01-01-2006, 05:05 AM
Hiya gang, long time no messaging - probably because I've been on a long vacation from PSO. Stop scowling like I just committed a blasphemous act!
About a year ago I played Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. The game was a platforming masterpiece that glued me to my Gamecube for an unhealthy amount of hours (surely a good thing). I picked up a copy of Warrior Within once it went on sale but could never get into it - too much hack and slash. When it was time to marry the sexy Redhead of this forumn I was forced to sell virtually all my games to help fund the wedding. Both PoP games bit the dust (sob).
I brought the 3rd PoP game on the PS2 for my evil step-son, Twin Dante, as an Xmas pressie, then watched with awe as he trekked through the streets of Babylon executing stealth kills and also generally brutalising other monsters for a bit of hack and slash fun. It made me envious of the good times I had with SOT and made me want to try WW again.
Getting WW for the Gamecube was a piece of cake, SoT was a nightmare and will be worse if HMV online are selling stock they don't have. I also grabbed the last copy of TTT that was on sale at Gamestation (£24.99 and a bargin to boot).
I loved the platforming and puzzle solving of SoT, but the drawn out battle sequences frustrated and bored me. Thankfully the battles were far less often than the joys of defying gravity. The look of the game was fantastical with a nod towards the fantasies of every young woman who wants to be swept off her feet and married to a fairy tale prince (unlike Buckingham Palace which seemed gaudy and shabby when I went for an interview in the Accounts Department). The end boss fight was sadly anti-climatic after some of the fights earlier in the game.
I couldn't get into Warrior Within the first time round. It was too combat based although the intensity was dropped from the first game and changed for more frequent small skirmishes. I'm a metal head so the Godsmack soundtrack and arabian-metal mix was fine with me. The second time round I decided to give the game a proper try and was suitably impressed. Most of the platform sections are quite sedate with no real urgency, so the platforms became the puzzles as I struggled to see ledges in the present. The battles became less of a problem as they didn't last about 10 minutes and I finally got a grip on the battle controls. The enviroments were much darker like the game overall, but Ubisoft still made an effort as good as Sands of Time. Also the Dhaka chase sequences are blood pounding in your temples moments, one false move and you're dead. My two complaints are based on the alternate ending and the Cliffs section which you play as the Sand Wraith. If you fail to get all nine life upgrades then you don't get the Water Sword and must face the Empress of Time at the very end of the game - and she is no easy pushover the first time you fight her. Blocking the Empress in the final battle is worthless and her damage is obscene, she teleports very quickly and can slow time like yourself. She also unleashes Tornados which are unblockable and just as hard to avoid, this all adds up to a virtually unbeatable boss. If you get the 9 life upgrades and get the Water Sword then you only have to fight the Dhaka which although hard is more balanced than the Empress final battle. When the Prince becomes the Sand Wraith his sand meter refills automatically while his life drains. The sand is very usefull as there are loads of traps to navigate and because of the draining life you will need to rewind in battles more as well as use the special attacks. When it comes to the Cliffs section of the game you have to leap about on totallyunstable platforms that fall away constantly, a virtual death trap of jumps, you also get platforms you have to run across before they fall away. It is a real slow time section. All fair so far until you get to the last wall run, as you perform the last wall run a Blade Dancer charges towards you and you have to slash her so she falls and you don't, also the wall run is a little hit and miss as to wether you can make it. I had to rewind time so many times on this section and still fail it defied belief. Most of the time the Blade Dancer hit me, and on the few times I did kill her I ended up missing the ledge by a fingers length. The first time I ever made it I couldn't figure out what to do and then died when the ledge gave way. In my opinion it was too nasty a section after most of the sedateness - but at least it wasn't as bad as the alternate ending with the 2nd Empress fight.
I've only just started playing The Two Thrones. So far trying for stealth kills is proving to be the most fun as it is a Prince of Persia dream come true of platforming. The Dark Prince section I've played so far reminds me of what was bad about Sands of Time.
Right, I've disected the PoP games. What's your take on this excellent series?
Regards
UK Jester
About a year ago I played Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. The game was a platforming masterpiece that glued me to my Gamecube for an unhealthy amount of hours (surely a good thing). I picked up a copy of Warrior Within once it went on sale but could never get into it - too much hack and slash. When it was time to marry the sexy Redhead of this forumn I was forced to sell virtually all my games to help fund the wedding. Both PoP games bit the dust (sob).
I brought the 3rd PoP game on the PS2 for my evil step-son, Twin Dante, as an Xmas pressie, then watched with awe as he trekked through the streets of Babylon executing stealth kills and also generally brutalising other monsters for a bit of hack and slash fun. It made me envious of the good times I had with SOT and made me want to try WW again.
Getting WW for the Gamecube was a piece of cake, SoT was a nightmare and will be worse if HMV online are selling stock they don't have. I also grabbed the last copy of TTT that was on sale at Gamestation (£24.99 and a bargin to boot).
I loved the platforming and puzzle solving of SoT, but the drawn out battle sequences frustrated and bored me. Thankfully the battles were far less often than the joys of defying gravity. The look of the game was fantastical with a nod towards the fantasies of every young woman who wants to be swept off her feet and married to a fairy tale prince (unlike Buckingham Palace which seemed gaudy and shabby when I went for an interview in the Accounts Department). The end boss fight was sadly anti-climatic after some of the fights earlier in the game.
I couldn't get into Warrior Within the first time round. It was too combat based although the intensity was dropped from the first game and changed for more frequent small skirmishes. I'm a metal head so the Godsmack soundtrack and arabian-metal mix was fine with me. The second time round I decided to give the game a proper try and was suitably impressed. Most of the platform sections are quite sedate with no real urgency, so the platforms became the puzzles as I struggled to see ledges in the present. The battles became less of a problem as they didn't last about 10 minutes and I finally got a grip on the battle controls. The enviroments were much darker like the game overall, but Ubisoft still made an effort as good as Sands of Time. Also the Dhaka chase sequences are blood pounding in your temples moments, one false move and you're dead. My two complaints are based on the alternate ending and the Cliffs section which you play as the Sand Wraith. If you fail to get all nine life upgrades then you don't get the Water Sword and must face the Empress of Time at the very end of the game - and she is no easy pushover the first time you fight her. Blocking the Empress in the final battle is worthless and her damage is obscene, she teleports very quickly and can slow time like yourself. She also unleashes Tornados which are unblockable and just as hard to avoid, this all adds up to a virtually unbeatable boss. If you get the 9 life upgrades and get the Water Sword then you only have to fight the Dhaka which although hard is more balanced than the Empress final battle. When the Prince becomes the Sand Wraith his sand meter refills automatically while his life drains. The sand is very usefull as there are loads of traps to navigate and because of the draining life you will need to rewind in battles more as well as use the special attacks. When it comes to the Cliffs section of the game you have to leap about on totallyunstable platforms that fall away constantly, a virtual death trap of jumps, you also get platforms you have to run across before they fall away. It is a real slow time section. All fair so far until you get to the last wall run, as you perform the last wall run a Blade Dancer charges towards you and you have to slash her so she falls and you don't, also the wall run is a little hit and miss as to wether you can make it. I had to rewind time so many times on this section and still fail it defied belief. Most of the time the Blade Dancer hit me, and on the few times I did kill her I ended up missing the ledge by a fingers length. The first time I ever made it I couldn't figure out what to do and then died when the ledge gave way. In my opinion it was too nasty a section after most of the sedateness - but at least it wasn't as bad as the alternate ending with the 2nd Empress fight.
I've only just started playing The Two Thrones. So far trying for stealth kills is proving to be the most fun as it is a Prince of Persia dream come true of platforming. The Dark Prince section I've played so far reminds me of what was bad about Sands of Time.
Right, I've disected the PoP games. What's your take on this excellent series?
Regards
UK Jester
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