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Hands up those of you who remember Prince of Persia. Probably more than a few of you - it sold two-and-a half million copies on all the formats under the sun. For those who were not playing games back in 1989, Prince of Persia was a seminal title that, although no one realised it at the time, pointed the way to the modern 3D platformer. It was 2D - everything was, back then - and viewed from the side. You took on the persona of a young Prince, dressed in rather natty white pyjamas, who must rescue his love, the Sultan's daughter, from the clutches of the evil Vizier. His figure was among the first to use a primitive form of motion capture technology to produce what, even by today's standards, were some delightfully realistic movements. The game made old Prince run and jump about the catacombs of a Persian palace, avoiding deadly spikes, trapdoors, and making sure his swash was well-buckled.
The brightly-coloured new engine
New Power Generation
Prince 3D comes on the heels of a handful of similar games like Shadow Man and
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. Simply take a formula that proved successful in
the Tomb Raider series, add some better graphics, and spice up the brew with
improved combat - something the Tomb Raider games have never got quite right.
Result: instant sales and early retirement. Easy life. Each game has its gimmicks:
Shadow Man's gore and scare factor, LoK:SR's gothic vampiring, Drakan's…dragon.
Prince 3D has its history, and many established fans. But is Prince 3D any better
than these other two slightly disappointing titles? Read on.
Developers Red Orb Entertainment have brought the Prince soundly into the nineties with a new 3D engine. They claim to have been true to the original Prince, but it is a shame to see Red Orb have replaced his classy PJs with a rather less stylish baggy trouser and breastplate suit. Fighting scenes have been updated with more weapons, including a longbow for ranged combat, but apart from that, the game concept remains unchanged. There are traps waiting around every corner for the unwary Prince, Indiana Jones-like. There are tiles that will give way underneath you, or drop down from the ceiling to reveal new chambers. There are guards and other enemies to fight. It's still Prince of Persia, and none the worse for that.
Purple Rain
So, what about this new-fangled 3D business then? The first things that will
hit your eye are the sumptuous textures and the atmospheric design of the levels.
No other game has really tried to create this kind of ambience; Tomb Raider
was mostly sand and stone, and the other games mentioned earlier tend more towards
the dark fantasy-type of scenes. In contrast, Prince 3D is more colourful than
a food fight at a Smarties factory. There's good variety between levels and
as you will see from the screenshots, it looks mighty dapper. A few familiar
glitches pop up from time to time - this seems to be a necessary evil in this
type of game these days, and Prince 3D is certainly no worse in this respect
than its competitors.
A combat scene or two
Sadly once the Prince starts doing his running-jumping-climbing thang it starts to show its shortcomings. The engine can't quite keep the frame rate up on occasion - strangely, not necessarily when there's the most happening on-screen. It manages fine in combat, but just when running around there's occasionally a little judder. Shouldn't really be happening on a ninja PIII-500, and indicates that lesser mortals will have more trouble. The camera does get lost behind walls from time to time, too, and this is more serious - detracting from the professional feel the excellent textures lend the game.
Diamonds and Pearls
Controls, too, reveal a few problems. The keys just don't seem to be quite as
intuitive as those of Prince 3D's peers, and still require a bit of thought
even after many extended playing sessions. And more serious trouble is apparent
- poor Prince doesn't seem to be able to flow from one move into another. This
first reveals itself when performing a simple running jump; the poor lad seems
to shuffle his feet before taking off. Not a serious flaw in itself, but makes
judging the longer leaps harder than it need be. The problems become more apparent
when trying to, say, go from pulling the Prince up a ledge to running forwards.
He completes the climbing move, stands up, stops, and only then does he move
forward. It is as if each move can only be begun from a standing position. Look
at most of the other recent 3D platformers and you'll see that in a move like
this the character moves smoothly from the climb to the run. Sounds minor, but
it makes the gameplay feel too remote and detached. Not what you need from a
game like this, where close control of your alter ego is needed to avoid plummeting
to a premature end.
The Prince, too, doesn't have much ability to interact with his surroundings. Too often the (albeit convincing) scenery is flat and there's no urns to throw at attackers or walls to climb. This just contributes to the aloof feel of the game - there's no sense that the Prince is in a real environment. Characterisation is almost totally missing from your hero, and there is little attempt to make the proceedings involve or immerse the player, no attempt at all to encourage sympathy with the poor chap who has, after all, had his wife kidnapped and his father-in-law murdered. He doesn't sound very Persian to me, either.
Blessing your arrows gives them more power
Alas, the sound effects too are basic and don't encourage any feeling of involvement. The footsteps are quiet and understated, and the gentle noises the Prince makes as he leaps around just don't evoke the same emotions as Lara's grunts - or perhaps that's just me. Whichever way, Red Orb could have done better here. On the other hand, music complements the sumptuous graphics well, being gently Eastern without being corny or overdone. The only criticism in this area is that the tune, while decent enough, can get repetitive in long sessions.
It's not all woe in Persia, however - the combat is well deserving of praise. Drawing your sword shifts the viewpoint to a side-on aspect of the Prince and his opponent, with keys provided for left and right swipes, blocking, and a deadly overhead chop. It's unique among the 3rd person 3D games in that, for these sequences, it manages to play more like a certain Playstation fighting game than anything else. The different weapons (sword, staff or double three-pointed assassin's knives) each have a unique feel and you'll be in for trouble if you try to use the same tactics for each. Knives favour the close-in, key-bashing approach, and the longer and slower staff demands more footwork to avoid attacks until an opportunity presents itself. If the platforming sections were as responsive and varied as the fights, this would be a game worthy of anyone's money.
Gett Off
The odd difficulty with the fights does present itself, however - occasionally
it is possible to get close to an enemy and hit them with a flurry of strokes
before they have a chance to react. This is thankfully rare, and doesn't affect
the overall feeling of quality these sections evoke.
For ranged combat - and the cowards among you - there is a longbow, with a limited supply of arrows that can be enchanted to increase their power. This can be used to pick off enemies at a distance, and it is especially useful when there is more than one guard in the same area - it is very difficult to take on more than one enemy at once.
There's a lot of variety between the levels
Level design and the puzzles the Prince faces are also thoroughly well thought out. There are comparatively few of the conventional "find locked door, go somewhere else, find key, put key in door" problems - although these do pop up now and again. Instead the difficulties are more traditional 2D platform game fare - new areas become accessible more through skilfully negotiating the obstacles put in the way than by "puzzle"-based means. This means Prince 3D has very little of the aimless exploring that causes boredom in other similar titles. It is usually clear where the Prince's next move should be.
The potions dotted about the levels provide more interest to the levels - it might prove necessary to find a potion enabling the Prince to jump high to pass a certain obstacle. Very much in the Prince of Persia tradition, and a bit of a new departure for this style of game. The levels are about the right size, and there's some excellent graphical variety between different sections - the levels set on board the evil prince's giant airship are particularly worth mentioning.
Sign 'O' The Times
Thoroughly in the Prince tradition is the use of traps - but sadly this area
of the game is probably the only part of the concept that is showing its age.
Prince 3D has a tendency to over-use the instantly lethal big sharp spikes.
A brave decision by the designers, some will nevertheless find it annoying to
be killed by something almost unnoticeable and, once triggered, unavoidable.
Game design has moved on since 1989.
So, does Prince 3D succeed where recently so many others have fallen just short of the mark? Unfortunately the answer is no. In moving to 3D they have lost the fluidity and natural ease of control that marked the first game as a classic. It is a shame Red Orb don't seem to have spent the same amount of time on motion-capturing today's Prince as the creator did on his predecessor. Maybe if someone could combine the level design and combat in Prince 3D, the feel of Legacy of Kain, and the character of Tomb Raider we might just have the ultimate 3D platform game. Until then, though, this is destined to remain of passing interest. The remote nature of the gameplay and lack of involvement mean your £30 is better spent elsewhere.
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