Game: Prince of Persia (PS3/X360/PC)

[Stitch]

I did a thread search and didn't find anything. Maybe I just suck at using the search function. But anyway, next-gen Prince of Persia is here.

http://prince-of-persia.us.ubi.com/

The link above is to the game's official site. I strongly suggest that you guys check it out if you have a few minutes to kill.

If any of you were uninspired or disappointed by last-gen's Prince of Persia trilogy, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

This is not only a new PoP game, it is a restart. A new trilogy. And it's being taken in a completely new direction.

Puzzle solving and action-adventure platforming will still make up the basics of the gameplay, but there are quite a few shake ups.

The first change you'll notice is the graphics. You will call it cel-shaded, the developers like to call it "illustrative," which means a combination of cel-shading and 3D special effects. It looks amazing, and I think you'll be really impressed by how much work Ubisoft Montreal is putting into it if you check out all the media at their official website.

The second biggest change that the developers have implemented is in the combat gameplay. Rather than boring you by throwing a bunch of mindless enemies at you and sucking your enthusiasm away with less than stellar combat controls, animations, and responsiveness, the developers have decided that they will only throw one enemy at you at a time, and these enemies won't be mindless. They aim for each battle to play out like a Soul Calibur title.

The third biggest change, and perhaps the more enticing change, in my opinion, is that you get a sidekick this time around. And unlike other games where you would expect sidekicks to get in the way and frustrate the game experience, Ubisoft Montreal is reportedly taking care with AI to make sure she never gets in the way and only enhances the action by taking commands.

Remember the dagger? The same dagger that used the sands of time to help you rewind in case you fucked up during the puzzle solving? The dagger's gone, but the sidekick has magical abilities to save you from falling to death.

The sidekick is also a woman. Once you check out the sidekick at the official site, you'll notice they aren't whoring her up. They're keeping her look very classic and respectable, and I think that adds way more personality to her than otherwise.

Another incentive to check out the official site is that you'll be treated to a trailer with some of the best music I've ever heard, and I think you'll agree.

I also found a sweet video of a developer walkthrough at http://gamersyde.com/news_6890_en.html. It shows the developer playing the game on a PS3, which I think is very encouraging for PS3 owners because as a PS3 owner myself, I worry that I will get the gimped version of a multi-platform game. After watching the developer's talk about how they've come up to speed with the PS3's architecture at Sony's E3 conference, I have more confidence that the PS3 will be the superior version.

[Abdula]

You know I was going to say that you really did a nice job with this thread and then you mentioned this PS3 superiority nonsense.

Anyway yes the game is going to be fantastic, I got that feeling alot from this years E3.

[Stitch]

A Wii version would've been superior because of superior controls as demonstrated by Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime: Corruption, but alas, another Nintendo console gets treated like the red headed stepchild by Western publishers. Nothing new there. Watch when the DS shamelessly gets a rushed port job anyway though.

[Abdula]

Say what? You're joking right. Wii superior? controls?

I honestly wouldn't care about a Wii version of PoP, sounds like a very bad idea in my opinion.

[Stitch]

You wouldn't understand until you've played games as long as I have.

[Abdula]

Wait what? Where in that statement is there a point?

What makes you think you have a monopoly on video game knowledge?

[Stitch]

Dude, I'm just kidding. Calm down. I don't have a monopoly on video game knowledge, it was just a joke. Wasn't meant to be a snide comment or anything, sorry if you took it that way.

I don't want to talk about which console is superior anymore. I'm sure the game will be good on both the PS3 and X360.

[ForteCross]

if they are not going to throw a bunch of mindless enemies ala god of war, then the should throw bosses like shadow of colluseus( cant spell it xD)... but its not like its going to happen

[bagandscalpel]

if they are not going to throw a bunch of mindless enemies ala god of war, then the should throw bosses like shadow of colluseus( cant spell it xD)... but its not like its going to happen

Seen the E3 trailers? I don't think there'll be a lack of bosses, at the very least (with many different ways to off them, it seems).

[Abdula]

I guess my post didn't make it in before my PC went down....

Anyway, I think or at least I'm hoping that it'll be like Assasin's Creed in that there will be a lot of enemies around its just that combat will be one on one. I don't think they wanted a mindless horde of enemies attacking you or you just wildly hacking and slashing at everything in sight, like DMC.

Dude, I'm just kidding. Calm down. I don't have a monopoly on video game knowledge, it was just a joke. Wasn't meant to be a snide comment or anything, sorry if you took it that way.

I don't want to talk about which console is superior anymore. I'm sure the game will be good on both the PS3 and X360.

Sorry about that Stitch.

[Stitch]

Hug it out, Abdula. I'll even let you be Ari.

Hey ForteCross, even though the enemies in the God of War games are mindless (lulz even the boss battles though, really), at least the combat was still fun. It's hard to top the fluidity of controls and responsiveness of the God of War games. I definitely did not get the same level of engagement from last generation's Prince of Persia games.

Whereas in the God of War games the combat feels like part of the game through and through and is actually thrilling, PoP's combat so far has felt like a chore and I hope that changes. Judging by what I've seen of the sidekick being used in combat, I think it'll be worth checking out.

[Abdula]

Hug it out, Abdula. I'll even let you be Ari.

You are cute, but thinking about hugging anything out makes me kinda nauseous

I personally don't like hack and slash games, and the combat in GoW was good but just like most hack and slash games it got monotonous really quickly. I mean it doesn't really matter how many ways you can kill an enemy if the enemy itself isn't very intelligent. What is the point of chaining together moves and mastering combos if simply mashing the square button will get the job done.

I loved the combat in Assasin's Creed though, the entire appeal of that game to me was that the free running and especially the combat was so enjoyable.

[Stitch]

People's attitude about the God of War games as a hack and slash game isn't misguided or anything. I'd say it's just a little bit short-sighted.

The GoW games throw enough enemies with different strengths and weaknesses at you that you definitely wouldn't have been able to get away with spamming the square button had you played GoW 1 or 2 on the Spartan, God, or Titan difficulty modes. Knowing when to dodge or parry was half the fun. Storytelling is also pretty underrated. The story and cutscenes kept me right in the game.

Protip: Use the magic whenever you're getting gang banged. Shit is awesome. And if all you end up doing is spamming the attack button anyway, then it won't matter to you that you run out of magic.

[Abdula]

Storytelling is also pretty underrated. The story and cutscenes kept me right in the game.

Exactly. I'm not saying that GoW was just another hack and slash game, all I'm saying is that the combat system wasn't the appeal of the game.

[Stitch]

Abdula, stop flirting with me. Let's get back on topic.

I don't think the storyline for Prince of Persia is going to be anything special at all.

The artistic direction and gameplay are going to have to be really strong to keep me in it. So far the environment and character designs fit Persian styling nicely, so there's hope yet.

I hope we get a downloadable demo. At this point, PoP is at least a definite rental.