Overall score on pook's 100-point system (TM): 77, or just 8. Artistry and attention to detail, clever level layout make for a fantastic, if not perfect game.
-the breakdown-
Graphics (30/30, judged by era)- A stunning attention to detail, and wonderful art direction permeate this entire game. The game is colorful and wonderfully lit, with soft, saturated lighting throughout and colorful environments without seeming candyland-like. Incredible character animation for the Prince, and good animation for the other creatures. There is some lack in the variety of enemies, but it doesn't bother much-fighting is not the primary gameplay mechanic. Environments are large and well-modeled. Add to this the brilliant graphical effects when using the sands of time, and you have a visual masterpiece, that maintains a good frame rate the entire time. Pre-rendered cutscenes are sufficient but not Blizzard or Square-quality.
Sound- FX/Voice (7/10) Pretty decent action sounds, but more impressive is the voice-over work, which is generally well-acted and varied, somewhat entertaining, even. However, the sound presentation is marred by mixing levels: many times, though the volume is up sufficiently loud, voice-over work (which often occur during regular action sequences) is somewhat muffled, and becomes hard to hear over ambient sounds and music.
Sound- Music (6/10) Surprisingly, much of the game is quiet, perhaps too quiet. When music pipes in, it's a fusion of various middle-eastern and Indian instruments, and generally well composed. As a matter of taste, the action tracks bothered me, marrying as they do guitar rock with eastern vibe. It just seemed rather anachronistic to have electric guitars while I'm immersed in Arabia of bygone eras. It also seemed to be an attempt at coming off as contemporarily hard-edged, hardcore or whatever. It was unnecessary.
Gameplay- Length/Replay (5/15) The Achilles heel of an otherwise fantastic game. Including some deaths and redos, the game took about 11 hours to finish, with little replay in the main game. That's fairly low. However, mostly the entire 11 hours were a joy. The original PC version of Prince of Persia from years ago is an unlockable, but I didn't manage to unlock it on my play through the game, and didn't feel compelled to try unlocking it. If you do unlock it, that could add to the replay value. Once this game hits the player's choice price permanently, this becomes less an issue, and this game's score could easily be adjusted up.
Gameplay- Story: (2/5) While the story presentation is fairly good, it's mainly presented at two occasions: During the introductory cutscene, and the closing cut-scene. The rest of the game has very little story.
Gameplay- Game Design (27/30)- A shining example of good design, in general. A number of varied environments present the player with ample opportunity for using the Prince's many acrobatic moves. The number of moves available are such that occasionally, when presented by complex level design, you may be stuck for a bit figuring out what combination of moves to do to get from point A to point B. And getting from A->B makes up more than half the game. Simple as that sounds, the game adds in some nice puzzle elements at times, as well as time-trial type areas. There is often much trial-and-error involved in navigating particular areas. This is made easier by the use of the rewind feature of the game which allows you to experiment in a forgiving fashion.
The fighting, which makes up the rest of the game, is exciting and fun, though occasionally marred by poor camera angles. A few more enemies and battle sequences would've extended the game a bit more and been welcomed.
Unfortunately, the game lacks as mentioned above in overall length, as well as a completely unsatisfying end battle. I won't ruin it for you except to say that almost every other battle was more fun than the last one. You're left hoping that the game has the Japanese addition of a multi-staged boss, but alas, the game is truly over after such a disappointing climax.
Final Thoughts: Truly a masterpiece overall, and a must-play for anyone who loves platform titles.
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