Silicon Fusion, and from playing seven beautifully realised levels - we can report that POP is going to be a serious contender for game of the year.

Let me just start off by saying how beautiful the game looks, it oozes style and the presentation is simply stunning - it's not often with many games that you know you're in for a real treat just by the opening menu. But now, let us take you through a tour of seven magical levels from Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time...

India
The demo begins in India where a huge battle rages, and the Prince and his father are fighting for control of the Maharaja's palace. As this levels begins you're completely immersed in a huge battle going on around the palace, explosions and the sounds of fighting are fantastically portrayed. It's not long before you release that you cannot exit through the main door in the courtyard, and so have to use you acrobatics to jump from large fallen parts of the palace to get to the ramparts - and high enough to progress through the level. It's here that you learn how to use your special moves by depressing the R1 button on the controller, as one of the jumps appears too far for a normal leap, a quick press of R1, and the Prince runs at the wall to the left - giving you enough inertia to clear the huge gap. This level also is where the Sands of Time themselves are discovered...

Reception Hall
This level demonstrates multi-enemy combat, and it is not long before you are able to take on a handful of enemies with all of the grace of the acrobatic parts of the game. Sometimes with a game of this genre, the fighting system could be a little more polished, but we're happy to report that the controls are tight and responsive, and the fighting system has some spectacular moves for the gamer to master. After the fighting we noticed a water fountain in this level, which by using the R1 button, the Prince drank from it, replenishing his health - very useful.

Sand Birds
In this level we got the chance to run the Prince around the gloriously sunny palace grounds, trying out a few of his amazing moves. When the Prince gets close to an edge of a platform, instead of just leaping off, he will grab on to the ledge, and the camera swiftly moves to allow you to see where you are. Here we tried the Prince out on ropes and poles, and by using the special move with R1, he will build up momentum for longer jumps.

Baths
This level showed off more of the fighting system, with a few different types of enemies our Prince must overcome. Once you knock your enemy to the ground using the special move button R1 again, you can permanently dispose of them with your sword, and importantly also add some useful power for the Sands of Time.

Traps
Here you will find all the traps and spikes that made the original Prince of Persia so famous. This time around you have the Sands of Time to help you - so if, and when you impale the Prince, a quick touch of the L1 button rewinds time until the Prince is in a safe place. This technique is handy for missed jumps or if blades slice into you, and it's very useful for timing runs through rotating spikes. To progress in this particular level you will really have to practice your wall jumps...

Ramparts
This is one of the more stunning levels of the game, which features lots of combat before some death-defying acrobatics. This level truly shows off the scale of the palace and just how gorgeous it looks. The L2 and R2 buttons are really useful here in order to get different viewpoints. Once a few enemies are despatched you must guide the Prince up the side of the palace using the special move button to add momentum to your jumps. There are some lovely water effects to be found on this particular level - Oh, and look out for the hot tub!

Dungeon
Here you must guide the Prince from the top of the dungeon to the bottom. You will need all of your wits and some extremely quick fingers, as this level gets faster and more difficult the further you progress downwards. Again, the amazing scale of the game can be seen here - with drops that are guaranteed to give the gamer vertigo. After falling to our death a few times here, we found the rewind power very helpful with this particularly tricky level.

After we played through these seven fantastically designed levels, we came to an Hourglass room with an unfeasibly large jump, we then journeyed onward into the Tomb, where we found the lovely Farah - a beautiful, seductive Princess, but who knows whose side she is on...

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time really pushes the PlayStation 2 to its limits - it's a truly astonishing achievement, in terms of graphics and gameplay. The game has already picked up a handful of awards, and we think that it deserves to pick up many more once it's released. GameCube and Xbox owners will have to wait until early next year thanks to another Sony marketing deal that means in the UK, at least, Prince of Persia will only be available this year for the PlayStation 2. But we think it will be worth the wait, and if the PlayStation 2 version of the game is anything to go by, the GameCube and Xbox versions can only be better.

John Grothier

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