An Enjoyable Adventure Game (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (PS2))

Member Name: captainraz

Product:	Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (PS2)
Date:	23/08/09 (7 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great gameplay, challanging puzzles, graphics still stand up well

Disadvantages: Combat can be frustrating and some puzzles can drive you nuts

I recently picked up a copy of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, and I've really been enjoying playing it. It has a good mix of brain teasing puzzles and challenging combat which means the game rarely (if ever) becomes repetitive.

The plot of the game can more or less be summed up as: Prince make big mess, Prince try to fix big mess. Fortunately (or unfortunately, for him) it's not quite as simple as that, and there are lots of rooms to puzzle and fight you way through before that can happen.

Personally I enjoy the puzzles the most. They are engaging and challenging, almost to the point of frustration at times. Some of them are extremely brain teasing, and you can run around in circles for ages before being able to spot what you have to do. Other times it is blindingly obvious what you have to do but through various circumstances you can't get there/do what you need to. When you do complete a puzzle and move on to the next section there is a great sense of satisfaction to be had.

Combat for me is my least favourite part of the game. Early on it is very simple and you can rely on having lots of water around to restore your health, but as the game progresses the enemies get harder and you really have to master various combos and wall attacks in order to beat them. This is something I haven't managed to do yet, so I find combat a hard slog and not too enjoyable.

Through much of the game you are paired with the non player character Farrah as your assistant of sorts. I found her annoying and more bother than she was of use. She gets in your way during combat and dies at inappropriate moments because she can't defend herself when you're bogged down fighting five big brutes with massive hammers. She's armed with a bow, but seems to not use it to help you out a lot of the time.

The most notable feature of this game is the Dagger of Time, which you acquire early in the game. With this you can slow down time, see the future, freeze the present, and most importantly, reverse time is you mess up. This feature is particularly useful during the puzzles if you miss a ledge or jump at the wrong moment. I don't tend to use it during combat because if I do, I find myself rewinding time eight times only to meet the same end every time.

One of the things I was most surprised at was the quality of the graphics. Considering it is a Playstation 2 game released in 2003 I feel they've aged really well. At times they look and feel almost comparable to the graphics in some Xbox 360 games. They have a realistic feel to them, without compromising the fantasy element.

Sound wise I ave found that you don't really lose much of the storyline aspect if you play on silent. The princes voice can get annoying, especially when/if you die and he goes 'no no silly me, the story doesn't happen like that'.

Generally speaking I have found this a very enjoyable game to play, with it best selling points being the puzzle aspect of gameplay and the ability to rewind time.

Summary: Very enjoyable. Would recommend to most gamers