Hello all.

Recently I completed Price of Persia: The Sands of Time. And it’s a rather fantastic game – breathtaking acrobatics, a misty-mythical Arabian-nights feel, and a good story too. I actually gave a damn about what happened to the Prince and Farah – and it’s all too rare that a game evokes such a response. Sure, maybe their fallign in love is rather obvious and inevitable, but their journey to that point is well done, from bickering and mistrust to grudging mutual respect and then affection. They’re characters you can empathise with, not just generic heroes. When the prince takes a hit in combat, and Farah goes “oh no!”, it’s actually kind of gut-wrenching.

The combat meanwhile is on the weaker side but what the hell, learn the wall-rebound move and you’re practically unstoppable. So you can enjoy hacking up a few sand monsters, then get back to running, leaping and swinging which is really what the gameplay in SoT is all about.

Now I’m onto Warrior Within… and I’m undecided so far. The acrobatics look of a similar nature, which is good. The combat is greatly expanded, with a whole load of combo moves. All of which result in me getting my ass kicked when I try them, apart from the aerial-slash. Which I use over and over. Also, the game’s attitude is very different. It’s all dark and angsty, and the prince scowls a lot. I kind of miss the wry commentary of the young chap from before, now it’s all “IS THAT THE BEST YOU HAVE YOU BITCH”. I think he’s been listening to too much nu-metal.

Also while farah’s outfit was on the scanty side in SoT, WW’s female costumes are several steps more ridiculously flimsy. Really, development chaps, there’s more of us than just adolescent boys playing this game.

Oh, wait, this is officially supposed to be an old-games blogjournal. Well, I do intend to try the original PoP sometime soon. And will probably find it ridiculously difficult!