Does the latest iteration of the Persia universe live up to its name?
Does the latest iteration of the Persia universe live up to its name?
The most striking aspect of the new Persia that you will probably notice is it's bold new art style. Colourful, cell shaded character models and beautifully hand drawn backdrops give the game a fresh new visual flavour. POP purists may snub their noses at the visual changes but it is clear that Ubisoft wanted to try something different, and have succeeded, as the results are brilliant.
The combat mechanics are simple but intuitive. Single button moves/attacks can be stringed together in the form of combos, which forms the meat and potatoes of combat. Sure, you can probably defeat most enemies with single button mashes but the harder bosses require more finesse and skill. Thankfully, executing combos is a simple as A-B-C 1-2-3 and if you've played other POP games you shouldn't have any difficulties here. The beginning tutorial eases any new players into the game, one bite at a time and never overloads on information. It doesn't even feel like a tutorial, more like a series of helpful hints, as it is interwoven into the sequential progression of the game.
This iteration features a new prince, who is the antihero of the story, because of his dubious occupations, devious personality and lack of ambition. He is helped by a female companion called Elika, who is not only an integral character, but a vital element of the game. Whereever the prince goes, Elika follows, and trust me, you will be wanting her around, as she has the ability to save your bacon on an infinite number of occasions, when death looked inevitable. The lovely thing about Persia is that is so all so accessible, easy to play, and forgiving. The presence of Elika makes it virtually impossible to die, atleast not in a mortal way. Some hardcore gamers may call this "dumbing down the experience" or "made for consoles" but I have to disagree, I think it works flawlessly. The storyline is your standard mythical good/evil theme and yes, you guessed it, the Prince must smite the evil forces that have infested the lands after laying dormant and imprisoned for a 1000 years. As you can see our anti-hero prince is a rather reluctant hero and merely becomes so because of extraordinary circumstances.
As you venture throughout the open-world you will be amazed, charmed and delighted at the settings, storyline, characters. POP is like a new-school take on a traditional platformer. The game is a juxtaposition of linear/open-world gameplay, old school/new school platforming, etc. It feels like an older title with a band new facelift and the game is enhanced all the more because of this. It certainly doesn't reinvent the genre, but it provides ample gameplay elements and additions to keep the Prince fresh and relevant for today's audience. The end-product has a very polished feel to it which is complemented by the good voice acting and script progression.
If you're a Persia fan or into platform games I'd give you a serious recommendation to try this game out. 8.5/10