VideogameVagabond.com

Can a 45-year-old man maintain a marriage and a videogame habit? Let's find out!

Tag Archives: Prince Of Persia

First PS3 Prince of Persia still gorgeous

In anticipation of the release of Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands on Tuesday, I’ve been replaying the first PS3 Prince of Persia. The first time I played through it, my wife and I did not own an HDTV, so I’m getting the benefit of the game’s 720p glory for the first time.

While it’s perhaps not as glorious as time spent looking over rare Ferrari parts, I find myself once again struck by just how impressive this Prince of Persia title was; and I’ve gone back and played each of the PS2-era Prince of Persia titles just for comparison, and as good as they were for their time, none of them quite compare to the PS3/360 reboot of the franchise.

As much as I’m looking forward to The Forgotten Sands, what this replay experience is reminding me of is just how far the bar has been set. The Forgotten Sands will need to be far more than “more of the same” to measure up. The Prince of Persia on PS3/360 did not play like a first-wave next-gen title; it was smooth and gorgeous and deep; about its only weakness was the game’s limited HD support (to topped out at 720p, and had no 1080p mode).

Adding 1080p support would be a good start; making use of it to enhance the game’s playing experience would make it a worthy successor. I’ll know a lot more in a couple days.

Prince of Persia countdown

A lot is riding on the next Prince of Persia properties.

First, there’s the videogame sequel to 2008′s next-gen relaunch of the series, Prince of Persia. The new chapter, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, will be released on May 18. Only ten days later, Jake Gyllenhaal will star as the Prince in a Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time movie, in theaters May 28.

If all goes well and nothing sucks, this could turn Prince of Persia, finally, into the Lara Croft replacement that the gaming world has long been searching for; a franchise that rocks as an adventure game and as a movie franchise. Lara never quite lived up to the hype as some of the games really stunk and the movies, despite a decent female star in Angelina Jolie, were largely disappointing and only bring back bad mac memory; but at least the Prince of Persia games rock.

Now all that remains to fall into place will be whether the movies are any good at all.

Top 20 Videogames of the Past Decade #7

7. Prince of Persia (PS2, Xbox, PS3, Xbox 360, PSP, DS)

I almost ranked this series higher, but the top of the list is going to be crowded with great, great franchises, so it was just about impossible to bump it any higher. All the free medical travel in the world isn’t worth as much to me as one good Prince of Persia title.

Now, I’m a bit of a late-comer to the franchise. When the PS2/Xbox trilogy was being published, I was not big on action-adventure-platformers and viewed the the Sands of Time, Warrior Within and The Two Thrones with some suspicion; I figured it was a “me-too” title in the Tomb Raider mode.

How wrong I was, but I didn’t discover that until I picked up the game on a whim in its first PS3 appearance. A franchise reboot, the PS3/360-era Prince of Persia, which came out in 2008 originally, was full of cell-shaded beauty and HD eye candy. Plus, it was addictively fun to play! It’s one of the first games I had played all the way through in years, and boy was it worth it; I’ve almost completed my second go-round on it, and even coughed up for the add-on adventure through the PSN Store.

With a major motion picture on the way and the first PS3/360-era sequel coming this spring, namely Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, it’s a great time to like this franchise. But the series makes my list because I’ve gone back and purchased all three of the PS2 Prince of Persia titles and found them quite good for the era in which they were made, but also they are evidence of how dramatically the franchise has grown and matured over the past decade.

Of course, the game goes back quite a bit longer than the last decade, with roots in many 1989-era home PCs, Macs, Commodores and home videogame systems. It is a concept that has weathered… the sands of time!

Prince of Persia a gem

My wife and I just picked up Prince of Persia, the all-new PS3 version that was released initially last November, and all I can say is, Wow. The graphics are distinctive and detailed, and the action is beautiful to behold. While running along walls takes a bit of getting used to, the game has taken the innovation experimented with in Assassin’s Creed and launched it to a new level.

I was never a big fan of the Prince of Persia series prior to this, but it was the excellence of Assassin’s Creed that made me want to check it out; also, my wife simply loves action-oriented games, so she was interested as well. I think we’ll both end up pleased off this purchase. It’s a lot more satisfying than buying our dog and cat pet beds, anyway.