Taking a break for a while.

I've got a lot going on at the moment so I won't be updating this page for a while, when things calm down, then I'll resume my weekly updates.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time saga

Ah, the Prince of Persia. This has been one of my favourite game series, I had the first three games on my Sega Master System, SNES and PC respectively, and I must admit I enjoyed them, despite their obvious flaws.
Then 2003 rolled around and the Prince of Persia series gained a revival on the new consoles with The Sands of Time, this new prince was highly acrobatic, charismatic, brave, and just all round awesome. This spawned two sequels which further fleshed out the Prince, a Nintendo DS side-story which intersected between Sand of Time and Warrior Within and after a lackluster 2008 reboot simple titled The Prince of Persia (Which is VERY enjoyable once you get into it) a fourth Sands of Time game -- The Forgotten Sands was released in 2010, which too was meant to be placed between Sands of Time and Warrior Within (and despite what people think, it wasn't a cash-in to tie in with the film) and the Sands of Time trilogy was also re-released in stunning HD for the newer consoles... Bonus!
Now, I'm going to look at all five games in chronological order in one big Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time special, post... So enjoy!


Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time



Many people have considered this game to quite possibly the best game ever... Well it's not the best ever but it sure is close. I'd always wanted to play this game once I saw previews for it but just never went out to get it. I just happened to play it when a friend brought it over, and I couldn't stop playing it until I beat it...



Graphics 8

Now don't shoot me for giving it an 8. There are reasons I didn't give it a 10.
But first, let me start by saying that this is one of the most beautiful games that I have ever seen. The character models look superb. The environments look amazing, the video sequences were great, everything was wonderful. But you may be asking yourself... If I like everything then why is it an 8?
Well the graphics are great, for the time but it's just little things like Farah not having a proper working hand with fingers. Just little things like that.

This game has beautiful visuals. The rooms are grandiose and beautiful. They are so large that they seem to have limitless possible routes through them. Their structure is complex, and yet their overall design is quite coherent regardless.
The textures are great, with many different contrasts – one scene in particular where you walk from this large room onto a balcony at night (with no loading) and the night sky is a dark blue, the entire area is blanketed with an eerie blue glow, and yet you jump right back into the well-lit room and all of the bright colours appear again.
This adds to the overall atmosphere greatly – the well deigned and realistic visual presentation actually affects the feeling of the game. The aesthetics are some of my favourites of any game ever.

The character models are quite good, despite flaws like the one I picked out earlier. Not the best I have ever seen, but the Prince's model is well designed and has character. The monster designs are pretty cool if I say so myself, and some of them can be creepy in their odd way. A great thing about this game's models is not the models themselves but the way they move – especially the Prince. The Prince has a multitude of moves in his repertoire, and all of them are represented beautifully on the screen. The Prince darts gracefully around the environment, making it fun to watch in and of itself.



Gameplay 10

The battle system in Prince of Persia is fantastic in it's beautiful simplicity. Your avatar bounds around the screen dispatching enemies with grace. The stylistic approach to fights makes these acrobatic manoeuvres not only completely bad-ass, but also very useful.
In some games, these moves may not be used to their full potential because they require precise timing and calculated button presses in order to function anywhere close to the way they were intended. In The Sands of Time, you literally press two buttons to bound over an enemy and bring him to the ground with your sword. The simplicity of the controls makes combat a joy to take part in, and a joy to watch.

While the combat system is fantastic, the real meat of The Sands of Time is it's adventure segments.
This in my opinion is where the game truly shines. The controls, like in combat are fantastically simple, yet the limited button usage masks amazing acrobatic diversity. The Prince can run across gaps along the walls, or jump wall to wall, moving upward with each bound.
The Prince can leap a large gap, barely making it and grabbing onto the ledge with a last grab for his life. It is fun more than any game I have ever played just to go from point A to point B.

As you venture through the the heavily booby-trapped palace (hehehe... Booby...), you will enter some astonishingly large rooms. You are gifted (usually) with a clear goal, and it is up to you to find your way to it.
The rooms are so expansive and the tricks in your repertoire so diverse that you could theoretically find ten different ways to go about conquering the room. Should I shimmy up that pole and jump to that ledge? Maybe I'll run along the wall and then jump across that chasm.

As you go through your possibilities, you may misstep, jump too early or too late, or misjudge a distance. This is where the most revolutionary game play element comes in.
After you fall or are beaten to a grisly death, you have to start from the last save – or do you? Just use that L1 button to rewind time – going back to that ledge you fell from, or away from that enemy who killed you.
This mechanic makes trial and error far less frustrating than it would normally be. In a game that can be tough at times, it is more than welcome to have such an ability.
Rewind is not your only power – you'll get other powers like freeze; which freezes your opponent mid-battle and leaves them there for you to finish.

The game has some pretty tough moments, but in general, it's not too hard. But when the going gets tough, the game is fun enough that you want to keep playing anyway.

The game's Time-bending mechanic compounded with the beautiful movement and combat make every inch of the game an interesting, fresh, and most importantly, fun experience.



Sound 9

I love sound in video games I very much enjoyed the aural details here. The Sands of Time is a mix of great subtle sounds, with some weak soundtrack items, but generally OK music. The voices are good, the accents... Well, the do cause issue with some gamers as they Farah and the Prince are Indian and Persian respectively, yet they sound like upper class London snobs. My theory on this is that we speak English and we associate the posh English accent with nobility. Having true accented characters would diminish them as some people have trouble understanding different accents and to go a step further and use the Persian language from 1000... Yeah, stick with the London toff accent.

The ambient sound is great. The little sounds like the tapping footsteps of the Prince running along the walls are great subtleties that can really be appreciated. The clanging of swords is just clanging – as it should be and will be forever.
The sounds that you can't really place – like sand swirling from a monster's corpse – will just have to pass as they are. That said, they sound as realistic as possible.

The music is good, I enjoyed a lot of it. The problems are some weak songs, and more importantly – even the good ones get stale after so many repeated listenings.
A little more variety or even just more of similar, yet different, music would help.



Story 9

The story is fairly interesting. In an adventure game, the story is usually the push to play, so it's important.
Like I just said, a good story is essential for most adventure games, here it is not as essential. More so than the story, the game play drives the game here.
The story is enough to give all the characters motivation, though they are not very dynamic generally. One exception is the Prince. His motives change from the beginning, and he becomes someone different than when the story began.
That journey is almost more interesting than the Sands of Time arc. The Sands of Time storyline is well developed enough, and leads to some good story situations, and some great scenes later on. It's pretty run-of-the mill, but good writing ensures that it serves it's purpose better than most.



Overall 9

This is a great game that is full of exciting combat, fun puzzles, massive amounts of exploration (which is coincidentally the best I've ever seen in an adventure game).
If you're at all into the genre, it's worth it to give this one a shot. A few negatives, such as my issues with the music and the minor slowdown during large battles. It's definitely a game you need to have in your collection!



Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands



Ubisoft endeared itself to gamers everywhere in 2003 with the release of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
The game blended incredible acrobatic feats with enthralling and energetic combat and it also of course, introduced the concept of Rewind.
The Prince had the ability to rewind time which added a fascinating and dynamic change to gameplay, and it became a trademark of the trilogy that eventually spawned.
There have been other Prince games, including the fascinating 2008 Prince and in 2010 we got The Forgotten Sands.
Now, I want to make a point and say that this game was released on four consoles. The PS3/Xbox, PSP, Nintendo Wii and DS... And all four versions are different. I own them all, but I shall only be looking at the PS3 Xbox version because it's the one I feel is most canonical to the series and my favourite of the four releases..



Graphics 7

This game is built on a version of the Assassins Creed engine and is a departure from the previous cell shaded graphics of the 2008 instalment.
The graphics are done very well with nice light sourcing and environmental effects such as particle effects, water effects that need to be seen to believed, and good character designs.
An awesome effect is the “blur” effect when the Prince encounters portals. The Prince himself looks well designed and detailed, however puzzling is his facial design. (Perhaps to make him look reminiscent of the actor portraying him on the big screen adaptation?)
Enemies are detailed as well, with some of the more impressive designs being left to the bosses encountered during your game play. While there are some very good environments' to navigate the Prince through, other environments' are very dull and lifeless.
The games graphics really take off towards the last twenty minutes of game play. Overall, it's good but never reaches greatness



Gameplay 7

The bread and butter of any Prince of Persia game have always been the game play mechanics. The game takes us back to the acrobatic skills of the previous trilogy and gives the Prince back his “rewind” ability, something that many gamers missed in the re-imaging.
Running on walls, jumping over spiked pits, these are all back. In addition to these old school game play mechanics; Ubisoft has any elemental powers which the Prince gains on his journey. The ability to “freeze” water has to be one of the coolest effects in the entire game.
The Prince can use this feature to run up wells, across walls, or even turn fountains squirting water into poles to swing off of. Also added was the ability to upgrade the Princes abilities via a skill tree.
The Prince gains experience by defeating enemies and the player is given complete control over which powers the Prince can develop. These can add to the damage he does to enemies, or upgrade powers the prince has to use during battle (flame, ice, rock, wind).
All these powers need to be fully upgraded to get the most out of them.

The puzzles that the Prince must solve to traverse these environments aren't too difficult, therefore it's very easy to solve. Also, on one occasion the puzzle is solved by having the Princes internal monologue tell you how to solve it.



Sound 7

The score the accompanies the game can sometimes be tough to notice. This is because it's not always there. There are many quiet moments, which following certain cutscenes, feel appropriate. The music that does play is well done, and accompanies the dramatic moments you would expect with uplifting enthusiasm.
The most impressive track to me, was the one playing on the pause screen, believe it or not. Very soothing and addicting. The voice acting in the game is solid but not amazing.
What is nice though is that Yuri Lowenthal, the voice of the Prince in The Sands of Time and The Two Thrones reprises his role and while it's not award winning stuff, it's a very good and respectable performance. The other voices in the game are also fairly good.



Story 7

The game takes place during the seven year gap between “The Sands of Time” and “Warrior Within.” By doing this, we are again treated to a happy go lucky Prince, who is charming and still idealistic in his approach to the world. Having been sent by his father the king to visit his brother, Malik, the Prince finds his brothers castle under attack.
This is where the players take control of the Prince. The story then follows the Prince, his brother, and a female genie in an attempt to stop a great darkness from covering the whole world in darkness and sand.
The story has some predictable twists, but the presentation of the story is marked by cut scenes and push the story forward, as well has some good commentary by the Prince himself while playing through the environments.



Overall 7

The game is a good 6-8 hour play through; it features an unlockable arena mode where you defeat waves of enemies. Is it worth purchasing? If you're a fan of the series, yes. If you're leisure gamer, I would suggest waiting until the price drops.



Battles of The Prince of Persia



Battles of Prince of Persia is a somewhat unknown strategy game in the popular Prince of Persia series. In it you control the titular prince as he searches for a way to free himself from the Dahaka, a supernatural being that he unleashed in the events of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.



Graphics 6

The graphics should have been better. In turn based strategy enormous graphical power is usually wasted; but I do want to be able to see what type of units I have in which position at a glance. The pictograms sometimes just look too much alike, so that I have to select units in order to be absolutely sure I am moving the right one.
Seeing as I am one for slow, thoughtful play, this is no big deal; but I can imagine that this alone will cause some people to start a dust collection on the game... Don't say I didn't warn you.



Gameplay 8

First of all, I'm not new to the tactical/strategic genre by any means, but Battles of Prince of Persia has a lot of features in it that you just can't find anywhere else.
Being a card-based strategy game, you play with a customizable deck of 30 cards. You can make your deck out of hundreds of different cards to create your own method of playing, such as adding in specific cards in order to move your units farther or adding in additional defensive cards in order to protect your men, no matter what you do you will have to make your deck reflect your preferred playing style.
Also, as I mentioned before, the game features a war between three factions, and throughout the game you will be forced to play as certain people in certain missions, each of which has their own unique deck and cards. For the record, I didn't really like being forced to switch people so often, because I definitely prefer some generals over others and each time you switch generals you have to make a new deck for them. Aside from that, the core gameplay is quite good.
As you control your army, you will have to keep in mind numerous factors in order to successfully attack and destroy your enemy, such as what weapon type and size the squad is that you're attacking with, as well as from what direction and what status cards they may have active on them.
The game features a rather simple paper-rock-scissors concept in its battles, each squad either has lances, swords, or arrows where lances defeat swords, swords defeat arrows, and so forth. It gets complicated when you add in the various card effects, but the game is pretty good at giving the player a decent learning curve and tutorial.

Also, you will have a general unit who can grant bonuses to squads within his zone of control. There are also status cards that can grant bonuses within a certain zone, adding another element to think about. Another feature I really liked is that it DOES matter how you attack an enemy. For example, if you attack an enemy squad from behind, you will be much more successful than attacking head-on.
You can even perform a pincer attack to attack for 150% damage, giving the player a good reason to outflank his opponent. To recap, the core gameplay and strategy is solid, but the card element can make most battles feel like a play-as-you-go affair as it can be hard to get the cards you need at the right time.
The gameplay is quite fun, but it loses points for forcing the player to play as people they don't want to be.



Sound 6

The music in the game is decidedly Arabic, taking on the sound of The Sands of Time, rather than the more rock inspired Warrior Within.
The music varies from women singing with a harp-like sound in the background to a mix of Arabian-style guitar playing during the battles.
The music isn't too memorable, but it does sound good at least. The sound effects are also rather standard, and you'll be listening to a lot of sword clashes.
I would've liked to have heard more death cries in the game, as they don't really have that sound effect at all; instead enemies just simply disappear after you hear the sound of a sword hitting something. The rest of the sound effects are what you would expect, so overall everything in the category is average.




Story 8

Like The Forgotten Sands, the story takes place between the events of The Sands of Time and Warrior Within but it's unknown if it follows The Forgotten Sands as that games was released well after this one and there's no real timeline to place it in, the placement of the Dahaka in this but lack of it in The Forgotten Sands suggest to me that this is closer to Warrior Within, placing it after The Forgotten Sands.
If you've played the two main Prince of Persia games, one major thing that anyone would notice is how much darker and war-hardened the prince has become between the two games, and that's where Battles of Prince of Persia comes in.
In it, we see the prince continue to try to overcome his fate.
In order to find a way to escape the Dahaka, he needs to search other countries for a mythological item, and thus plots to start a war with them in order to facilitate his search. The story covers the prince's many battles with his neighbours, as well as several events that happened before The Sands of Time by the evil Vizier.

I really liked the story in the game; it really fits in well and explains a lot of events between The Sands of Time and Warrior Within. The new characters were interesting, but the focus still remains on the Prince, as it should. Also, all of the battles were more or less relevant to the story, with the exception of a couple of the initial battles, which served as tutorials.

Overall 7

Overall, a good strategy game with excellent ideas that just didn't pan out well in the end. If you could be the prince throughout the whole game and maybe even get to pick which units you get to fight with, I think the game would have done a tad better.
I'd definitely recommend it to a fan of the genre that may be looking for something fresh to play, or maybe even a hardcore Prince of Persia fan, as the story alone provides a lot of background information between The Sands of Time and Warrior Within. Other than that, though, there are a lot of other games that will probably entertain you much more.
If you do decide to pick up Battles of Prince of Persia, you should be able to find a rather cheap copy at your local game store. Have fun and keep playing.



Prince of Persia: Warrior Within



So, not long after this fantastic game hit the shelves, Ubisoft released the sequel, Warrior Within. Is it any good? Is it as fluid and intense as the first game? Will people like it as much as the first?
The first two answers are a definite YES from me, but other people have criticised Warrior Within, claiming the new dark tone and overhaul of the combat system has ruined a potentially fantastic sequel.
To me, Warrior Within is twice the game that The Sands of Time was, and that the elements of gameplay are tied together nicely to create a truly unique gaming experience that should be enjoyed by all.



Graphics 9

Although the game has adopted a much darker tone, most of the graphics remain well-done.
The Prince himself has gained a more primal appearance, along with some facial hair. He doesn't seem as cheerful and easy-going as in The Sands of Time.
While this is a bit of a change, his story reflects his very angry mood. Cutscenes are more present than in The Sands of Time, where a majority of the storytelling was in the gameplay, so expect to set down your controller at points to watch the well-animated cinematics.
The levels are still brilliantly designed and great to look at, although the darker tone makes them a bit more foreboding. Lush vegetation, towering statues, and dark caverns offer quite a bit of atmosphere.
Character models are also impressive, though I do have to take issue with Kaileena/Shadee, they have both been given huge chests and revealing clothes. Compared to Farah of the first game who was more reasonably proportioned and decently dressed (it's still revealing, but it passes as more of a cultural thing than a simple sex-appeal aesthetic), it makes the game seem cartoonish and it's easy to tell the Devs were aiming the game at a late teen/early 20's audience.



Gameplay 9

I was very impressed with The Sands of Time, mostly by its fast-paced exploration. Warrior Within is no exception.
It carries the exploration aspect further. The controls are pretty much the same, but tweaked a bit to incorporate the combat which changes on the fly depending on which weapon(s) you're , adding some variety to the battles.
The controls are simple and mirror its predecessor, but the game allows you to use them in very unique ways and when you link them all together, the game's pace becomes faster and more fun.

The Prince's mission isn't a light-hearted romp through the city though. You could call Warrior Within a sequel, you could call it a prequel, because at its core it's both.
The brilliant level design remains true to itself. The incredible jumping and climbing puzzles remain a solid inclusion in Warrior Within. The Prince has some new moves as well, like swinging on ropes and sliding down curtains to safety. This all adds up to a well-designed and fast experience.

Probably the biggest upgrade is the combat system which I've already touched upon. The Prince can use a plethora of powerful attacks to take out enemies.
Now able to use two different combat styles, one for one weapon and one for two weapons, the game's combat system feels new. New grabs, throws, chokes, weapon steals, slashes, and decapitations arrive to make the combat a diverse part of the game.
Combine that with some new wall jumps and environment interaction to make combat even more frantic. Weapons are scattered about the game for use, each one having its own stats and techniques.
This sounds great, but usually the weapon types won't matter as you can waste minions with any one of them. Also, you will be fighting minions a lot, so expect a small bit of repetition to sink in.

As in The Sands of Time, the Prince has access to some nifty Time moves to save his neck in times of danger.
The Dagger of Time has been replaced with the Recall, which pretty much does the same. Rewind time to save yourself from a cheap attack or a fall. Some new techniques arrive as well, some move allows you to slow down time for a quick attack or to solve a puzzle, or for an aggressive area attack. The techniques are integrated into gameplay brilliantly, remaining a very integral part of the Prince of Persia experience. Other changes include no longer getting the cool premonitions of the first.
Instead, the Prince saves and heals at the local fountains without a quick peek at the next area.

At its core, Warrior Within, like its predecessor, is linear. There is only one way to do things most of the time. While this may hurt other games, Warrior Within makes up for the linear nature of the game by making the one way an absolutely brilliant one.
The entire level is one giant puzzle, and by using fast reflexes and well-timed jumps and climbs, the puzzle can be solved. The entire game is complimented by excellent level design, so the overall linear nature is not a problem.
While Warrior Within doesn't make any drastic changes to the gameplay, it keeps all the good things in tact, providing a brilliantly designed game to play.




Sound 7

The audio department has taken a drastic change in Warrior Within. Much of the Arabian music has been replaced with loud guitar rock, some of it provided by various versions of I Stand Alone by Godsmack.
This does take away most of the beauty and atmosphere that The Sands of Time prided itself with.
The loud guitar rock is a prime signal that an enemy is nearby and that a battle will begin. The atmosphere feels taken away at these moments. In some cases, however, the game shows off some nice mixes between the rock and the old Arabian themes.
I did wish that there was more of this, but most of it is just guitar riffs, and they just don't seem to fit the bill when alone. The voice acting and sound effects, however, remain extremely well done.
The Prince has some new cocky battle quips which bring out his dark nature, and the enemies yells are much more diverse than in The Sands of Time. This change in audio is disappointing to say the least, but for the most part, it isn't too bad.



Story 8

In a nutshell, a creature called the Dahaka is hunting The Prince. The Dahaka is there to right the wrong, and by wrong I mean how the prince was supposed to die when the sands were opened.
The prince travels to the island of time in hopes to go back far enough to where the sands were never created. It may not seem that intriguing on paper, but then again, paper doesn't do it any justice.



Overall 8

They seemed to really try to fix all that was wrong with the first one, yet left out the key elements, the dream like fantasy feel and the storybook like quality.
It's an awesome game and I love the direction they took, but just fell short in that overall "feel".
It is however a worthwhile addition to your collection and considering it's part of a much bigger picture, if you're a fan you'd be a fool not to own it.



Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones



And finally we come to the last instalment of The Sands of Time saga.
Originally intended to be the last of the saga, it does a fairly good job of mixing the last two games of the series and bookending them... But is it any good? Well, you've stuck with me this far, so lets continue shall we?



Graphics 9

Let's face it, the past games have never been well known for their graphics. While the developers did do a spectacular job of improving their existing engine from The Sands of Time to Warrior Within, they don't seem to have changed much at all from Warrior Within to The Two Thrones.
While things do look gorgeous from a distance, up close they can have a messy, unfocused look to them, particularly on the features of the characters themselves.
Touches such as the Prince's muscles or flowing hair look as if they were cut out of a magazine and then glued onto his skin.
Despite this, the environments themselves do look stunning. With real-time lighting and shadow effects, and a dreamy glow that hangs over the overall environment is something that has been brought back from The Sands of Time, and is greeted with open arms.
Though the graphics can look a bit dated up close, but overall they are really quite beautiful.



Gameplay 8

Everything that you loved from the past two games are back and (mostly) better than ever.
The moment you turn on your console you'll find yourself in familiar territory as you take that daring leap over the first chasm or run across your first wall. As always, the Prince is a natural acrobat; swinging on poles, climbing columns, and wall kicking up the walls of an alley between two war-ravaged buildings will feel better than ever as you battle your way through the game.
In addition, the ol' Free Form Fighting system is back as well. Fans of Warrior Within will feel right at home as they feel the rush of performing their favourite devastating combos on hordes of mindless monsters, or just take them as a human shield and toss them off a building.
However, while the combos are intact, the Free Form itself does feel as if some has been cut off. Some of the more ruthless moves such as strangulations are no longer present.
Don't worry though, you can still cut people in half with reckless abandon.
Speaking of combat, one of the biggest additions to the game is the speed kill system. This new, stealthy way to take out enemies without alerting others is a fun addition to the series. When an enemy is near and is not aware of the Prince, he will automatically take out the Dagger and go into a Sam Fisher-style crouch.
Once you are in range, the graphics will become hazy, and with the push of a button the Prince will begin the speed kill. These quick and easy kills are finished with a precise button timing. Time will freeze for an instant, giving you a split second to tap the button.
Don't take to long though, or the sequence will be destroyed and the enemy will turn the tides. Along with the speed kill system is what everyone has been waiting for: The Dark Prince.

This new, evil version of the Prince is released early in the game and gradually grows more powerful as time wares on. The Dark Prince uses a different combat style than the Prince, more wild and raucous with less of the precise timing on the Prince's part.
This is mainly because of the Dark Prince's main weapon, the Daggertail. This razor-sharp chain embedded in the Dark Prince's arm allows him to swing it around with reckless abandon, taking out entire rooms of enemies in seconds if you know what you're doing, {on a side note, I wonder if the new God of War game (it was new at the time) had any influence, as after seeing Kratos destroy his way through Greek Mythology, we saw a new trend arise in chain-based weaponry}.
On the down side, the Dark Prince's life decreases much like that of the Sand Wraith in the last game. Unlike the Sand Wraith, however, he does not have unlimited sand access. Instead, sand sustains the Dark Prince's life power, in addition to allowing him to use sand powers.
Once he comes in contact with water though, he reverts back to the original Prince. It's worth mentioning that the Dark Prince's speed kills are more button mashers instead of the precise timing it takes on the Prince's part.



Sound 7

The sound was done quite well this time around. An ambient noise like grunts and yells from guards as they patrol and watch their post, or when they spot your hands hanging on the railing were exciting and added to the suspense and action of the game.
The music seemed to match the mood pretty well, at some times the music would get soft and I would begin to wonder if something bad was going to happen right then. Sound effects from breaking objects, running water, fires, and people were realistic and well done.

One thing I would have liked to see is a change in the voices. At points, the Prince's voice didn't quite seem to match his character, even though it was our beloved Yuri Lowenthal from The Sands of Time, instead of our angry emo prince of Warrior Within.
I also had trouble dealing with Farah's voice, as they had chosen a much different actor. She sounded much more American than the original Farah and this quite annoyed me as the sweet, caring (if yet pushy) companion from The Sands of Time was gone and was replaced by a generic "Action Chick" character who you don't really give two shits about.

The voices were often very quiet; to the point where I had to turn my TV's volume so high it disturbed everyone inside my house.
This was the worst when music was playing in the background twice as loud as the voices. Overall, it was a decent job, but could have used a little tweaking.
Thankfully though, if you've got a good headset, it's not much of an issue. (I use Turtle Beach Ear Forch PX21's, a bit flimsy in build design but brilliant at what they do, if you want a good but cheap headset, I recommend these)



Story 9

Basically, since the prince prevented the sands from being created in the Warrior Within, the first game, The Sands of Time technically did not happen because of the paradox he created when not killing the Empress.
So, your old friend, the Vizier, from The Sands of Time is back with a vengeance. I can't go too much more into detail without spoiling it, so it's probably best to leave it at that. All said and done, the Vizier is once again your main adversary.
Well, that isn't entirely true; it's actually your dark self that you ultimately have to conquer, but destroying the Vizier and restoring peace to Babylon is the stories ultimate driving force.



Overall 8.5

this game is just great on all levels. It's much shorter than Warrior Within, but still is a great play. I'm not sure whether it was better or worse that this game is once again very liner.
Although, considering the problems Warrior Within had when you went a different way than they expected, this is probably for the better.
There are also a few cases during combat that the controls were a little sluggish, other than that this is a great game and one you need to own if a fan of any of the previous entries (Though if you are, chances are you own it already.




Final Thought.

All in all, The Prince of Persia series is a fun, fast and frantic series of games, and while the narrative isn't all that deep at first glance, it is very engaging and you really feel yourself rooting for the Prince as he tries to overcome all the trials he faces.
These are games you MUST own. Maybe not The Forgotten Sands and Battles of the Prince of Persia, but definitely The Sands of Time Trilogy as it is one of the better series' of the last gen consoles, and one of the best game series made in general.
If you have a PS3/Xbox and have yet to play the main trilogy, I urge you to look up the HD trilogy collection and see what you've been missing.
There isn't really much more I can say on this, just play them, trust me. You will not regret it at all.

H.E.R.O. - Atari 2600

H.E.R.O. is a unique game about a guy, his helicopter backpack, his laser beam shooting helmet, his desire to blow stuff up with dynamite and his sense of bravery to constantly rescue helpless idiots who somehow got stuck at the bottom of dangerous caves.



Graphics 10

The amazing thing is how great and varied each room can look. (Considering that this is an Atari 2600 game.) Your hero is well drawn and decked out in a red, white (well, more grey than white) and blue uniform with yellow helicopter blades.
All the critters can be easily identified. Room lighting can vary, depending on how deep you are or if you blew out the room's light, then lit dynamite to see by.
Even the liquid can be seen splashing around in some rooms. And, that guy who needs to be rescued and seems to always find a corner to hide in...he, too, looks very much like a guy in need of help.

It is hard to believe that this is a game playing on an Atari. Everything is well drawn with plenty of colour. Except for the occasional thin line passing for a standing platform in the drink, you can easily tell what is what with a simple glance. And, yet, the game does not get overboard with unnecessary eye candy. (Like Atari games ever did that...)



Gameplay 10

Our hero has quite a game on his hands. And, his game world consists of underground caverns. Caverns full of barrier walls that he must blast through with his trusty load of dynamite or melt with his mighty laser eye rays. Caverns full of deadly creatures who crawl, fly or burrow through the ground.
Caverns full of deadly liquids, waiting to add him to its substance. Caverns full of strange dirt substances that are more venomous than any snake known to Man. And, caverns that get longer... And longer... And longer, as you clear stage after stage after stage.

These caverns are actually a series of "rooms" that the hero walks through. In each room, there can be walls, creatures, liquids, deadly soil, wall lights, choices of routes and exits that can go in any one of the four directions.
You can literally retrace your steps and return to the first "room", if you wish to. This game is just that open for exploration. Though, there is one thing stopping you.

Your helicopter backpack thingie is very short on fuel/electricity. When it is gone, you are stranded and commit suicide. (Or, something.)
Our hero controls pretty well... But, he does have an intentional flaw. When on solid soil, you can press left and he walks left. Tap left and he takes one step to the left. Pull down and he lights a stick of dynamite. Press right and he walks right. (And, away from the blast zone.)
The intentional problem comes from using the helicopter flight controls. Hold up and the thing "whirls up" until it has enough lift force to make the hero lift his feet off of the ground.

Controlling the hero in flight literally requires learning a whole new control technique. (And, trust me, levels 10 and up require some pretty tight use of that unique flight control.) While this was designed to make the control a little more realistic to the spinning up and down of the heli-blades, it really just makes an otherwise excellent arcade control situation frustratingly hard. There is really not much way to explain this control without actually having the game in front of you as an example.
If you can master the flight controls, this game will become easier.

This game actually has many levels to it... (I've made it to level 35.) and each level has its own unique cave "rooms".
The first level literally has the hero blow away a single wall, drop down one "room", shoot a deadly bat and grab the idiot victim.
Stage 2 introduces a couple more rooms and another critter. Each stage after that gets a little more complicated and introduces more and more elements. So, the game does have a nice learning curve. But, the real challenge comes from mastering that flight control. The later stages demand it.



Sound 5

As usual in 2600 games, the sounds suffer a little. There is no music to speak of. And, what sounds there are pretty much come from what the hero is doing.
Light the dynamite, it goes Ssssssss.... BOOM! Fire the laser eye beam and it goes EeEEeeeEEEeeeEEee. Use the helicopter backpack and you get Choopa-choopa-choopa-choopa. Step on a deadly critter, and our hero produces this weird surprised chime sound.
I guess that for the time it was pretty good and it did it's job, but I know that the 2600 was capable of better sound, not by much but I know it could do it.



Story... I'm sure there is one. So, I'll say 7

It's not every year that you hear of the "Boy in the abandoned well being rescued by a single guy with a micro-helicopter strapped to his back" story. And, that is precisely what this hero dude is all about.
And, even if the story isn't that complicated, it is still better than the story about an Italian plumber going after a big ape with a hammer to save some chick or an alien attack whose method of invading the Earth is to march slowly back and forth in the air while letting some land vehicle take pop shots at their invasion force.
Forget protecting the Earth from aliens! We got idiots cowering in holes to save!
It's basic, it's basically non-existent, and even with this guys gadgetry it's believable. BUT! Do you play Atari games for believable realism? HELL NO! The gameplay is the true star here!



Conclusion 8.5

This is a game that was made before its time, and made well.
While it did have ports to the Atari 5200, ColecoVision and the Commodore 64, (I have played the 64 version... It looks and plays exactly like the 2600 version.) this game still did not get the fame and attention it should have gotten that unfortunately instead went to Pitfall Harry and his vine swinging, alligator jumping, scorpion hopping adventures in the classic game, Pitfall.

H.E.R.O., you are indeed a hero, simply for not grabbing Harry and shovelling some of that toxic dirt into his face, and you are well deserving of your excellent rating.

Streets of Rage - Sega Megadrive

In the early 90's, I was introduced to Streets of Rage 2, and this game quickly became one of my favourite games of all time and made me a hardcore gamer (I'd always loved games, but games like this and Golden axe fuelled my pixellated passion).
A couple of years later, I played Streets of Rage 3, it was also an awesome game.
After playing these two games, I wondered what the first one would be like. Well, later on in 96' (I think), I got a compilation cart for Christmas (Mega Games 6)
This cart featured some of the best Mega Drive games, including Revenge of Shinobi and Golden Axe one of these games was also Streets of Rage.
When I played this game, what I played was a game that was a little different then it's sequels, so I was in for a change. But what I also saw from this game like it's sequels is that it was a wonderful masterpiece.



Graphics 8

This game looked really nice for it's time (1991).
I liked how the backgrounds and look gave a dark feel to the city. The neon lights really help too to express the city feel. While the graphics were good for it's time and even though this game was made early in the Sega Mega Drive' lifetime, I feel that the graphics could've been a little bit better, I feel that the game still has a little bit of that 8-bit feel to it. The game looks a little muddy to me in some places, and so does some of the characters. But overall, it's still pretty good.



Gameplay 9

It all comes together in the gameplay section.
Pummel your way through 8 levels packed to the brim with all sorts of bad guys, until you reach Mr. X himself. The levels themselves are fairly well designed, but are mostly a 'left to right' affair.
There are more than enough enemies to beat the stuffing out of. The single player game can begin to feel a little tiring, but having a friend to play with can add a lot to the game. There are a few bonus moves thrown in when you play the two player mode, and they are fairly effective. Although it may sound similar to many other beat 'em ups from the past, there is something that sets it apart: The special weapon.
In trouble? Getting your booty booted? Press the A button to call in your police friends. The button will wipe out normal enemies, and deal hefty damage to bosses.



Sound 9

The music is superb in every way.
Each track has a good beat, and has a nice pace. Too bad the game doesn't have a good pace.
Although not as good as the music from Streets of Rage 2, it still is much better than ninety
percent of the stuff your likely to hear out there. The boss music is especially well done, when
the bass kicks in, you know your in for one hell of a fight.
The sound effects are also superb! There is no way I can fault it. Glass shatters when you wrap a bottle around someone's head, the back-up cars tires squeal as the pull up beside you to eliminate your foes who scream in pain when defeated.
The sound, for the time is very visceral and brings the world to life.



Story 6

Here is the story from the manual. ''What was once a happy, peaceful, productive city full of life and activity, has fallen into the hands of a secret criminal syndicate. The leader of the syndicate has somehow managed to keep his identity a secret. The organization soon absorbed the city government (anyone can be had if the price is right). They even have the metropolitan police force in their back pocket. Looting, random violence and destruction are rampant. No one is safe walking the streets, day or night...

As the chaos continued at full strength, three young police officers tried to establish a special attack unit. They were repeatedly refused by their superiors, most of whom had either been bought by the organization or were too afraid to make a stand. One day, when they could no longer stand by and watch their city being demolished, they quit the force!

Adam Hunter, Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding decided to forego their careers in legal law enforcement and put their lives on the line. They are without weapons, but each possesses
great hand-to-hand combat abilities. Take them into the heart of the city and battle the most
dangerous wave of bad dudes and chicks ever assembled. Make the city a place where people no longer have to walk the Streets of Rage!''

Not too bad as far as video game stories go, but it's no Phantasy Star. The evil criminal organisation angle has been done to death in video games, so points were deducted.



Overall 8

While being a classic Mega Drive game, it was still too easy back then, and still is now. While it's sequel showed everyone how a scrolling beat 'em up should be done, it would not have been if it were not for this piece of work. If you haven't heard of the game (there are a few of you out there), go search for it (it's now available as DLC on newer consoles or within the ultimate Mega Drive collection), and pick it up for a few weeks of gaming goodness.
This was a great game! It was a very good way to start up an absolutely fantastic series! I would recommend this game to anyone, and I also recommend the entire series to anyone, all three are great games. Thank you Sega for making such a great game. Now stop ignoring this series and show some respect to your fans.