Rewind time in this cIassic adventure.
The games main focus is on the ingenious puzzles, the time mechanics (rewinding, slowing, and some others), and the princes acrobatic skills. All these combine make this game an amazing experience. You'll be put into a giant chamber with a bunch of poles; you'll have to run up walls, jump to a pole, swing on this pole jump to the next wall and then jump back to the entrance to a hallway. This is just a hypothetical because usually these acrobatic sequences are a little more complicated, but you should get the jest of it. Anyway the prince can't fall far so if you're way up there and accidentally screw up sending the Prince plummeting to his death, you can easily press the dagger of time button to rewind time and give you a second chance. The more sand tanks you acquire the more chances you get. These puzzles aren't just made up of poles and acrobatics. You'll also have some blocks to push, and rotate levers, to affect the environment around you. Some of these are pretty ingenious, which really makes up for the combat. This is the only really bad thing about the game play. Sand creatures appear in certain rooms coming in, in groups of 16 or 20. All you really have to do is Jump over them, hack their back, and then stab them to suck up their sand. Sometimes creature can't be leaped over so all you need to do is stab them with the dagger to freeze their body and then hit them which kills them in one hit. Another thing is that there are only two bosses throughout the whole entire game.
The graphics are amazing, for a 2003 game. It's got a lot of bloom lighting in the windows, and out side areas during the sun setting. The character models looks pretty well, though there aren't many enemies and you'll be fighting the same sand people over and over again. But all the environments look spectacular and you actually get the vibe that you're in a Persian Palace.
Sound, this is a big thing in this game it really makes this. Not only does the game feature some excellent Persian music, which makes the Persia vibe even bigger. But the whole story is very unique in the way they narrated it. The Prince is actually telling the story to you; if you die he'll say something such as "No, no it didn't happen like this." at points in the games the prince will start to narrate the scene saying something about a zoo, or library that he remembers from his childhood. He also sometimes talks to himself, when he is alone, you really get to know the character and this personal relationship helps improve the game. The Prince isn't the only character that talks; the whole game is filled with excellent voice acting.
The game isn't that long it only around 10 hours, but this game is so timeless that most likely you'll play it again. Other then replaying it there are no extra features. All I can say is that you need to pick this game up whether you rent it or buy it (which you can get it for really cheap now). The sands of times breathes life into this series again.