Overall the game is good and holds up on a playthrough 2 decades later but it does have some flaws that may or may not be forgivable due to this games age.
Primarily combat, its just not good and all the fighting sections of this game feel like a massive slog. In the last 10% of the game (according to the game's save file percentage) you start being able to one shot enemies which feels cleaner, but is a poor substitute for spending so long with sub par combat. Maybe a product of its time and this may of even been considered revolutionary but minus half star.
The overall plot is 4 star worthy, but the the prince's spoken internal monologue is a bit outdated in the way that it speaks about women. It's more like a child pretending he doesn't like a girl at school stating that "you have to show them (women) who's boss or they'll walk all over you." Maybe pedantic but felt shitty to hear and is just poor writing. Minus half star.
The puzzles and level design all beautifully work together to produce the template for what adventure/action games with platforming elements should be. Every part of a level is used and the complexity of the puzzle platforming in the spaces is welcome, if not a bit linear.
The movement is what sets this game apart and makes it so enjoyable to play. Wall running, swinging and leaping from horizontal poles, the wall jumps/kicks and dodging the various traps is what keeps this game interesting and ticking over.
Also of note is how poor the PC port of this game is, the fog glitch is annoying to fix even if it took only 5 seconds to fix, controller support is minimal (because its a 20 year old game) and the resolutions are all boxy and look horrible on modern monitors.
None of this is going to effect the rating though as I feel like these are platform specific but worth noting.
Overall, worth a playthrough at any time and at a price of £10 or below especially if you've never played a modern-ish Prince of Persia title.
If this isn't your first time, maybe play a slightly later title as it addresses some of the flaws of this game whilst keeping the same overall flavour.
Primarily combat, its just not good and all the fighting sections of this game feel like a massive slog. In the last 10% of the game (according to the game's save file percentage) you start being able to one shot enemies which feels cleaner, but is a poor substitute for spending so long with sub par combat. Maybe a product of its time and this may of even been considered revolutionary but minus half star.
The overall plot is 4 star worthy, but the the prince's spoken internal monologue is a bit outdated in the way that it speaks about women. It's more like a child pretending he doesn't like a girl at school stating that "you have to show them (women) who's boss or they'll walk all over you." Maybe pedantic but felt shitty to hear and is just poor writing. Minus half star.
The puzzles and level design all beautifully work together to produce the template for what adventure/action games with platforming elements should be. Every part of a level is used and the complexity of the puzzle platforming in the spaces is welcome, if not a bit linear.
The movement is what sets this game apart and makes it so enjoyable to play. Wall running, swinging and leaping from horizontal poles, the wall jumps/kicks and dodging the various traps is what keeps this game interesting and ticking over.
Also of note is how poor the PC port of this game is, the fog glitch is annoying to fix even if it took only 5 seconds to fix, controller support is minimal (because its a 20 year old game) and the resolutions are all boxy and look horrible on modern monitors.
None of this is going to effect the rating though as I feel like these are platform specific but worth noting.
Overall, worth a playthrough at any time and at a price of £10 or below especially if you've never played a modern-ish Prince of Persia title.
If this isn't your first time, maybe play a slightly later title as it addresses some of the flaws of this game whilst keeping the same overall flavour.