Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Prince of Persia: The Sands Of Time
U.S. Release Date: August 18,2003
The GameCube Archives Score: 7.2/10
I can't express just how nuts gaming media went for
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time in late 2003. They fawned over the
remake of the 1989 computer platformer like it was the second coming of Ocarina of Time, and even after that, they
couldn't stop talking about it. "Why isn't The Sands of Time selling better?"
was a frequent headline in the months after its release. Eventually, perhaps willed by the media blitz, the game
made money and spawned two direct sequels and even a 2010 action film adaptation, starring sentient jar
of mayonnaise, Jake Gyllenhaal, as the titular Middle Eastern royal. I filed the
game back in my "maybe I'll play this one day" mental cabinet, and now that
20 years have passed, I've finally taken out the folder and played it. I'm not sure if that metaphor worked, but now I'm at least ready to answer this question: was
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time worth all that adulation?
The game's presentation is certainly stunning. The start menu features a sultry looking palace balcony seen through jungle, and when the player starts their game, the camera moves into the scene, revealing the player character's presence on the balcony...and at that moment, the player is given control over him. It's a neat, immediately immersive trick, leading into the game's surprisingly complex and satisfying story. Your character...The Prince of Persia is tricked into stealing an ancient artifact, The Dagger of Time. The Dagger, as titled, purportedly gives the wielder control over time itself. However, another artifact is also discovered, The Sands of Time, and for some reason releasing the Sands in the royal palace transforms everyone in the surrounding area into a hideous monster. Now, along with a young woman named Farrah, the Prince must fight the evil Vizier who tricked him, along with the hundreds of monsters he's unleashed, in order to restore order in the kingdom, and set things back to how they were before the sand was unleashed.
The graphics at the service of this story are pretty good, even though they're dated by a very '03 blue and gold color tint. They've got that patented 128-bit look, where the jagged edges of the previous gaming generation have been smoothed away and polished, but the imagery still contains that slightly unfocused blurriness of pre high-definition. Environments contain a fair amount of lush detail, with shimmering, translucent curtains blowing in the breeze, ancient, generally upturned plush furniture, glimmering pools of water, and some nifty lighting tricks. Slick cinematic cutscenes are plentiful and also look nice, and thankfully don't overstay their welcome. Prince of Persia is not the best looking game on the GameCube, but it looks quite good.
Sands of Time also sounds pretty good. While music is generally limited to mere ambience, it does makes its presence more concretely known a few times. In those instances, it generally contains a lovely Middle Eastern flavor, though there's also a little bit of "edgy" electric guitar thrown in, as well. I particularly enjoy the very early-00's nu-metalish track over the end credits. The voice-acting is the sound standout here, though, as the work for the Prince and Farrah's voices is excellent, and a credit to this era of gaming. The sound effects are also on point, as is the general sound design, the best aspects culminating in moments where Farrah's voice echoes hauntingly to the player from other points in the palace. The atmosphere created by the audio-visual interplay is The Sands of Time's greatest aspect...because it isn't the gameplay.
I'm not sure if the previous statement is controversial in 2023, but while I found The Sands of Times' gameplay to be satisfying at points, I found it to be extremely frustrating at others. As an action-adventure platformer, The Sands of Time has to do many things well, and unfortunately, that's not always the case. The basic gameplay loop here is: enter a new section of the palace, complete several platforming challenges, fight some monsters until you've killed them all, a save point appears, save, move onto the next part of the palace. The issues don't necessarily come from the structure, but rather the implementation.
I don't want to give the impression that I think Sands of Time is a bad game. It's actually a fairly good game with some bad flaws. For instance the parkour-like platforming is mostly very fun. The Prince can perform a plethora of moves, from running, to jumping, to rolling, to running on walls, running up walls and backflipping, wall jumping up crevasses, climbing along ledges. A lot of the time, the control system at the service of these moves works, but when it doesn't, it's infuriating. The most guilty aspect is the button-mapping scheme, the same problem affecting both the platforming and action segments. For some reason, despite the GameCube's roughly 400 buttons, Ubisoft decided to map rolling and jumping to the same button. In a game where you have to both roll and jump so frequently, this choice is extremely frustrating.
Essentially, the only time you can jump is if you're running toward the end of a platform and are right at the edge. Otherwise, you'll just roll. I don't know how many times I tried to jump from one ledge to the next and instead rolled over that ledge and barely hung on for dear life. I mentioned Ocarina of Time above, which famously does not feature a jump button, but that game flawlessly integrates an auto-jump, and jumping isn't a major element in its gameplay anyway. Here, in such an acrobatic game, I should be able to jump whenever I want. However, this button-sharing fiasco plays out even more frustratingly over the combat segments of the game.
Most of The Sands of Time's combat involves the Prince having to fight his way through large crowds of constantly spawning enemies. The Prince performs combos with his sword as the player presses the attack button, though unlike Ocarina of Time, there's no utilization of a lock-on system, which probably would have improved the experience here. The Prince can also roll around foes, as well as perform a spectacular leap over enemies to then hit them from behind. The problem? The roll and leap moves are mapped to the same button! Again, I lost count of the times I tried to roll around an enemy and instead jumped over him. This becomes particularly frustrating later in the game, when many enemies can easily block the leap move, causing damage, and throwing the Prince into the ground where he is even more vulnerable to attack. All I wanted to do was roll around an enemy! I wanted to break my controller several time because of this, even though it's not the GameCube controller's fault--it's Ubisoft's!
The player can also use the Dagger of Time to rewind their actions in the game for a few moments. The Dagger must be full of Time Sand, which can be replenished at points around the palace, and from killing enemies. The Dagger mechanic works well if you employ it right after you've fallen off a ledge, but it's hit or miss if used during combat. Sometimes, the player can only rewind for a second or two, to the exact moment they were hit and died, which is almost as infuriating as the control issues. When it works to take the player back before they were hit, it's a neat mechanc...it just doesn't always work. While I'm complaining, I also wish there were collectibles of some sort strewn around the palace to more fully flesh out the gameplay. While there's nothing like that here, you can unlock the original 1989 game, which is hidden behind a breakable palace hallway. However, the lack of collectibles makes the palace. and to some point the gameplay, feel empty.
While all of my complaints ARE frustrating, and DO lower the enjoyability of the game, The Sands of Time is certainly nowhere near awful. Overall, the control system is pretty satisfying, outside of the issues I've presented. Running up and along walls is thrilling. Pulling off the leap over an enemy sword attack is exhilarating when it works. Prince of Persia's production values and atmosphere are fun. When the game works, which is often, it works. It's not the masterpiece the 2003 gaming media pushed, but it's a solid way to pass 15 hours of your life before the Sands of Time run out.
|
| I want to see you bleed... |
The game's presentation is certainly stunning. The start menu features a sultry looking palace balcony seen through jungle, and when the player starts their game, the camera moves into the scene, revealing the player character's presence on the balcony...and at that moment, the player is given control over him. It's a neat, immediately immersive trick, leading into the game's surprisingly complex and satisfying story. Your character...The Prince of Persia is tricked into stealing an ancient artifact, The Dagger of Time. The Dagger, as titled, purportedly gives the wielder control over time itself. However, another artifact is also discovered, The Sands of Time, and for some reason releasing the Sands in the royal palace transforms everyone in the surrounding area into a hideous monster. Now, along with a young woman named Farrah, the Prince must fight the evil Vizier who tricked him, along with the hundreds of monsters he's unleashed, in order to restore order in the kingdom, and set things back to how they were before the sand was unleashed.
|
| Look at me, I'm fancy |
The graphics at the service of this story are pretty good, even though they're dated by a very '03 blue and gold color tint. They've got that patented 128-bit look, where the jagged edges of the previous gaming generation have been smoothed away and polished, but the imagery still contains that slightly unfocused blurriness of pre high-definition. Environments contain a fair amount of lush detail, with shimmering, translucent curtains blowing in the breeze, ancient, generally upturned plush furniture, glimmering pools of water, and some nifty lighting tricks. Slick cinematic cutscenes are plentiful and also look nice, and thankfully don't overstay their welcome. Prince of Persia is not the best looking game on the GameCube, but it looks quite good.
|
| Cutscene Princess |
Sands of Time also sounds pretty good. While music is generally limited to mere ambience, it does makes its presence more concretely known a few times. In those instances, it generally contains a lovely Middle Eastern flavor, though there's also a little bit of "edgy" electric guitar thrown in, as well. I particularly enjoy the very early-00's nu-metalish track over the end credits. The voice-acting is the sound standout here, though, as the work for the Prince and Farrah's voices is excellent, and a credit to this era of gaming. The sound effects are also on point, as is the general sound design, the best aspects culminating in moments where Farrah's voice echoes hauntingly to the player from other points in the palace. The atmosphere created by the audio-visual interplay is The Sands of Time's greatest aspect...because it isn't the gameplay.
|
| Clean Up The Palace Simulator |
I'm not sure if the previous statement is controversial in 2023, but while I found The Sands of Times' gameplay to be satisfying at points, I found it to be extremely frustrating at others. As an action-adventure platformer, The Sands of Time has to do many things well, and unfortunately, that's not always the case. The basic gameplay loop here is: enter a new section of the palace, complete several platforming challenges, fight some monsters until you've killed them all, a save point appears, save, move onto the next part of the palace. The issues don't necessarily come from the structure, but rather the implementation.
|
| Could you all just die so I can save and turn this off |
I don't want to give the impression that I think Sands of Time is a bad game. It's actually a fairly good game with some bad flaws. For instance the parkour-like platforming is mostly very fun. The Prince can perform a plethora of moves, from running, to jumping, to rolling, to running on walls, running up walls and backflipping, wall jumping up crevasses, climbing along ledges. A lot of the time, the control system at the service of these moves works, but when it doesn't, it's infuriating. The most guilty aspect is the button-mapping scheme, the same problem affecting both the platforming and action segments. For some reason, despite the GameCube's roughly 400 buttons, Ubisoft decided to map rolling and jumping to the same button. In a game where you have to both roll and jump so frequently, this choice is extremely frustrating.
|
| I'm not sure, but it seems like freedom of movement might be kind of important in a game like this |
Essentially, the only time you can jump is if you're running toward the end of a platform and are right at the edge. Otherwise, you'll just roll. I don't know how many times I tried to jump from one ledge to the next and instead rolled over that ledge and barely hung on for dear life. I mentioned Ocarina of Time above, which famously does not feature a jump button, but that game flawlessly integrates an auto-jump, and jumping isn't a major element in its gameplay anyway. Here, in such an acrobatic game, I should be able to jump whenever I want. However, this button-sharing fiasco plays out even more frustratingly over the combat segments of the game.
|
| I will cut you |
Most of The Sands of Time's combat involves the Prince having to fight his way through large crowds of constantly spawning enemies. The Prince performs combos with his sword as the player presses the attack button, though unlike Ocarina of Time, there's no utilization of a lock-on system, which probably would have improved the experience here. The Prince can also roll around foes, as well as perform a spectacular leap over enemies to then hit them from behind. The problem? The roll and leap moves are mapped to the same button! Again, I lost count of the times I tried to roll around an enemy and instead jumped over him. This becomes particularly frustrating later in the game, when many enemies can easily block the leap move, causing damage, and throwing the Prince into the ground where he is even more vulnerable to attack. All I wanted to do was roll around an enemy! I wanted to break my controller several time because of this, even though it's not the GameCube controller's fault--it's Ubisoft's!
|
| Well excuse me, Princess |
The player can also use the Dagger of Time to rewind their actions in the game for a few moments. The Dagger must be full of Time Sand, which can be replenished at points around the palace, and from killing enemies. The Dagger mechanic works well if you employ it right after you've fallen off a ledge, but it's hit or miss if used during combat. Sometimes, the player can only rewind for a second or two, to the exact moment they were hit and died, which is almost as infuriating as the control issues. When it works to take the player back before they were hit, it's a neat mechanc...it just doesn't always work. While I'm complaining, I also wish there were collectibles of some sort strewn around the palace to more fully flesh out the gameplay. While there's nothing like that here, you can unlock the original 1989 game, which is hidden behind a breakable palace hallway. However, the lack of collectibles makes the palace. and to some point the gameplay, feel empty.
 |
| Couldn't they have put a coin or a banana or something up here? |
While all of my complaints ARE frustrating, and DO lower the enjoyability of the game, The Sands of Time is certainly nowhere near awful. Overall, the control system is pretty satisfying, outside of the issues I've presented. Running up and along walls is thrilling. Pulling off the leap over an enemy sword attack is exhilarating when it works. Prince of Persia's production values and atmosphere are fun. When the game works, which is often, it works. It's not the masterpiece the 2003 gaming media pushed, but it's a solid way to pass 15 hours of your life before the Sands of Time run out.
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