I got this one just because I didn't know what to play and it got good reviews and grades. It deserves all the good reviews it got!

Description:

This is a game that combines 3d platform, 3d fighting and logical puzzle 3d gaming. You have probably seen all tricks that prince does in other games for PS2, PC or XBoX but this game's 2D prequels ( we played them some 15 years ago , no? ) were legends at the time they were published, so I decided to see what's old and what's new. Basically, you got everything you had in old PoP , just in 3d and some more.

Gameplay is simple to describe: you solve puzzles, jump and run and avoid traps and then there are some battles in case you got bored. Battles are something I dislike: you have to be fast, know how to defeat which enemy class and sometimes have to do moves which are difficult with keyboard and mouse. You will often be cornered by , like, 4 monsters and there is not much hope there.

GOOD: Nice translation of 2D arcade adventure into 3D world, nice graphics, nice puzzles. At each save point, you get hint for next level, in form of FMV (they call it vision) and this is good for new players. REAL LOW VIOLENCE LEVEL.

BAD: Camera is really not that good, not even mediocre. Battles take too much time and are frustrating and luck dependent. Or I should get me Devil May Cry and practice reflexes? For some people, low violence level could be listed here instead in GOOD.

GENERAL NO SPOILER ADVICE: play game between two or three save points daily , otherwise you can forget what happens. Use replay vision. Block a lot in the fight, use dagger ('E' key). Use 'Q' to see complete building you are in if you have doubts about where to go.

IMPRESSIONS AFTER BEATING THE GAME:
Game is cool and it is good if you don't read solutions to puzzles, it would be ridiculously short.


ADVICE ABOUT BATTLES:
Point is to see if enemy falls when you do off the wall torpedo attack (towards wall+jump+attack button right after ) OR when you do jump over enemy attack (toward enemy+jump+attack twice). Try to find water near place where you fight and you really can replenish stamina. And yes, fight w princess in closed circle near the end is more difficult than boss fight.

Get it, and then 'Beyond Good and Evil' , there are not too many action games for PC. PRINCE IS GAME FOR ALL AGES, there is almost no blood and you fight sand creatures.

MINOR SPOILER:
The only serious flaw would be 4 mirrors puzzle, you will know it when you see it. Point is NOT to light up all lanterns, it is to conduct ray to symbol near sword under barrier.

It is challenging in parts, but just a bit too mechanical, and I want more story. Other games were move riveting and make you feel you have to play until the end, you always want to see what happens next. This Game however turns out to be more of a chore, first navigate this room, then the next room, then the next zzzzz.. On the plus side.. the graphics look good..

The prince agility and ability is dazzling and often aww-inspiring. He can run along the sides of walls, run up walls, leap, fling, swing, and perform other equally acrobatic feats with amazingly realistic human grace.

All those princely moves do is serve as a means to get you from point A to point , and figuring the right combination of moves to do so is the core of the gameplay. Playing thgough the gymnastically inclined royal palace is as much an intellectual exercice as much as a physical one, bu mostly it's just a ton of fun.

The controls, however, clearly show their console roots. The WASD/mouse system is used here and I was also able to use my gamepad.

The only weak point is the at-times overbearing combat. The prince is as adept a swordman as he is an acrobat, and watching him flip over enemies the slashing them from behind is riveting, but sometimes there's just too much combat. Enemies inundate the poor prince at times, and since they can only be killed when you've sucked the sand out of them while stunned, combat sequences can be incredibly difficult to overcome.

Finally there's the time-controlling dagger. Send the game into slow motion for bullet-time sword battles, but more importantly, if you miss a jump, you can rewind to just before the prince's untimely demise and try it again.

For anyone who likes third-person action and adventure, The Sands of Time is a must-have.

(This refers to the PC version of the game.)

This game is actually pretty short if you sit down and play it seriously. It's fun to watch-- he has some great moves, and he does a very slow strip tease throughout the game. No, really.

I had a lot of trouble coordinating camera movement with character movement. Direction of motion is relative to the camera, and sometimes the game takes over camera control. It can make it hard to run in a straight line (which is often necessary to avoid traps or trigger doors). And if the camera isn't at right angles with the Prince, it's easy to accidentally have him leap off into emptiness. Fortunately we have the rewind power to deal with that!

I'm looking forward to the other Prince of Persia games, but I hope they're a little longer than this one.

I had this game for the Gamecube but never got the rest of the series. Now that I can't play the GC version I just decided to pick up the entire series from square one for the PC. (I figured it would just look that much better,and it seems to if memory serves me.)

The game is simply awesome all around. I won't get into to much detail but, if you like action/adventure this is a must buy.

Now, as far as the keyboard and mouse controls go, I don't think they are as bad as some claim. I admit I can see where it can be frustrating. You just don't have the same reaction/precision as playing it with an analog pad. Fighting multiple enemies while camera is rotating isn't exactly intuitive on the keyboard. Also jumping at angles can be a problem.

That said, I would play this with an analog pad, and do. :D

For the record I use my Xbox 360 pad with the game. It's functional "out the box" but I re calibrated the pad just to have things perfect.
Again the pad works just fine without doing anything to it, but to play Prince with it you might want to re calibrate it.

Hope this helps. Happy gaming.