Hall Of Fame: Prince Of Persia – The Sands Of Time Trilogy

Welcome to eGamer’s newest feature article: The Hall of Fame. In this monthly exclusive article, we’ll be taking an in-depth look at either stand-alone games or completed series’ that will forever remain in our hearts as eternal epics. In many way this article is similar to our very own Golden Oldies exclusive, but the key difference is that the Hall of Fame focuses on completed games and series’ that we’ve bid our farewells to, but will never forget.

We’re here to ensure that they are not forgotten, and that all those who have not yet had the opportunity to experience these games will do so as soon as they see the reasons as to why we consider said game a Hall of Fame candidate. Our choice game for the debut of this feature is none other than the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Trilogy, which is perhaps one of the most famous gaming series’ currently in existence. Each month, we’ll be bringing you something more and we’ll be taking you through another incredible adventure.

That’s right. We’re bringing the nostalgia, along with history’s greatest gaming legends.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

November 21, 2003. This marked an important date in history – the day the action adventure genre was changed forever. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, developed by Ubisoft Montreal, was ultimately a re-imagining of the Prince of Persia franchise. More specifically, it was designed as a reboot to the 1989 MS-DOS and Macintosh 2D platformer game series Prince of Persia – it was an entirely new direction, platform and model for the franchise. This was Prince of Persia’s monumental step into the 3D universe.

However, it was not the first attempt to bring the series into the new world of 3D. In 1999, an attempt was made by Red Orb Entertainment, and was published by The Learning Company. ROE brought us Prince of Persia 3D for PC, which was a game that made its debut 10 years after the original Prince of Persia and brought 3D graphics into the game. However, the game was plagued with many bugs and failed to meet the standards expected of the franchise. In 2000, one year later, Prince of Persia 3D was ported to the Dreamcast, titled Prince of Persia: Arabian Nights, and this time it was developed by Avalanche Software and published by Mattel Interactive – who bought out both Red Orb Entertainment and The Learning Company. This version corrected many flaws from the PC version of the game and fixed many bugs, ultimately improving the gameplay of the port, but unfortunately the issues with the camera from the PC version still remained.

This put a lot of pressure on the Sands of Time, as it was the second attempt at incorporating 3D into the Prince of Persia series. Not to mention that the game was being developed for a number of different platforms, including the PC, PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube and the original Xbox. However, when Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was released, it shocked the world.

Above is video footage of the gameplay in The Sands of Time, which will give you a solid idea of what to expect from the title if you haven’t played it already. Ultimately, The Sands of Time brought in the concept of a triple-headed gameplay structure to the series. This meant that there were three main elements that made up the entirety of the gameplay. Yes, the action, platforming and puzzle-solving elements were what Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was all about – and this became the new structure for future Prince of Persia titles, to this very day, due to the brilliant execution and astonishing success of it.

Before I get into the gameplay, it would be wise to inform you just what this game is about. In Sands of Time, you take control of, you guessed it, the Prince, who is perhaps most famous for his lack of a name, his wit, cocky attitude and his likableness. To put the plot in a nutshell, the game is set in Azad, where the Vizier of the Maharajah has tricked the Prince into using the magical Dagger, that he acquires from a tomb at the beginning of the game, to release the dangerous Sands of Time from the Hourglass container. A sandstorm breaks out, tainting everyone it touches, turning them into monsters. The Prince, a woman named Farah (who becomes your companion in the game) and the Vizier are unaffected due to them possessing key items – the Prince’s Dagger, Farah’s medallion and the Vizier’s staff. This forms the premise of the game, where the Prince and Farah have to fight against the sands and try and stop the evil Vizier and the taint that has been unleashed.

To bring it out right now, the ultimate reason the Sands of Time was such an incredible game was because it simply had everything you could want in a game like it. It featured an emotional and capturing story, epic sound tracks and themes, beautiful graphics and fantastic animation. With regards to gameplay, the triple-headed structure was executed almost to perfection, in that combat, puzzle solving and platforming sections were all spread out in a manner that allowed them to be evenly paced throughout the game. The switch between each was seamless and allowed the experience to always be entertaining. The game was really about fast acrobatics, wall running, bypassing insane traps, solving cleverly designed puzzles, fighting hoards of enemies at once and, of course, using the Sands to rewind and slow down time, which is one of the most iconic features of Sands of Time.

The game featured tons of challenges and interesting puzzles, some of the best platforming ever seen in a game (who could not love wall running?), that inspired many other games to rethink their own gameplay, and awesome, fluid and unique combat. Admittedly the combat lacked variety and attack moves, and it remained the same for the entirety of the game, but the ease of control, enjoyment and fluidity of it made up for this most of the time. Furthermore, the combat simply worked within the boundaries of the game.

One of the most important reasons as to why Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Trilogy is so deserving of being a Hall of Fame level title is because of the impact it made on the action adventure genre. It brought a lot to the table in one complete package and it really upped the ante for other games that fit in the same genre. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time can be seen as a turning point or, more appropriately, a defining point in its genre, because of how well it implemented its gameplay mechanics and how extraordinary the triple-headed gameplay structure really was. In addition, as already mentioned, it contained everything the game needed to be a masterpiece.

There were very few negative aspects to slate The Sands of Time with, and it truly brought the Prince of Persia franchise name to phenomenal heights. It was simply a game that you couldn’t help but fall in love with, and would have difficulty finding anything truly wrong with it. Its incredible success, with critics and gamers alike, resulted in two sequels bursting forth – Prince of Persia: Warrior Within and Prince of Persia: The Two thrones, which, altogether, made up the trilogy.

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

December 2, 2004 was when The Sands of Time’s sequel saw the light of day. With the second game in the trilogy, Warrior Within, the series had taken its first giant steps into controversial grounds. This was because large changes had been made to the game’s feel and style, but the gameplay still remained better than ever. Warrior Within embraced a much darker road for the Prince and series. Emoness, gore, lots of the colour black, scantily-clad women, heavy music and an angrier Prince with far less character, charm and personality resulted in many fans and critics feeling upset that the series had lost the Sands of Time goodness. Many felt that the move from The Sands of Time’s beautiful setting, bright colours and whimsical feel into Warrior Within’s gritty, dark and gory makeup was the series transitioning from unique to generic. However, regardless of all gripes (or things wrong with the game, depending on your perspective), there was no denying that Ubisoft had done it again – and Warrior Within was simply another phenomenal game. Some would even say that it was the pinnacle of the series.

In Warrior Within players stepped back into the acrobatic shoes of the Prince several years after the events of the first game. This time around, the Prince finds himself constantly hunted by the monstrous beast known as the Dahaka, who will stop at nothing to see him dead. When the Prince seeks help from an old wise man, he learns that he who releases the Sands of Time is destined to die, but because the Prince had escaped his fate in Sands of Time and before Warrior Within, it was the Dahaka’s mission as guardian of the Timeline to put an end to the Prince once and for all – as it was meant to be. But the old man also told the Prince of the Island of Time, where the mystical Empress of Time first created the Sands. The Prince then sets sail for the Island of Time in the hopes of preventing the Sands from having ever been created and, in doing so, get rid of the fearsome Dahaka.

At the core, the gameplay was still very much what gamers had grown to love, except that the game featured noticeable additions and improvements, as well as an awesome combat revamp. It was clear that combat had become a much more dominant focus of the game, but the game still stuck to its triple headed structure quite religiously. Perhaps the worst thing about the game (aside from the shift from happy land to dark territory, according to some) was that the Prince’s character had been butchered and there were a fair few bugs in the game, but fortunately they weren’t game breaking. It was just the familiar occasional issues with the camera and some framerate problems here and there. But if you could get past the change in theme and tone, you’d have fast found yourself completely absorbed in another epic adventure.

New to the game were actual boss battles, most of which were great, a few more traps and surprises and, most of all, the upgraded combat. The Prince was able to wield two weapons, his main sword plus a secondary weapon picked up from a fallen enemy or the environment, which made for some really intense combos and fighting moves. There were a lot more attack moves, especially brutal finishers that resulted in decapitations and slicing enemies clean in half, and vaulting over enemies and off of walls was even more awesome and fluid than before. Warrior Within really powered up the free-flowing combat system, making it a dream to control and an immense amount of fun. Perhaps the only gripe would be that much later on in the game the combat could possibly become a chore when you’re faced with armies of enemies and you just want to continue on with the game and its story. Still, with the revamped combat, still beautiful graphics, despite the gritty makeover, spectacular animation and great music (although a bit on the heavy side), Warrior Within pulled through with strong vigor.

And who amongst us, who played Warrior Within, could ever forget the excitingly tense Dahaka chases?

Warrior Within, as a sequel, improved on a lot of the gameplay mechanics of Sands of Time, but ultimately it did make some changes that were not entirely welcome, most notably the shift to a darker theme and the more dominant focus on combat. Still, one couldn’t deny how amazing the game really was, and it still kept the series in the spotlight.

Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones

December 2, 2005 – exactly one year after Warrior Within – was when the final game in the trilogy was released, Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones. One of the reasons fans were so excited for it was because Ubisoft had seemingly taken the Warrior Within nay-sayers’ words to heart, and the entire setting, theme and tone of The Two Thrones had changed, attempting to go back to the Sands of Time roots. As such, a lot was riding on The Two Thrones, even more so because it was the final game in the trilogy. It had a lot to live up to if it wanted to compete with the high and mighty elements from both Sands of Time and Warrior Within but, despite this, Ubisoft incredibly managed to  pull through once again. While the result may have been a rather short ordeal, clocking in at about eight hours without much replay value, and it was ultimately a lesser game compared to Sands of Time (and some would say Warrior Within as well), it was still a fitting and worthy end to the trilogy, and another awesome adventure in the Prince of Persia series.

The important thing to understand is that there were two endings to Warrior Within – a good one and a bad one. The Two Thrones assumed that you finished with the good ending, which is the more challenging, but “legit” ending, and so the game begins right where Warrior Within left off, with the Prince and Empress of Time, Kaileena, sailing back to Babylon. Upon arriving, they discover that the city is under siege and ravaged by war. The Prince’s ship is attacked and he and Kaileena are thrown overboard into the sea, where the Empress is then taken prisoner. The Prince chases after her, only to find himself face to face with an old enemy and discover a shocking truth: his actions, his toying with time and fate, had dangerous consequences. And the Sands have now tainted even the Prince himself…

The most welcome aspect of The Two Thrones was that it brought back a lot of Sands of Time and Prince of Persia goodness, while still including the refined and fantastic combat from Warrior Within. The game once again had a compelling story, the bright and beautiful colours and environments and the epic music that was more like what we had enjoyed in the original game. The Prince’s journey, like it was in the Sands of Time, was an epic, yet emotional one. The taint he had received because of the Sands had also affected his mind, resulting in him being split into two personalities. There was the Prince, who aimed to be righteous as best he could, despite being driven by vengeance, and then there was the Dark Prince, who was manifested by cruelty and arrogance. He brought a lot to the table, story wise, as he tried to persuade the Prince throughout the game to serve only himself and use his vengeance to fuel his power – plus he brought some humour. There were set points in the game where the Dark Prince would take over, resulting in the game shifting to a more combat orientated structure with a different weapon and array of attack moves for the player to use.

The Two Thrones made some additions and changes to the formula that were ultimately for the better. First, boss battles had been taken up a notch in terms of scale, and there were really some impressive battles featured in the game. Next, an entirely new Speed Kill system had been added, where if you got the jump on an enemy before you were noticed, you would gain the opportunity to take him out stealthily and quickly, thus avoiding a fight. The system not only made combat become optional (except in forced combat situations) but also prevented it from becoming stale – and there was even less chance of that since the Dark Prince featured an entirely different style. Also, it added value to the platforming in the game, because you’d be able to climb to vantage points and take down unaware enemies. It did a good job of blending action and platforming rather than keeping them separated. New to the game as well were Chariot races, which were basically vehicle sections that served as nice distractions from the norm, and more platforming options, which made an already spectacular platforming system even better.

The Two Thrones mostly did serve as a satisfying and great send-off to the series, but there were just a few issues with it that held it back somewhat. They weren’t your usual glaring flaws, though. It was because the game was really short, the Prince of Persia formula had reached the end of its alterations, and going any further would reduce the standard of the game, and, ultimately, it felt clear that The Two Thrones was the end of the road – it had reached its limit for its time. Still, these factors did not prevent The Two Thrones from giving the fantastic series the ending it deserved, and from completing the trilogy. The gameplay was solid, the platforming was better than ever, the music was excellent, the graphics and animation were outstanding and the story was compelling, enjoyable and conclusive.

The Hall of Fame’s Conclusion

Many gamers and critics who remember the Prince of Persia Sands of Time Trilogy fondly may argue that Sands of Time was the best one in it – and perhaps looking at it from all angles would result in the same conclusion being drawn here, because the game simply had everything. However, altogether as a trilogy, these three games, as one collective whole, are most definitely among the best – in their genre – in our gaming history.

There are no doubts as to whether this trilogy deserves its place in our Hall of Fame.

Check back next month for our next entry in the Hall of Fame series.

[Credit to IGN for the screenshots]