Game of the Week [11/03/03]: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

GamePro honors the long-awaited return of the stylish Prince.

The original Prince of Persia had a transcendent quality that placed you squarely in the mind and shoes of the main character. Every successful jump across a seemingly insurmountable chasm filled you with exhilaration. Every grizzly death upon protruding spikes left in your mouth a bitter taste of temporary defeat. It sounds like a clich?, but it was like magic. Trying to capture that feeling again in this day and age seems like an order too tall, and indeed the last attempt at reviving the series, Prince of Persia 3D (released by Mattel in 1999), failed to meet the audience?s lofty expectations.

Luckily for gamers the world over, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time hits all the right chords, creating a true symphony of modern platforming adventure. The ways you have to navigate rooms and overcome obstacles is a pitch perfect extension of the devilish puzzles from the original 2D game. The fighting interaction has made even larger leaps with brawls that look like fluidly choreographed ballets, but still keeps you firmly in control of the action.


Remember Broderbund? No? Well, who cares, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time still rocks.
The crown jewel of it all is the seemingly simple, but highly involving story. The main characters are fleshed out in a way that invests you into the actions in the game. It certainly is a great motivator to get through some truly taxing levels in order to continue on with the plot. Of course a great tale should have a great soundtrack and the game knows when to key up epic tunes or play it low key.

In recognition of the incredible task of recapturing the magic, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time receives the GamePro?s Game of the Week seal of approval. The PlayStation 2 version (the first of the console versions to ship) ships to stores late this week--we'll have a full review soon!

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