Customer Reviews

Prince of Persia

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This is how PC titles should be released!

1. There's no DRM at all. Ignore the rumors that it "phones home". It only connects to the Internet to automatically update (at your option) and to play a video from UBI's website. If you disconnect completely from the Internet, the game STILL PLAYS FINE.

2. The game plays well on older hardware. It even runs smooth on Radeon 2000 series graphics cards and Pentium 4/D CPUs at relatively high resolutions.

3. The game's actually fun! Controls are wonderful, especially if you have a gamepad. Mouse/keyboard is functional.

Please support this title. UBI is really taking a risk using no DRM. Show them that they can trust the PC gaming community. Purchase this title.

I'll start by saying that this game is amazing. The platforming is fun, the combat, while simple, has an amazing combo system that you can spend quite a bit of time researching.

The story is interesting in that you can get as much (or little) backstory as you want. It's up to you to talk with Elika and get it. If you're more interested in the action, you won't be forced to watch long cut-scenes or learn about a history you don't care about.

I actually play this on my 360, but I'm putting my review under the PC section because Ubisoft deserves to be praised for deciding to ditch DRM on a high profile title like this. In a time when SecuROM is getting more and more invasive, it's a breath of fresh air to see a major publisher go against the grain and offer a quality product that doesn't give the actual consumer a headache. The consumer will not be punished with secret installations of a software that behaves just like any other malware.

I encourage all avid PC gamers to vote with their wallets and pick this title up. It helps that the game is also worth every penny.

Buy this game. Its a great game in typical PoP fashion, with the added twist of having an entirely AI companion throughout the game. And this is not even mentioning the fact that it ships WITHOUT ANY TYPE OF DRM WHATSOEVER. None.

So, in short its fun gameplay, great puzzle solving, great freeroaming dynamics, and no headaches whatsoever. Its definitely money well spent.

It is one of the games that will never say "Game Over"; it is this strategy that keeps one busy playing till you get your moves right and move forward to the next level.

UBISOFT also made an intelligent move by making this game DRM free and no copy protection whatsoever that most of the users will appreciate and this trust that UBISOFT has placed on users like us will surely make them buy products from UBISOFT again and again.

I have played all the Prince of Persia games since the good old Prince of persia-1 came about 15 years back, I love the storyline, Agree it has changed a lot over the years and graphics have become more intense but there is this magnetic attraction that draws users like me whenever we hear about a new release of prince of Persia and we surely play the game to get the thrill of it.

Prince of Persia 2008 is no different. The graphics are smooth even on modest PC with very little lag, Game play is immersive and conversations between Prince and Elika keeps one busy climbing and jumping and solving puzzles.

Again the main reason for the success of the game play in Prince of Persia (2008) is due to new supporting character, Elika, has a large role in game play, in that she saves the Prince from death while in combat or exploring the world. The Prince cannot "die" in this game, as Elika will save him from any danger and bring him back to the last safe point of the game. also UBISOFT's smart move to make this game DRM free. Thanks UBISOFT for trusting users like us we appreciate it.

Buy this game and support any and all software companies that trusts their users and release games like this completely DRM free.

Cheers! Buy this game and have lots of fun time.

The game is a great reboot of the PoP franchise. The controls are intuitive, although you have to almost "trust" them. You would expect it to be complicated, but it is deceptively simple and elegant.

The amazing this is that the game looked incredible on my laptop! Most recent PC games won't even run on my laptop, but this one looked great.

The environments are gorgeous, and the atmosphere (something that has always been an Ubisoft trademark since "Beyond Good And Evil") is engrossing.

The combat system is very fun. I've never really enjoyed the combat system in previous Prince of Persia games, but this time they made is very easy to get into, but there is a great deal of depth which makes it great for experienced gamers as well.

UbiSoft has made the decision to make this game a test as well. They want to see if removing DRM will help the game sell better. Another reviewer here said "vote with your wallet". I agree completely. This game is well worth the money, it provides a great deal of entertainment, and it casts a critical vote against the use of DRM in the future. You can't go wrong.

Ubisoft always applies excellent craftsmanship to a game, and this is no exception.

The art is excellent, the controls are excellent, and most important, the gameplay is excellent. And as always, Ubisoft actually finishes the game before the release it (I'm talking to YOU EA and Sony!)

Ubisofts games usually work best on a console, due to embarrassing DRM problems, but there's no DRM here. No SecuRom, no Sony rootkit, no destruction of resale value.

If you like the POP series, this is a must have. If you haven't played the POP series, and enjoy innovative gameplay and controls, you will likely enjoy this game.

I buy PC games. I don't pirate because I want the complete package: game CD, manual, box, etc. Not to mention as a console game retailer, I understand how much pirating hurts developers, distributors, and retailers such as myself. But, I typically wait for PC games to drop to "bargain bin" levels before purchasing to play. I normally would have waited until Prince of Persia was half the price of new release.

However, I was completely swayed by the other reviewers about how Ubisoft does not include any invasive DRM in Prince of Persia; not even a CD check! And with so many PC games I will not be buying because of SecuROM, or other activation roadblocks needed to play, I find it a breath of fresh air to encounter Prince of Persia.

To add the icing on the cake, almost all the Prince of Persia reviewers give their thumbs up, mentioning no notable bugs, solid gameplay, and decent story. I will gladly purchase a copy of Prince of Persia now at regular price, and encourage others to do the same. I genuinely hope that it climbs into the top 5 PC game sales on Amazon.

As a side note, I would have happily purchased GTA IV, Red Alert 3, Farcry 2, Sacred 2, and Dead Space, if not for the varying levels of DRM acceptance necessary to play those PC games. And I still will not be purchasing them even when they do hit "bargain bin" levels.

If you are a fan of The Prince of Persia Series (Sand's of Time), don't be dissapointed, this is a totally new history. Most of the classic concept of Prince of Persia is here; a Hero, a Princess and a great evil. The form of the playing is a total remake from the previous games, but there is a little problem, you have a lot less action in comparation from the previous games, the real enemy is the enviroment. The are too little puzzles in this game too, but the very few, are a lot harder than previous games. If you are a fan of the Prince of Persia series, this is going to be a must have, but if you were thinking about a 3D Action game, this in'st for you.

As a fan of the newer Prince Of Persia series (Sands of Time, Warrior Within, Two Thrones), I can say that I wasn't really disappointed with the latest edition in the franchise. The story is supposed to be a different arc from the original three; the first in a new trilogy supposedly. Hence the prince is new character in this one, but as in all the previous POP's, a character you can get attached to. This also applies to the character Elika in the new "companion character" feature.

I noticed some other reviewers giving the gameplay a big thumbs down. I will make mention that the game does seem a lot easier from the last games. I found most of the enemies fairly easy to beat with little keyboard smashing/antics, and There is also a lot of room for error with the new elika save system. However, I feel that this was due mainly to the fact that the developers wanted to take a new direction with some of the gameplay elements and also wanted to work on a new storytelling system, using live character action rather than cutscenes. So in essence a new cell-shaded rendering system, a new companion character system, a new "storytelling" system. The developers are probably just cutting their teeth on the new system. The Sands of Time was also a bit repetitive, but the story was great. It's like the same thing here in my opinion.

Besides, any fan of the series wouldn't just settle for beating the enemies in an easy non-flashy way. The choice is completely up to you. You can learn the new combo system to pull off fantastic looking and devastating moves; and you don't have to flail yourself off a cliff and have elika save you just to get a light-seed ..... you can actually choose to do it in such a way that she doesn't have to save you... how about that.

The game can be as much or as little as you are able/willing to play it, and as always I love how they do their stories! If you are a real fan of the series, I'm sure you won't be disappointed. I can't really comment for other gamers. But I thought it was a good play.

Starting off with WHY to get the console version:
The game plays JUST as well on console, though I think the graphics are better on the PC, imo.
It's essentially a port of a console game but allows for really customizable controls on the PC, which I enjoyed, but I still played it with a controller.
AND THE DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT IS CONSOLE EXCLUSIVE! That's right! Ubisoft has stated that they will not be releasing the downloadable content for the PC. They stated "for business reasons." PSH. The game is so good on the PC though, and it is DRM free.

Still...onto the game itself. It is still a complete game. The DLC does not "end" the game but continues the story, though by the time you finish Prince of Persia you will WANT to have that DLC, that's why I suggest going ahead and getting the console version of the game

This game is beautiful. I rate the beauty of the game along the lines of Shadow of the Colossus with a bit more color to it. The way the two characters interact with each other is awesome and very well accepted. For those that played the three other Prince of Persia games, this is NOT the same game. Though there is a Farrah reference in the beginning, that's the only thing that links the two games together in any way, no time turning, slow mo, breakable scenery, trap running, life bar even...no deaths, no sands of time, no dual weapons, no undead army. Nope, it has nothing to do with the previous games aside from having a prince that likes to tell gravity to shut up. In fact, he does that even more so.

Along for the ride is a princess Elika, a magic wielding priestess from a nearby temple that is trying to heal the land and lock away the evil god trying to escape. You are the Prince who haphazzardly ended up in the middle of this all after a sandstorm. The two characters work together for the most part to try and save the world from the evil god. That's pretty much the premise of the story. In the wya are 4 wounded lands being taken over by minions of the dark god, and you gotta defeat them. Inbetween you and these Corrupted are the acrobatic-traversed lands laden with wall jumps, hanging vegatation, balance beams and poles. Those that know the previous games you'll recognize pretty much everything here and most of the techniques will be similar. Elika however provides you with the safety net you require and is the one that activates the magical plates you encounter so you can accomplish magical feats as well as propel you a bit futher in a leap to that ledge a little out of reach.

The areas are beautifully rendered and complex looking, with many great moments of running and jumping and swinging that leave you feeling like a kid in a play ground wishing there weren't any stop to it. Now, I got a little annoyed with the frequent Vines/Vegatation that you have to grab a hold of because it was the SLOWEST part of the process. The navigation is very fluid and easy to control. For instance, you have to hit a certain button to grab onto a gold ring attached to the wall, use it for continued momentum and keep going. There's no RIGHT moment to hit the key. There's a large window from when you can press the key, and pressing the key more than once is not going to penalize you. Similarly, there's very little to "timing" you button presses when it comes to jumping and moving about. Excpetions involve some well placed "seeds" you have to collect that require a bit more finesse with the system. Otherwise the system is very easy to move with. This also makes it easy to mess up. A button accidentally pressed at hte wrong time will activate as soon as it can, so you might not want that. There have been many times where I would not mean to jump a second time but would because I pressed jump twice by accident. It remembered I hit it two times and jumped a second time as soon as it could. It only happened a few times and they were early on. I had just gotten done playing Two Thrones while waiting for Steam to download PoP, thinking that the controls would be the same. They so weren't.

Combat is very infrequent. In fact, I would call the game a series of acrobatic and physical trials with some bosses thrown in. There are these sub-boss type guys that die very quickly. The combat takes place in a definite area, arena type places sometimes about 20' across but always obvious. And the combat is a bit more fighter, arcade -like with the prince on one side and the enemy on the other and you tow moving about this arena that you cannot leave, feeling very Soul Calibur ish. Now the combat system involves you either attacking with the sword, attacking with your gauntlet (throwing your opponent around) or throwing Elika at them. Yep, she's like a magic staff you can throw around in combat. The moves also have combos that link between them, juggling your opponent in the air with the same physics defying capabilities as your athleticism. There's quite a few combos that can take down a boss with one go at it. The bosses end up mixing up these "shields" where only ONE type of attack will get them. There's also a block and counter system that also reminds me of Soul Calibur. All-in-all, I found the combat to be fun but too infrequent to really matter. It was complex enough to hold my interest, I just wish there were more opportunities to use it and get better at it. Essentially, there are 22 or so boss battles with at least 10 to really an unlimited number of these sub-bosses, which again don't even last an entire combo. As far as your life is concerned, there is no life bar. Now I actually never died during combat, though I really didn't try. Anytime I would have "died" Elika saved me. Instead, combat is pretty much an eventual win, though you could get stuck trying for a while. There's a "bar" across the bottom that represents the enemy's "life" so the speak. When you hit them, it goes down. When they do something to injure you it goes up. If Elika has to step in and save you, it goes up a lot more. Each enemy has their own unique "attack" that can hinder you, but mostly these just make combat a type of puzzle you have to solve.

The characters, in my opinion, were great. I loved the dialog. I've heard from others and read in reviews that people thought the dialog was just bad. They liked the prince in Sands of Time or the darker prince from Warrior Within or Two Thrones and didn't like this tool of a character. I liked him and I liked Elika. I really just liked the fact that there were two characters. In a game with VERY few other NPC's (only one other real NPC and a few guards you see during the prologue) the game would really have felt just lonely without someone else there. Elika served as a way to solve puzzles AND as a way to make you feel not so alone in the game world. Plus the back and forth, subject dodging and mild innuendo that happens between them was entertaining. Again, this is my opinion of it even though many others didn't like this part of the game.

All in all, I really likes this game. After completing it I went to grab the DLC that I had heard about but then found dishearteningly that it was console exclusive (and somewhat angered). There doesn't seem to be a way to get it for the PC even through illegal means. However, you don't have to PLAY through the game to get to the DLC. Just find someone with the game and the DLC and you can play the game. If you want the bonus costumes you get from having every light seed, that might require you finding them all again on the Console, but if you don't care then it doesn't mean much. I personally liked the chosen character models over the others, though running around as Altair from Assassin's Creed was pretty cool too, though I wish he would crouch down like he did in Assassin's Creed ready to strike for the kill.

Again, if you have the consoles to play this game (PS3 or 360), get it for them instead of for the PC. It's DRM free on the PC, though Steam has it in a bundle with all the other POP games, which work just fine on the PC and are beautiful to behold in their own right. I seriously thought Ubisoft screwed the PC community over with the lack of DLC for the PC, even though this game was just beautiful to play and worked GREAT. Maybe later they will release the DLC, but so far there has been an adamant NO.