the sands of time

Free time is definitely at a premium this time of year, but I somehow managed to scrape out a weekend of gaming. There's something about braving the malls on a Saturday afternoon that completely saps the lifeforce out of me. Pleading guilty by reason of near-insanity, we headed to the local video shop where I rented Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time for the Gamecube. I am well aware that is available for the PC, and believe me when I walked away with my rental copy I felt like a cheap whore. But as always the Xmas season tends to put a moratorium on self-shopping (and a huge dent in your savings account) so I'll take what I can get.

But enough about real life™, I absolutely must talk about Prince of Persia. The Prince of Persia lineage began as a low-tech side-scrolling adventure that was inhumanly difficult at some points. When Prince of Persia 3D came out in 1999, there was a huge ad campaign announcing its arrival that was a bit out of touch, but old fans welcomed it with open arms regardless. Then came the reviews, which brushed it aside as being another 3rd person actioner not worthy of the franchise. Luckily I tried the demo first, where I was disappointed with the poor controls and lackluster graphics, and thus promptly uninstalled that steaming pile.

Enter the latter half of 2003 and the release of The Sands of Time for all platforms. I think for the first 10 minutes of playing, I could only utter expletives for fear of letting my lower jaw fall off from inactivity. The graphics - although on a TV - look astounding; the world of medieval Persia was created lovingly by the wizards at UbiSoft Montreal. That's the same people who made Splinter Cell, for those that are keeping track.

The first time I entered combat, my hands flew over the controls as the Prince avoided the deadly slash of an opponent's weapon by running up their body, ending in a perfectly executed flip and return slash to the lower back. To the best of my knowledge this game does not come with safety goggles; my eyes were almost removed from my head. The acrobatics that the PoP games became known for - even in its two dimensional state - are here in full swing (ahem), with the Prince's fluid movements permeating every part of this game. Does it even matter that all you're given to defend yourself is a Scimitar and a mystical dagger? Not in my humble opinion.

Ah yes. The dagger. The magical time-altering dagger that you find in one of the greatest opening levels of a game. A tutorial cleverly disguised as an archeological adventure that feels as much like an Indiana Jones game. Once you get the dagger you gain the ability to control time. At first I thought that this was no different than getting multiple lives. If you can replay the last 10 seconds that caused your early demise, what makes this any more unique than putting another avatar before that perilous chasm? But this game is littered with traps and obstacles that require crackerjack timing, and some you will never get on the first try. You are now able to rewind to that split second, the one where the whirling blade probably should have severed your right leg but they didn't exactly code limb removal, so it just kind of kills you. It's an important asset to have, but not as important as the sand that powers it.

The story is quite simple: you are a young prince thirsty for glory, and see the ancient dagger as the ultimate prize to honour your father. But when stealing the dagger sets in motion a chain of events that results in the general populous turning into bloodthristy undead, well you've suddenly got a few problems. Naturally revenge is the order of the day - revenge on the treacherous sorcerer that is most likely the ultimate cause of the darkness that has befallen the land. The sand you need for your dagger is held within these walking dead, like the glow you saw when David Lo Pan got pissed. Knocking them down will do you no good, you've got to stab them with your magical dagger, sapping the lifeforce held within the remaining cloud. Kind of like Soul Reaver, except the game never gets boring.

I could easily go on about the wall running, the gymnastics, and amazingly elegant combat techniques. But I think it's far too early to assess this game's operating parameters. Throwing around words like "perfect gaming experience" and "one of the year's best" can be dangerous when I haven't even finished the game. Seeing the combination of movements that can be performed by the Prince in simple combat, depending not on focus but on sheer mastery of buttons, it made me ask "What Enter the Matrix?" The latter game being incredibly sloppy and ill-produced in comparison.

Save points are not even close to being acceptable in games on any platform. Hardware is at a point where you should not have to rely on the whims of game developers to save your progress. Some games are exception to this rule, such as Metroid Prime, whose exquisite beauty quietly offsets the frustrations wrought by the lack of a save anywhere feature. The Sands of Time is also one of these games - saving at the designated points produces an onrush of "visions" that essentially shows you what lies ahead, including traps, monsters fought and even solutions to the many puzzles. After saving you "wake up" on the floor and continue, roused from your premonitions. This even makes it believable when you save, and then start playing again a few hours later, insignificant as it may sound.

Unfortunately, the game's few shortcomings lie in the AI. It is infuriatingly inconsistent. You will be fighting off multiple assailants with amazing combinations for one battle, while in another skirmish each enemy will wait their turn to have their asses handed to them. And thanks to that handy dagger there are very few situations where you're actually down for the count. The fatal step that left you vulnerable to the final cut from a zombie's axe can be replayed anew, where the outcome is victory.

The Gamecube reviews seem to be pretty lofty, but looking at all platforms everyone seems to be in agreement: this game has diverged from the classic rushed holiday title syndrome. I stand here a man convinced that a 3rd person console game can be fun, and I'm inclined to recommend The Sands of Time. I doubt you'd be disappointed by getting this game for your preferred platform.

overcome and completely silent now