In the pantheon of seminal masterpieces that shaped the industry which Weatherby completely slept on (I was too busy playing Sonic Heroes, probably) The Sands of Time has been among the most interesting to finally loop back to. Nowadays, it might be easy to take what it's doing for granted. Clambering up crumbling ruins, dashing across walls, and swinging along busted piping is pretty bog-standard movement tech, but Sands of Time established this type of traversal so well that in terms of responsiveness and feedback, it doesn't feel like the industry has come that far since 2003.
The Prince's movement feels precise and deliberate, and progression is dependent entirely on how you position him and the timing of your inputs. Really, there might be an argument here that games have moved backwards, as titles like Uncharted come with far fewer fail states, and parkour mechanics in games like Assassin's Creed feels more automated. However, those games have more going on, whereas Sands of Time firmly roots itself in exploration and movement, making it a far better translation of the "cinematic platformer" to a 3D space than games like Tomb Raider. Which are bad. Evil, some would say.
Unfortunately, combat is the polar opposite, being a grotesquely clumsy affair. Geometry frequently obstructs the camera, and the Prince will too often fixate on enemies and fight back against your inputs as you try to point him towards a more immediate threat, resulting in this feeling of whiplash as you no longer feel in control. Combat is rarely challenging outside of these annoyances and remains rudimentary throughout the entire adventure, and in addition to just being boring, the game also likes to dump an obscene amount of enemies on you during every encounter. You run into combat encounters more and more as you near the end of the game, and at a certain point they feel less like a pace breaker and more an outright impediment, keeping you from the parts of the game that are actually fun. I'd prefer a more complex system with a greater enemy variety, but in lieu of that, I'd rather nothing at all than what Sands of Time actually provides.
It's such a shame, because the rest of the game is pretty damn good and would otherwise be one of the easiest 4.5/5's I've logged on the site. An endearing masterpiece that has weathered the test of time. But ah, whoops, I gotta jump off this guy's head and slash him in the back- oh wait there's another guy- oh wait there's another guy- oh wait there's- oh wait...
If I keep harping on it, I might sound as bitchy and ill-mannered as the Prince himself, who spends most of the game being a misogynistic pissant. Look, he grows by the end, it's about the journey. Yeah ok sure he forcefully kissed a woman who (at that point in time) did not know him, then rewound time to undo it, but that's because he knew it was wrong! Uhh... I'm not gonna think too hard on that one. I'm not saying you can't have your protagonist be unlikable and learn nothing - hell, I love Popful Mail! - but I did find it a little funny how many times I leaned back and thought "wow he really said that." Dudes need to be in therapy, but they too busy playing with their daggers of time.
I could definitely see myself revisiting The Sands of Time in the future, even despite how much I think combat steps all over the experience. It feels as good to play today as any of its imitators and there's no denying its significance in gaming history.
The Prince's movement feels precise and deliberate, and progression is dependent entirely on how you position him and the timing of your inputs. Really, there might be an argument here that games have moved backwards, as titles like Uncharted come with far fewer fail states, and parkour mechanics in games like Assassin's Creed feels more automated. However, those games have more going on, whereas Sands of Time firmly roots itself in exploration and movement, making it a far better translation of the "cinematic platformer" to a 3D space than games like Tomb Raider. Which are bad. Evil, some would say.
Unfortunately, combat is the polar opposite, being a grotesquely clumsy affair. Geometry frequently obstructs the camera, and the Prince will too often fixate on enemies and fight back against your inputs as you try to point him towards a more immediate threat, resulting in this feeling of whiplash as you no longer feel in control. Combat is rarely challenging outside of these annoyances and remains rudimentary throughout the entire adventure, and in addition to just being boring, the game also likes to dump an obscene amount of enemies on you during every encounter. You run into combat encounters more and more as you near the end of the game, and at a certain point they feel less like a pace breaker and more an outright impediment, keeping you from the parts of the game that are actually fun. I'd prefer a more complex system with a greater enemy variety, but in lieu of that, I'd rather nothing at all than what Sands of Time actually provides.
It's such a shame, because the rest of the game is pretty damn good and would otherwise be one of the easiest 4.5/5's I've logged on the site. An endearing masterpiece that has weathered the test of time. But ah, whoops, I gotta jump off this guy's head and slash him in the back- oh wait there's another guy- oh wait there's another guy- oh wait there's- oh wait...
If I keep harping on it, I might sound as bitchy and ill-mannered as the Prince himself, who spends most of the game being a misogynistic pissant. Look, he grows by the end, it's about the journey. Yeah ok sure he forcefully kissed a woman who (at that point in time) did not know him, then rewound time to undo it, but that's because he knew it was wrong! Uhh... I'm not gonna think too hard on that one. I'm not saying you can't have your protagonist be unlikable and learn nothing - hell, I love Popful Mail! - but I did find it a little funny how many times I leaned back and thought "wow he really said that." Dudes need to be in therapy, but they too busy playing with their daggers of time.
I could definitely see myself revisiting The Sands of Time in the future, even despite how much I think combat steps all over the experience. It feels as good to play today as any of its imitators and there's no denying its significance in gaming history.
Um dos maiores clássicos do PS2 e um ótimo jogo no geral. Bem fluido, divertido e desafiador. Com uma ambientação muito boa, uma história bem simples mas que funciona e jogabilidade meio datada mas fluida.
Resumindo, é um jogo redondinho sem muitos erros. Uma das únicas coisas que incomodou muito na gameplay foi o diabo da câmera. Tentar mexer esse troço é pior do que bater na mãe.
Resumindo, é um jogo redondinho sem muitos erros. Uma das únicas coisas que incomodou muito na gameplay foi o diabo da câmera. Tentar mexer esse troço é pior do que bater na mãe.
A stylish & stellar acrobatic platformer tied together with fun puzzlesolving and combat with hands down some of the best camera controls out there. Aside from some repetitious enemy hordes going on and on and farah getting more in the way during combat than really contributing (the game is self aware of this and even pokes fun at it, but it still doesnt help the experience) . The rest of the game is absolutely flawless and plays like a dream.
My first encounter with Sands of Time was at my grandparents house, just after they bought themselves a PS2, and this was one of the only games on it (yes, my grandparents are cool like that). It was a little too tricky for ~7-year-old me, so I never got past the first hour or so, but I nevertheless loved leaping and climbing with reckless abandon and would often replay that first hour whenever I visited their place, never tiring of it thanks to how satisfying the movement is.
Having finally seen the rest of it, I have to say that, as a true hallmark of action-adventure platforming, Sands of Time, for the most part, lives up to its sky-high praise with some of the finest wall-running, swinging, and shimmying that the genre has to offer. Some top-shelf level design mixed with a wonderful soundtrack and halfway-decent combat help cement this game as the classic that it is.
At least it would, if not for the unreliable camera and abysmal sound mixing. Thankfully, the camera at least provides an alternative view in the form of a fixed point, usually above the play area, looking down on you from above, but that's not always helpful during the game's numerous platforming segments. Granted, it's not unplayable, of course, but the camera gets in the way of the action much more than it should.
As for the mixing, no matter what tweaks I made to the volume sliders, the characters were always talking at a whisper volume, which, compounded with the lack of subtitles, caused some key lines to be almost indecipherable. While I could always get the gist of the conversation anyhow, the inconsistent volumes of the ambience, action, and dialogue would make Christopher Nolan jealous.
Still, there's certainly room for improvement in the sequel(s), and I have noticed that Warrior Within at least has an option for subtitles, so, thankfully, lessons were learned.
Overall, SoT is a great, well-directed, superbly designed, and scored adventure with tight pacing and fantastic platforming throughout. The story isn't great, and the Prince himself doesn't go through as much of an arc as I would have liked, but the frame narrative and ending scene are strong and lend a unique flavour to the game that sets it apart from its contemporaries.
Technical issues got in the way quite a bit, of course, but the gameplay foundation is immensely solid and satisfying to play from start to finish. For the impact Sands of Time would have on the industry, you can argue that there really is no better blueprint for action-adventure games than it.
8.5/10
Having finally seen the rest of it, I have to say that, as a true hallmark of action-adventure platforming, Sands of Time, for the most part, lives up to its sky-high praise with some of the finest wall-running, swinging, and shimmying that the genre has to offer. Some top-shelf level design mixed with a wonderful soundtrack and halfway-decent combat help cement this game as the classic that it is.
At least it would, if not for the unreliable camera and abysmal sound mixing. Thankfully, the camera at least provides an alternative view in the form of a fixed point, usually above the play area, looking down on you from above, but that's not always helpful during the game's numerous platforming segments. Granted, it's not unplayable, of course, but the camera gets in the way of the action much more than it should.
As for the mixing, no matter what tweaks I made to the volume sliders, the characters were always talking at a whisper volume, which, compounded with the lack of subtitles, caused some key lines to be almost indecipherable. While I could always get the gist of the conversation anyhow, the inconsistent volumes of the ambience, action, and dialogue would make Christopher Nolan jealous.
Still, there's certainly room for improvement in the sequel(s), and I have noticed that Warrior Within at least has an option for subtitles, so, thankfully, lessons were learned.
Overall, SoT is a great, well-directed, superbly designed, and scored adventure with tight pacing and fantastic platforming throughout. The story isn't great, and the Prince himself doesn't go through as much of an arc as I would have liked, but the frame narrative and ending scene are strong and lend a unique flavour to the game that sets it apart from its contemporaries.
Technical issues got in the way quite a bit, of course, but the gameplay foundation is immensely solid and satisfying to play from start to finish. For the impact Sands of Time would have on the industry, you can argue that there really is no better blueprint for action-adventure games than it.
8.5/10
que joguinho acima da media, tudo aqui funciona muito bem, desde a historia a gameplay, ainda que seja uma historia simples ela tem aquela pitadinha de romance para equilibra com a ação desenfreada dessa jogo
A gameplay é definitivamente oq mais marca aqui, sempre pensei que andar por paredes, roda em hastes de ferro, e se pendura em precipícios fosse ser algo chato em jogos, mas era por que eu ainda não tinha achado bons exemplos como esse, tudo aqui é tão fantástico e te da um sentimento tão bom e único.
O combate desse jogo tb é outro espetáculo a parte, nunca tinha visto algo tão maluco, ele é cadenciado como um bom Soulslike ao mesmo tempo que é rápido como um Hack n Slash, é algo extremamente único e divertido, sem contar o sistema divertido de volta no tempo etc
Tudo aqui foi mt satisfatório, ainda que esse jogo seja um poucooo maçante, e o boss final seja um peba, foi uma ótima experiência
A gameplay é definitivamente oq mais marca aqui, sempre pensei que andar por paredes, roda em hastes de ferro, e se pendura em precipícios fosse ser algo chato em jogos, mas era por que eu ainda não tinha achado bons exemplos como esse, tudo aqui é tão fantástico e te da um sentimento tão bom e único.
O combate desse jogo tb é outro espetáculo a parte, nunca tinha visto algo tão maluco, ele é cadenciado como um bom Soulslike ao mesmo tempo que é rápido como um Hack n Slash, é algo extremamente único e divertido, sem contar o sistema divertido de volta no tempo etc
Tudo aqui foi mt satisfatório, ainda que esse jogo seja um poucooo maçante, e o boss final seja um peba, foi uma ótima experiência
Criminally underrated, had really good combat and one of the most unique mechanics in any game (rewinding time)
Where it Shines:
Music - 10/10
Story - 7/10
Parkour - 8/10
The Good:
This game has an amazing OST. It is a cinematic experience in it's own way too. The story, though simple, is well told. But where it really shines is in it's level design. The puzzles and platforming combined with the rewind mechanic were just a really cool innovation and spawned an entire genre of games like God of War.
The Bad:
The combat is...just bad. It's repetitive, obnoxious, and overstays it's welcome. More time needed to be spent on it.
Summary:
I have a fondness for this game, and really do hope a remake comes out like they promised. I can't say if it's aged well or not, but it still sits in my top games of all time, for now.
****note on my ratings:
half ⭐: hot trash garbage
⭐: below average, needs work
⭐⭐: average
⭐⭐⭐: pretty good
⭐⭐⭐⭐: excellent
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: all time favourite
half star ratings between those mean it's slightly better or worse than stated in this list.
*
Music - 10/10
Story - 7/10
Parkour - 8/10
The Good:
This game has an amazing OST. It is a cinematic experience in it's own way too. The story, though simple, is well told. But where it really shines is in it's level design. The puzzles and platforming combined with the rewind mechanic were just a really cool innovation and spawned an entire genre of games like God of War.
The Bad:
The combat is...just bad. It's repetitive, obnoxious, and overstays it's welcome. More time needed to be spent on it.
Summary:
I have a fondness for this game, and really do hope a remake comes out like they promised. I can't say if it's aged well or not, but it still sits in my top games of all time, for now.
****note on my ratings:
half ⭐: hot trash garbage
⭐: below average, needs work
⭐⭐: average
⭐⭐⭐: pretty good
⭐⭐⭐⭐: excellent
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: all time favourite
half star ratings between those mean it's slightly better or worse than stated in this list.
*
I have really fond memories of playing Sands of time with my dad when I was little. He would let do all the wall running and platforming while my dad did the combat section (He was a real soldier). For the longest time I never really replayed this game, but I decided to change that and finally completing this game on my own for the first time and was blown away.
Sands of time is an achievement not only in story but in game design as well. You play as the prince as you steal the dagger of time and accidently release the sands of time dooming your father and everyone you know to death. Thankfully the princess of nation you plundered the dagger of time from joins you in a journey to set things right by setting back time.
This game focused on the three core pillars of prince of persia which are platforming, puzzles, and combat which are all done really well. My favorite has to be the platforming challenges that take you all different part of the castle you are trapped in and are really fun and challenging. Since you have the dagger of time you can also rewind time in case you miss a jump or input a command as long as you have charge in your dagger. This makes the platforming difficult, but not frustrating.
The puzzles are great as well as they often involve the entire area to solve the puzzle and really require to think outside the box. Combat is often cited as the weakest part of the game which I can't really disagree with. It's not bad but often just devolves into freezing enemies with your dagger and jump attacking enemies. It's cinematic and cool looking which makes the combat more fun from a spectacle perspective.
Prince of Persia is worth your time and is one of favorite games of all time. The gameplay and story is top notch and I don't want to spoil the story as it is best enjoyed blind. This is one of the most important Ubisoft title and reminds me why I love video games.
Sands of time is an achievement not only in story but in game design as well. You play as the prince as you steal the dagger of time and accidently release the sands of time dooming your father and everyone you know to death. Thankfully the princess of nation you plundered the dagger of time from joins you in a journey to set things right by setting back time.
This game focused on the three core pillars of prince of persia which are platforming, puzzles, and combat which are all done really well. My favorite has to be the platforming challenges that take you all different part of the castle you are trapped in and are really fun and challenging. Since you have the dagger of time you can also rewind time in case you miss a jump or input a command as long as you have charge in your dagger. This makes the platforming difficult, but not frustrating.
The puzzles are great as well as they often involve the entire area to solve the puzzle and really require to think outside the box. Combat is often cited as the weakest part of the game which I can't really disagree with. It's not bad but often just devolves into freezing enemies with your dagger and jump attacking enemies. It's cinematic and cool looking which makes the combat more fun from a spectacle perspective.
Prince of Persia is worth your time and is one of favorite games of all time. The gameplay and story is top notch and I don't want to spoil the story as it is best enjoyed blind. This is one of the most important Ubisoft title and reminds me why I love video games.
Platforming is so much fun, writing is great, combat is meh but I can overlook it, great game
One of the best games ever made. Jordan Mechner is truly an artist.
Uma aventura cativante do começo ao fim, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, é espetacular. A jogabilidade fundamentada em plataforma é inteligente e bem elaborada, atiçando sua vontade de realizar acrobacias, e demonstrar cautela e perspicácia nos momentos de travessia, os puzzles também são de bom grado, não é algo impossível mas também não subestimam sua capacidade de raciocínio.
Apesar da história ser simples e conter algumas pinceladas de sutileza em seu texto, ela ainda, sim, é eficaz e atinge o jogador, particularmente fiquei bastante satisfeito. Boa parte disso se deve a relação entre os personagens, vale a pena destacar, o virtuoso e nobre Príncipe, e a amável e delicada Farah, ambos são absolutamente encantadores. Seja quando estão nas cinemáticas bem dirigidas ou nos diálogos de atuação de voz deslumbrante, que dão mais desenvolvimento aos dois durante as interações no gameplay, Farah acompanhará o protagonista, boa parte da aventura, com o papel de humanizá-lo, fazendo você torcer por eles e desejar vê-los juntos.
Um ponto que mais tenho que dar destaque é a forma que o jogo mostra a passagem de tempo no visual das vestes do protagonista, isso é de uma exatidão visual narrativa, que poucos jogos sequer pensam nisso hoje em dia, e esse jogo fez isso a 20 anos atrás.
Deixando claro, a história é simples, não pelo que ela está te contando, mas sim pela quantidade do que está te mostrando. Como eu disse, existe sutileza no texto, mas a quantidade do que é mostrado é breve, Estou me referindo aqui das custcenes que são curtas, a primeira ela é consideravelmente longa perto dessas do meio para o final do jogo, mas creio que isso de certa forma enriqueceu a gameplay e pontuou bem as cenas nos melhores momentos do jogo, e creio que é entendível para um jogo de 8 horas de duração. Não é algo para se preocupar.
"𝐌𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐦 𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨 𝐞́ 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐨 𝐮𝐦 𝐫𝐢𝐨, 𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐢 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐦 𝐮𝐦𝐚 𝐮́𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜̧𝐚̃𝐨. 𝐌𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐮 𝐯𝐢 𝐧𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨 𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫, 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚̃𝐨 𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐬. 𝐓𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨 𝐞́ 𝐮𝐦 𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐞𝐦 𝐮𝐦𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐞."
O único pecado de Sands of Time, a meu ver, é o combate, que, por ser muito raso, acaba limitando o jogador nas execuções dos inimigos. Claramente, o jogo não foi pensado para ter mais de 1 ou 2 inimigos na tela sendo enfrentados diretamente, o que afeta o jogo à medida que o tempo passa. Creio que até o recurso de voltar no tempo me salvou desse problema muitas vezes.
Mas, em resumo, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time vale muito a pena ser jogado e não só isso, ele deve ser reconhecido pelo fato de ter influenciado alguns jogos desse estilo que temos hoje. É incrível pensar que a Ubisoft produziu esse jogo, mesmo sabendo o que ela se tornou hoje em dia. O que vi nesse jogo de 2003 foi o carinho e muito respeito pelo que estava sendo feito. Se não fosse por isso, o próprio Jordan Mechner, criador do primeiro Prince of Persia, não teria cedido o título e participado. Veja como as coisas estão na Ubisoft hoje é só observar o que ela está fazendo com Assassin 's Creed.
Apesar da história ser simples e conter algumas pinceladas de sutileza em seu texto, ela ainda, sim, é eficaz e atinge o jogador, particularmente fiquei bastante satisfeito. Boa parte disso se deve a relação entre os personagens, vale a pena destacar, o virtuoso e nobre Príncipe, e a amável e delicada Farah, ambos são absolutamente encantadores. Seja quando estão nas cinemáticas bem dirigidas ou nos diálogos de atuação de voz deslumbrante, que dão mais desenvolvimento aos dois durante as interações no gameplay, Farah acompanhará o protagonista, boa parte da aventura, com o papel de humanizá-lo, fazendo você torcer por eles e desejar vê-los juntos.
Um ponto que mais tenho que dar destaque é a forma que o jogo mostra a passagem de tempo no visual das vestes do protagonista, isso é de uma exatidão visual narrativa, que poucos jogos sequer pensam nisso hoje em dia, e esse jogo fez isso a 20 anos atrás.
Deixando claro, a história é simples, não pelo que ela está te contando, mas sim pela quantidade do que está te mostrando. Como eu disse, existe sutileza no texto, mas a quantidade do que é mostrado é breve, Estou me referindo aqui das custcenes que são curtas, a primeira ela é consideravelmente longa perto dessas do meio para o final do jogo, mas creio que isso de certa forma enriqueceu a gameplay e pontuou bem as cenas nos melhores momentos do jogo, e creio que é entendível para um jogo de 8 horas de duração. Não é algo para se preocupar.
"𝐌𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐦 𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨 𝐞́ 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐨 𝐮𝐦 𝐫𝐢𝐨, 𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐢 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐦 𝐮𝐦𝐚 𝐮́𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜̧𝐚̃𝐨. 𝐌𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐮 𝐯𝐢 𝐧𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨 𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫, 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚̃𝐨 𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐬. 𝐓𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨 𝐞́ 𝐮𝐦 𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐞𝐦 𝐮𝐦𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐞."
O único pecado de Sands of Time, a meu ver, é o combate, que, por ser muito raso, acaba limitando o jogador nas execuções dos inimigos. Claramente, o jogo não foi pensado para ter mais de 1 ou 2 inimigos na tela sendo enfrentados diretamente, o que afeta o jogo à medida que o tempo passa. Creio que até o recurso de voltar no tempo me salvou desse problema muitas vezes.
Mas, em resumo, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time vale muito a pena ser jogado e não só isso, ele deve ser reconhecido pelo fato de ter influenciado alguns jogos desse estilo que temos hoje. É incrível pensar que a Ubisoft produziu esse jogo, mesmo sabendo o que ela se tornou hoje em dia. O que vi nesse jogo de 2003 foi o carinho e muito respeito pelo que estava sendo feito. Se não fosse por isso, o próprio Jordan Mechner, criador do primeiro Prince of Persia, não teria cedido o título e participado. Veja como as coisas estão na Ubisoft hoje é só observar o que ela está fazendo com Assassin 's Creed.
Um jogo incrível, com um nível de dificuldade adequado e combate desafiador. Porém, durante as últimas horas finais o jogo se torna repetitivo, com combates e plataformas desnecessárias. A história do começo ao fim é impecável.
Os puzzle fizeram meu cérebro derreter o combate é ok mas o parkour faz tudo ser melhor as vezes o level design ou a câmera fixa fazem vc se perder mas em suma vale a pena
Masterpiece!
The music is enchanting, The gameplay is superb, The characters are funny.
What more could I ever want from a game!
What more could I ever want from a game!
It's not just my personal opinion, from a purely objective standpoint The Sands of Time is the undeniable peak of the franchise. What allows it to stand as the crown jewel of the Prince of Persia property, though? Sure, you could cite things such as its cultural impact or the lasting influence it's had on the gaming industry. For me however, it's the way it perfectly captures the feel of a Hollywood blockbuster classic. Something it manages to do even better than the likes of Uncharted, which was/is a series so clearly inspired by this it outright lifted over half of its gameplay mechanics from it! No wonder Disney tried to make this their next Pirates of the Caribbean.
This tale has it all: action, adventure, romance, and even a little bit of horror (those sand creatures really freaked me out as a kid). Yet it's the strong element of fantasy magic and the bond between its two leads that elevate it to something truly special. The interactions and budding relationship between the incredibly sweet Farah and the strangely lovable snot of a prince (that personality shift in WW feels less unnatural after replaying this) are the heart and soul of the adventure, even more so than the thrills and exciting set pieces. It's a dynamic that Ubisoft tried to recapture with the 2008 reboot, but couldn't quite manage the same charm. So sorry Mario and Peach, but another pairing has my vote for the best video game couple.
Making it all playable is the most iconic and phenomenal parkour platforming system in the entire medium that seemingly everyone, not just Naughty Dog, has borrowed from since its inception. Oh boy, and let me tell you not a single second of it is any less exhilarating today than when the game first released. The combat is really the only area outside of naturally the graphics and sound design (which are both still pretty dang good) that shows any age. Mostly due to the limited enemy variety and lack of any true combos. Luckily, the intensity of the majority of battles hasn't faded much. Enemies just keep coming like the zombies they technically are. Their numbers never reach the amount of, say, The Forgotten Sands onscreen at one time, but the relentless waves in which they come paired with the need to absorb them into your secondary dagger so they don't resurrect can lead to a decent challenge when the different types start mixing together at once. I love the animation that plays of the Prince sheathing his blades to let you know when the fighting is over.
Of course, no SoT review would be complete without at least some mention of its OTHER most defining aspect alongside the wall-running and jumping - the ability to control time. Being able to quickly reverse a deadly mistake if you have enough sand stored in your dagger? Legendary. No PoP installment can go without it since, and believe me they tried. Another quality that combined with everything else I've written about comes together to create an experience that's about as perfect as a game can be. If you've somehow never played this before, then you truly should because you've been missing out on nothing short of a significant piece of gaming history, a timeless classic, and an absolute masterpiece. Everybody else? Replay it again. This triumph and you both deserve it.
10/10
This tale has it all: action, adventure, romance, and even a little bit of horror (those sand creatures really freaked me out as a kid). Yet it's the strong element of fantasy magic and the bond between its two leads that elevate it to something truly special. The interactions and budding relationship between the incredibly sweet Farah and the strangely lovable snot of a prince (that personality shift in WW feels less unnatural after replaying this) are the heart and soul of the adventure, even more so than the thrills and exciting set pieces. It's a dynamic that Ubisoft tried to recapture with the 2008 reboot, but couldn't quite manage the same charm. So sorry Mario and Peach, but another pairing has my vote for the best video game couple.
Making it all playable is the most iconic and phenomenal parkour platforming system in the entire medium that seemingly everyone, not just Naughty Dog, has borrowed from since its inception. Oh boy, and let me tell you not a single second of it is any less exhilarating today than when the game first released. The combat is really the only area outside of naturally the graphics and sound design (which are both still pretty dang good) that shows any age. Mostly due to the limited enemy variety and lack of any true combos. Luckily, the intensity of the majority of battles hasn't faded much. Enemies just keep coming like the zombies they technically are. Their numbers never reach the amount of, say, The Forgotten Sands onscreen at one time, but the relentless waves in which they come paired with the need to absorb them into your secondary dagger so they don't resurrect can lead to a decent challenge when the different types start mixing together at once. I love the animation that plays of the Prince sheathing his blades to let you know when the fighting is over.
Of course, no SoT review would be complete without at least some mention of its OTHER most defining aspect alongside the wall-running and jumping - the ability to control time. Being able to quickly reverse a deadly mistake if you have enough sand stored in your dagger? Legendary. No PoP installment can go without it since, and believe me they tried. Another quality that combined with everything else I've written about comes together to create an experience that's about as perfect as a game can be. If you've somehow never played this before, then you truly should because you've been missing out on nothing short of a significant piece of gaming history, a timeless classic, and an absolute masterpiece. Everybody else? Replay it again. This triumph and you both deserve it.
10/10
The Sands of Time is a very fluid and exhilarating platformer, with smartly designed environmental puzzles, a killer soundtrack and fun chemistry between the Prince and Farah. The game is just held back by garbage combat encounters that overwhelm you with tons of enemies and it gets very frustrating and very repetitive as the game goes on. Not enough mechanical complexity or enemy types to justify these lengthy encounters. Still, this is a solid atmospheric adventure through ancient Persia that is worth playing for the stellar platforming alone.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time holds up astoundingly well. The platforming and accompanying level design is honestly still some of the best in the business, all these years later.
I was surprised how light the game is on storytelling; it's mostly just the beginning and end that double down on it. What's there is simple but really good - especially the ending.
Another thing I love is the music, which elevates an already enthralling atmosphere and makes even the most annoying fights feel epic.
Annoying is indeed sadly how I would describe the combat. There is some cool stuff you can do but the camera is an absolute pain to deal with and the game actually bombards you with enemies - who also delight in stun-locking you.
The camera issues extend to the platforming, though to a slightly lesser degree.
I won't lie, I got quite frustrated by these things but I could barely stop playing this game regardless. The vibe is immaculate, the platforming timeless (pun intended) and little things like drinking water from basins and streams to heal just cool.
I was surprised how light the game is on storytelling; it's mostly just the beginning and end that double down on it. What's there is simple but really good - especially the ending.
Another thing I love is the music, which elevates an already enthralling atmosphere and makes even the most annoying fights feel epic.
Annoying is indeed sadly how I would describe the combat. There is some cool stuff you can do but the camera is an absolute pain to deal with and the game actually bombards you with enemies - who also delight in stun-locking you.
The camera issues extend to the platforming, though to a slightly lesser degree.
I won't lie, I got quite frustrated by these things but I could barely stop playing this game regardless. The vibe is immaculate, the platforming timeless (pun intended) and little things like drinking water from basins and streams to heal just cool.
Before playing this, I had very little exposure to Prince of Persia. I knew it was a series of action platformers. I knew there was a bad movie adaptation of it. I remember really wanting to play Warrior Within since the cover for the Gamecube version looked super cool and edgy, but my parents wouldn't let elementary school me buy it, so I ended up playing games like Chibi-Robo and Animal Crossing instead. I played maybe 20 minutes of the Wii version of Forgotten Sands a while back. That's about it. I only ended up playing this game now because I wanted to play at least one of the older Prince of Persia titles before diving into Lost Crown. Although I do think Sands of Time has some pretty big flaws, I do want to preface this by saying I had an absolutely great time playing it. This might be the recency bias talking, but this could easily be up there with something like the original Dragon's Dogma on my list of "best 7/10 games you'll ever play". A good two thirds of the game is made up of what would now be mockingly referred to as "uncharted climbing", there's a certain deliberateness to all of your actions that still makes it enjoyable. Most of the game's challenges boil down to having to figure out how to traverse a room or outdoor area, then actually timing things like pole swings and wall jumps to make it happen. Simply having to do things like press a button to raise yourself up or drop down a ledge, or not being able to stand up on a pole you can swing on and instead having to turn around, swing, then jump against the wall in order to get to a pole directly above you are satisfying enough to keep platforming interesting. Using the dagger to rewind time mostly seemed like a gimmick to me thanks to the fast load times and incredibly generous checkpointing of the PC release, but then I got to the point near the end of the game where you have to climb a large tower without it and I realized just how nice it was to be able to undo one bad jump or something without having to go through the whole sequence again.
The combat is rather simple, though not because of the Prince's moveset. You have a basic melee combo, a block and parry, several abilities tied to the Dagger of Time, and a few acrobatic moves such as a lunge that's performed by jumping against a wall or vaulting over an enemy to attack them from behind. I do quite like how most enemies don't actually die unless you stab them with the dagger while they're down ( a pretty clear inspiration for the systems used by games like Assasin's Creed or the Arkham series where you have to confirm takedowns) and the enemy variety is nice, but there are two things that hold the combat sections back. The first is that most enemies have one attack that's always the best way to deal with them. Use the lunge against the two-sided spearmen or the big guys with swords. Vault over the female enemies with two swords and the big hammer guys. You can vary this up, especially with the parry, but it always feels like you're just drawing out encounters in order to use cool moves that are weaker than the best option. The second issue is the encounter design itself. Fights are mostly limited to open spaces and enemies come at you in groups of three or four. Kill an enemy, and another one will spawn in to take its place. Repeat this 15 or 20 times. Now I get that that's probably due to hardware limitations, but it really makes fights feel like they're artificially dragged out when you just keep cutting down enemies and exact copies of them appear out of nowhere like there's a spectral clown car just driving around the arena. I also get that the development team didn't want the game to be like 90% platforming so they needed to put more combat encounters in the game, but doing something like putting some enemies in the mostly empty hallways of the palace, or even just putting some traps in the arenas and letting you use them on the enemies could have gone a long way.
As far as presentation goes, the game holds up pretty well. The art direction and the way that the Prince grows more disheveled as the game goes on really sell it, and Yuri Lowenthal's performance is easily a high point in his career. He manages to sell the Prince as both a cocky noble seeking glory and as someone who's in way over his head and who knows it. I particularly like the narration of the Prince retelling the story of the game to Farah and the parts where you fail and he goes "No no no, I jumped over the bridge" or things like that. The music was generally fine, but there were a few standout tracks. A lot of it is a kind of mix of metal music and stereotypically Arabian music. I really wish there were more tracks that leaned into using vocals like The Tower of Dawn or Discover the Royal Chambers, though. The story itself was decent enough, but I felt like Farah as a character was pretty bland and her romance with the Prince was forced to the point that I honestly couldn't tell if she was actually into him or just seduced him to steal the dagger near the end (it seems like she only did this because he hesitated the first time they got to the hourglass, but IDK). For like half of the game I couldn't even remember her name and just thought of her as the girl who pulled switches. I do like the overall story of the Prince letting his pride get the better of him and making a terrible mistake that he then has to try and fix, though. It's very much a tragic tale in the classical sense of the word.
The PC port was surprisingly stable considering this is just a game from 2003, but I did have two issues with it. First was that the fog effects are just fucked to the point of completely covering the screen in the stuff. Thankfully the fog can just be turned off, but I don't really know how much that impacts the atmosphere of the game since I played through the whole thing without any fog. Second was that a lot of the dialogue from Farah during gameplay was super quiet, almost to the point of being unintelligible. This seemed like some kind of positional audio thing, but I can't say for sure since there were times where I could barely hear even though she was like three feet away from the Prince. It was still pretty painless for an older title, though, since I didn't have to really mess with compatibility or fan patches or any of the other tinkering that you normally have to do to make a game like this run on modern hardware. Considering I mostly played this game on a whim and got it for like $2 in a Steam sale, I'm really glad I played it. I'm looking forward to playing the other PoP games in the future, particularly Warrior Within. I want to see if it's really as edgy as the box art suggests.
The combat is rather simple, though not because of the Prince's moveset. You have a basic melee combo, a block and parry, several abilities tied to the Dagger of Time, and a few acrobatic moves such as a lunge that's performed by jumping against a wall or vaulting over an enemy to attack them from behind. I do quite like how most enemies don't actually die unless you stab them with the dagger while they're down ( a pretty clear inspiration for the systems used by games like Assasin's Creed or the Arkham series where you have to confirm takedowns) and the enemy variety is nice, but there are two things that hold the combat sections back. The first is that most enemies have one attack that's always the best way to deal with them. Use the lunge against the two-sided spearmen or the big guys with swords. Vault over the female enemies with two swords and the big hammer guys. You can vary this up, especially with the parry, but it always feels like you're just drawing out encounters in order to use cool moves that are weaker than the best option. The second issue is the encounter design itself. Fights are mostly limited to open spaces and enemies come at you in groups of three or four. Kill an enemy, and another one will spawn in to take its place. Repeat this 15 or 20 times. Now I get that that's probably due to hardware limitations, but it really makes fights feel like they're artificially dragged out when you just keep cutting down enemies and exact copies of them appear out of nowhere like there's a spectral clown car just driving around the arena. I also get that the development team didn't want the game to be like 90% platforming so they needed to put more combat encounters in the game, but doing something like putting some enemies in the mostly empty hallways of the palace, or even just putting some traps in the arenas and letting you use them on the enemies could have gone a long way.
As far as presentation goes, the game holds up pretty well. The art direction and the way that the Prince grows more disheveled as the game goes on really sell it, and Yuri Lowenthal's performance is easily a high point in his career. He manages to sell the Prince as both a cocky noble seeking glory and as someone who's in way over his head and who knows it. I particularly like the narration of the Prince retelling the story of the game to Farah and the parts where you fail and he goes "No no no, I jumped over the bridge" or things like that. The music was generally fine, but there were a few standout tracks. A lot of it is a kind of mix of metal music and stereotypically Arabian music. I really wish there were more tracks that leaned into using vocals like The Tower of Dawn or Discover the Royal Chambers, though. The story itself was decent enough, but I felt like Farah as a character was pretty bland and her romance with the Prince was forced to the point that I honestly couldn't tell if she was actually into him or just seduced him to steal the dagger near the end (it seems like she only did this because he hesitated the first time they got to the hourglass, but IDK). For like half of the game I couldn't even remember her name and just thought of her as the girl who pulled switches. I do like the overall story of the Prince letting his pride get the better of him and making a terrible mistake that he then has to try and fix, though. It's very much a tragic tale in the classical sense of the word.
The PC port was surprisingly stable considering this is just a game from 2003, but I did have two issues with it. First was that the fog effects are just fucked to the point of completely covering the screen in the stuff. Thankfully the fog can just be turned off, but I don't really know how much that impacts the atmosphere of the game since I played through the whole thing without any fog. Second was that a lot of the dialogue from Farah during gameplay was super quiet, almost to the point of being unintelligible. This seemed like some kind of positional audio thing, but I can't say for sure since there were times where I could barely hear even though she was like three feet away from the Prince. It was still pretty painless for an older title, though, since I didn't have to really mess with compatibility or fan patches or any of the other tinkering that you normally have to do to make a game like this run on modern hardware. Considering I mostly played this game on a whim and got it for like $2 in a Steam sale, I'm really glad I played it. I'm looking forward to playing the other PoP games in the future, particularly Warrior Within. I want to see if it's really as edgy as the box art suggests.
You know? It had been a very long time since I last played this game so I’d kind of forgotten just how much I loved it. It absolutely still holds up for me as one of my favorite games. It so wonderfully thrives as a tautly paced, breathlessly fun, and downright swashbuckling action adventure experience. The game boasts butter smooth and engaging platforming gameplay that only becomes more complex and challenging as it goes on, level design that is well wrought despite being highly linear, mechanically simple but still immensely satisfying combat, as well as a very charming story with endearing and affably likable characters that you come to really root for and get behind by the end. The soundtrack and atmosphere are aces as well. Every ounce of passion that was poured into this game by the developers is more than evident throughout and it coalesces effortlessly into a remarkable final product that (no pun intended) has more than stood the test of time. Oh how I wish that ubisoft still made games that go this fucking hard.
This game didn't feel like a 2003 game at all, it survived surprisingly well the passage of time...because of the dagger you know and all the stuff with time...it was a joke...whatever
A time piece action platformer that's good from a historical standpoint, but does not age as gracefully as some of its contemporaries.
The Sands of Time é um jogo de qualidade inquestionável. Seu protagonista é carismático, sua aventura é boba, divertida e charmosa, suas mecânicas de plataforma, com estilo parkour, envelheceram excepcionalmente bem, e seus gráficos e direção artística são algo digno de nota. O sistema rewind, por mais que não seja tão impressionante hoje em dia, era muito bom, e aplicado de uma forma realmente inovadora para época.
Infelizmente, o jogo traz elementos que envelhecerem bem mal, como sua câmera bugada, prendendo em paredes, mudando bruscamente sua posição, e atrapalhando (e muito!) nos combates, e nos combates em si, já que as lutas do jogo até são bonitas de ver, mas muito sem graça de jogar, diante da baixa variedade de inimigos, e repetição dos exatos mesmos métodos para derrotá-los.
Ainda assim, apesar dos pontos negativos até graves, The Sands of Time é um jogo que vale muito a pena, porque ele é excepcional naquilo que ele é bom. Deu até saudade da época que a Ubisoft era capaz de criar jogos realmente divertidos e despretensiosos.
Infelizmente, o jogo traz elementos que envelhecerem bem mal, como sua câmera bugada, prendendo em paredes, mudando bruscamente sua posição, e atrapalhando (e muito!) nos combates, e nos combates em si, já que as lutas do jogo até são bonitas de ver, mas muito sem graça de jogar, diante da baixa variedade de inimigos, e repetição dos exatos mesmos métodos para derrotá-los.
Ainda assim, apesar dos pontos negativos até graves, The Sands of Time é um jogo que vale muito a pena, porque ele é excepcional naquilo que ele é bom. Deu até saudade da época que a Ubisoft era capaz de criar jogos realmente divertidos e despretensiosos.
One of the most influential games on my childhood.
The game really hasn't aged well. And while I was expecting that to be the case when I started, the exact degree still came as a surprise.
The platforming definitely falls short of modern standards. While it is generally functional and often looks rather nice thanks to the art direction and spectacle, I wouldn't really call it fun. There is a lot of room for error on the player's part and most of the difficulty comes from either ambiguous directions (exacerbated by a really finnicky camera) or very awkward and restrictive movement. I wouldn't go so far as to call it bad, but considering that the platforming is the game's main feature I was expecting much better.
And unfortunately, the platforming is still the game's best aspect. Throw in the combat and the game goes from being unremarkable to being outright bad. The enemies are painfully simple with almost every single one vulnerable to the exact same strategy where you jump over them and slash their back. But despite their simplicity, the battles go on for so long. You'll typically be fighting 20-30 enemies per encounter and since they come at you in waves of 4-5 the battles take a significant amount of time to get through. And since the game is punctuated by these battles so often, generally coming at the end of each platforming section, a huge chunk of your playtime will be spent fighting the exact same enemies and using the exact same strategies, all while putting an early end to whatever enjoyment you might have gotten from completing the platforming.
The game's only real saving grace is its time reversal mechanic. Its a neat gimmick and by the standards of 2003 I'm sure it was impressive on a technical level. But in terms of actual gameplay, its implementation is quite disappointing. Its essentially just a glorified 'oops' button that lets you reverse any setbacks you face during either the platforming or combat. And this could have worked well had the game's difficulty been sufficient to justify it. But the game isn't difficult. By far the biggest sources of difficulty come from the camera and the controls, not from creative and tight platforming nor from interesting enemies. In effect, the ability to rewind time is a band-aid that protects the player from issues with the game, not an assist that can compensate for the player's own lack of ability. Remove the sands of time and the game doesn't become harder, it just becomes more tedious by forcing you back to the most recent save point every time the game decides to throw you a curveball with an awkward shift in the camera perspective or when the controller has you jump in the complete opposite direction of where the joystick was indicating.
So yeah... I really don't understand all the love this game has gotten from some people. Its best aspects haven't withstood the test of time, and its worst aspects are bad enough that the game's few good moments aren't worth getting to.
The platforming definitely falls short of modern standards. While it is generally functional and often looks rather nice thanks to the art direction and spectacle, I wouldn't really call it fun. There is a lot of room for error on the player's part and most of the difficulty comes from either ambiguous directions (exacerbated by a really finnicky camera) or very awkward and restrictive movement. I wouldn't go so far as to call it bad, but considering that the platforming is the game's main feature I was expecting much better.
And unfortunately, the platforming is still the game's best aspect. Throw in the combat and the game goes from being unremarkable to being outright bad. The enemies are painfully simple with almost every single one vulnerable to the exact same strategy where you jump over them and slash their back. But despite their simplicity, the battles go on for so long. You'll typically be fighting 20-30 enemies per encounter and since they come at you in waves of 4-5 the battles take a significant amount of time to get through. And since the game is punctuated by these battles so often, generally coming at the end of each platforming section, a huge chunk of your playtime will be spent fighting the exact same enemies and using the exact same strategies, all while putting an early end to whatever enjoyment you might have gotten from completing the platforming.
The game's only real saving grace is its time reversal mechanic. Its a neat gimmick and by the standards of 2003 I'm sure it was impressive on a technical level. But in terms of actual gameplay, its implementation is quite disappointing. Its essentially just a glorified 'oops' button that lets you reverse any setbacks you face during either the platforming or combat. And this could have worked well had the game's difficulty been sufficient to justify it. But the game isn't difficult. By far the biggest sources of difficulty come from the camera and the controls, not from creative and tight platforming nor from interesting enemies. In effect, the ability to rewind time is a band-aid that protects the player from issues with the game, not an assist that can compensate for the player's own lack of ability. Remove the sands of time and the game doesn't become harder, it just becomes more tedious by forcing you back to the most recent save point every time the game decides to throw you a curveball with an awkward shift in the camera perspective or when the controller has you jump in the complete opposite direction of where the joystick was indicating.
So yeah... I really don't understand all the love this game has gotten from some people. Its best aspects haven't withstood the test of time, and its worst aspects are bad enough that the game's few good moments aren't worth getting to.
Jogasso do caraio.
O pai de Assassin's Creed!
Subestimado, mas muito a frente do seu tempo!
Um clássico com mecânica memorável, ótimo sistema de combate, direção de arte caprichada e história bem desenvolvida.
Contudo o jogo repete o padrão "parkour, puzzle, horda de inimigos" inúmeras vezes até o fim ainda que varie na forma como o faz, mas que acaba tirando um pouco do seu brilho e só por isso não leva 10.
Jogaço e um dos melhores de PS2, e olha que a concorrência nesse console é gigante.
Subestimado, mas muito a frente do seu tempo!
Um clássico com mecânica memorável, ótimo sistema de combate, direção de arte caprichada e história bem desenvolvida.
Contudo o jogo repete o padrão "parkour, puzzle, horda de inimigos" inúmeras vezes até o fim ainda que varie na forma como o faz, mas que acaba tirando um pouco do seu brilho e só por isso não leva 10.
Jogaço e um dos melhores de PS2, e olha que a concorrência nesse console é gigante.
Revisiting this in 2023 is amazing. The controls are still great if you think in the way the game has extremely deliberate movements. Love the narration of the prince and the story.
Story: all over the place
Combat: atrocious
Voice acting: laughable
The little cutscene after clearing enemies: unnecessary
Overall experience: not great.
My hopes are def higher for the later games, but my expectations for this game were underwhelming
Combat: atrocious
Voice acting: laughable
The little cutscene after clearing enemies: unnecessary
Overall experience: not great.
My hopes are def higher for the later games, but my expectations for this game were underwhelming
To quickly get the port discussion out of the way, the audio mixing on the Steam version is terrible, but I actually enjoyed some of the dialogue from the prince in this one.
The game itself is... fine. It's just fine. It's good, probably. The platforming was fun enough and never really got boring, though it also wasn't anything too special either. But this game has a horrible, horrible flaw and that's the combat. It's dreadful, I don't care much to describe how it works because you need only watch some footage or play the game to understand how mind-numbing it is. I probably wouldn't hate the combat if it was used sparingly, but Ubisoft just had artificially extend the game's length so people couldn't beat it too quickly. Almost every fucking platforming challenge is punctuated by a combat room. Multiple enemies, usually spawning over and over, it was so so so tedious!
The game has a charm to it, though. It's quaint and largely inoffensive, something a compliment I can't offer to its sequel. I can only hope the remake addresses some of its shortcomings, though I'm starting to doubt we'll ever even see it.
The game itself is... fine. It's just fine. It's good, probably. The platforming was fun enough and never really got boring, though it also wasn't anything too special either. But this game has a horrible, horrible flaw and that's the combat. It's dreadful, I don't care much to describe how it works because you need only watch some footage or play the game to understand how mind-numbing it is. I probably wouldn't hate the combat if it was used sparingly, but Ubisoft just had artificially extend the game's length so people couldn't beat it too quickly. Almost every fucking platforming challenge is punctuated by a combat room. Multiple enemies, usually spawning over and over, it was so so so tedious!
The game has a charm to it, though. It's quaint and largely inoffensive, something a compliment I can't offer to its sequel. I can only hope the remake addresses some of its shortcomings, though I'm starting to doubt we'll ever even see it.