Elysian Shadows

GAME NAME: The new prince of persia

system: xbox 360

Developer: UBISOFT

Difficulty: Never found the game to be hard at any time. There is no real way you can die. The hardest part of
the game is probably the puzzles. there were only a few parts in the game that took me a couple tries to get past.

Different modes: just the single player play no online play

Fun Factor: The game overall I would say is fun. the acrobatics are fun, although they can get a bit repetitive after a while.
also the boss fights were also fun my main problem with them is that the tend to be the same thing over and over again and there are
really only 6 different enemy s in the whole game. Probably for me the biggest thing that took away from the fun was having to go around
and collect all of these balls of light so that you could move onto other parts of the game it feels like they just put that in so that the could say
the game was 15 hours instead of 10.

Re playability: Probably not much the game is a lot of doing the same thing over and over again so
I couldn't see any reason to replay the game

depth/ length of game: As far as the story of the game I wouldn't give it any praises its a fairly simple story line and
never really gets to in depth into a story. With that said there was enough storyline there to keep me entertained throughout the game.
As far as the length of the game its probably anywhere between 10 and 15 hours depending on how fast you run through it.

game controls: The controls work well overall but there were a few times were trying to leap from one ledge to another where it would make me jump
the wrong way but overall it wasn't to bad.

graphics: The graphics in the game are probably the most impressive thing Even if the game had no fun
factor I probably would have played through it just to see all the different art. When I first saw pictures of it
before I ever played the game I thought I would hate the art style but I actually really enjoyed it.

movie sequences: Has its fair share of cut scenes to help with the story but never
thought there were to many cutscenes and there was enough to keep the story going.

Overall: Overall I would give this game a 7 out of 10. I thought the art was amazing the acrobatics were fun, the level layout was nice and never to
confusing and the story kept me entertained throughout the game. Some of its downfalls are probably the lack of enemy's, and that it can get a bit
repetitive doing the same things over and over. I would say it was worth my money although with no online mode and no real re playability that it would probably
wouldn't be worth 60 dollars but gamestop has it for 39.99 which I think its worth.

So how did it compare to Sands of Time for example?

I would say not as good as sands of time. The problem with the new prince of Persia is its a lot of just running around not any of the acrobatic fights or multiple enemy fights like in sands of time. It can be a little slow at times, but still worth playing.

You can't really compare it to Sands of Time. It's ALL about the acrobatics--the fights are few and far between and even those are more acrobatics than combat. It's beautiful, it's a goddamn PAINTING, like watching a living painting being played. On an HD Television it's hard not to just stop and stare.

I would say this though--it renewed my faith in the Prince of Persia series. If you at all thought Sands of Time was worlds better than everything after it, I'd say pick it up (maybe wait till it's cheaper--I picked it up for 35 used, plus my 25% discount from gamestop) but for Prince of Persia fans it's a must own at some point. I think 40 bucks was a very good price point for it, though, and they should've kept it.

GyroVorbis wrote:So how did it compare to Sands of Time for example?

i love sands of time! i had never played prince of persia till i tried sands of time which i found out was pure win

Okay, so I just finished this game last night, with writing something here about it in mind, actually. I'm copying cronjob's format to make sure I hit all the points, and because I'm lazy.

Difficulty: As has already been covered, you can't really die. Similar to Fable 2, I enjoyed this - with the lives system outdated, unnecessary, and stupid, and going back to your last save potentially annoying and wasting hours of your time, I give huge credit to anyone doing thing differently. It particularly works for this game, where any misstep could leave you plunging to your death.

Fun Factor: I had fun with a good amount of the game. I have one main problem and one small problem with the gameplay, which I'll get into at the end. It's certainly worth checking out.

Re-playability: The areas are so big and intricate that chances are you didn't go everywhere and collect every light seed your first play through. I could see going back and exploring the 'levels' more, especially if you're the type of person who needs to 100% everything. I'm kind of one of those people, so I might go back at some point.

Depth/Length: The story is pretty basic: random dude helps out damsel in distress and gets pulled in to an epic struggle against a dark lord - who hasn't been in that situation? The only part that really stuck out to me story-wise was the ending, which I very much enjoyed.

Game Controls: Overall, very well done. Not perfect, but interesting and varied enough to keep navigating the levels interesting. It also perfectly complimented the level design, which next to the art style, I give the most credit to.

Graphics: The most appealing part of the game, by far. The changes from corrupted to healed lands created an amazing contrast which showed off both the graphics engine and art style in a way that puts most games to shame.

Cutscenes: Never too long or too many, they flowed very well in and out of gameplay (which rarely happens), because they were rendered in the same way, and weren't overly-produced. If the storyline had a little more depth, they would have been even better. The only complaint I have about them is the same one I have about most movies - the god damn dialogue and music levels were fucked. This may just the my audiophile self speaking, but what the hell, put dialogue above the music, and keep its level consistent - it's not that hard.

Overall: Worth a rental at least, especially if a 'new' price ($40-60 I believe) is a bit much for you. If you're the type of person who likes to go through every little detail of a game, you'll probably want to own it and explore the levels at your leisure - maybe find it used.

With all that being said - it would be remiss of me to not vent about the two problems I have about this game. I'll start off with the smaller one.

Power Plates: Ok, I get it, running and jumping around is just not enough sometimes. Sometimes you just need to be flung around by magic forces. But when those forces fly you in large circles, and into walls, they cease to be helpful. I'm the last person to say games should be realistic, but who the fuck decides to make plates that fly you around into every wall and pillar possible unless you make it a point to dodge it? I felt like I was in the Battletoads wind tunnel, only in 3D, with enough unnecessary turns to ensure you couldn't get past the longer ones on your first go, all the while wondering why one plate couldn't have just led you to the one area that this all all going to anyway. When something both is unrealistic (not to mention unreasonable) and frustrating, that's when I have a problem with it.

Battle System: I spent most of the battles trying to think of a worse battle system. I still can't think of anything. I could write a book on all of the reasons why I think it's so horrid, and I considered it a few times - if for no other reason than to express to Ubisoft that I hope they never do anything like this again, because I really want to fully enjoy all of their future games. To try and sum it up as quickly as possible: Every battle might as well have been nothing but a series of quick time events. Had Ubisoft just admitted that you must do exactly what they want when they want it, I would cut them a little more slack. Instead you're forced into a trial and error of which buttons you can hit at which state of the monster, with Elika telling you once in a while. Then there are the increasingly frequent actual quick time events, which get reeeeally old once the enemy starts triggering three in a row. The system forces you to block a lot, and then the bosses have unblockable hits. Even with the little bit of freedom you have, once you get the feel for a certain technique, the game pisses on your face and makes it so you can't do that anymore. Elika is rarely a help, and if you fling her at the enemy at the wrong time, she gets tossed aside, and lays on the ground for a while. During this time, if a quick time event is triggered that requires her, it will be impossible to do, forcing the random quick time event to trigger. If you miss that one, the monster will regain a (often large) portion of its health after Elika saves you. Also, the quick time events, no matter what they are, do no damage to the enemy. Seeing as how one of them jumps around, plunging your sword into its head, this seems a little unfair.

If you don't mind the battle system, it's definitely worth a play through. There aren't really enough battles to make it a deal-breaker though, to be honest, which is why I'd recommend at least giving it a try. The battles are probably more interesting to watch than they are to play.

Yeah I agree The battle system was horrible. And the plates while somewhat cool get old when you have to try the same thing over and over again cause every time you hit something you have to start over.