"Revelations" is a fun but technically uneven sequel to "Sands of Time".
As a kid (7 years old to be precise) I saw a game called "Prince of Persia: Warrior Within" and I instantly fell in love with it's action, platforming and graphics. I was meant to get the game for the PC but I didn't because it was not age appropriate (instead I've got Shrek 2 which is a crappy game). Now that I have the game on my PSP, was it worth the long wait to finally play the game? Let's find out! On with the review.
The Story takes place 7 years after "Sands of Time". The Prince is being persued by the Dahaka, the physical manefestation of fate itself. Apparently it is revealed that ever since the Prince unlocked the Sands of Time in the first game, he was supposed to die when he did so. This is the reason the Dahaka is persuing him, so the Prince decides to go to the Island of Time and kill the Empress of Time in order to defy his fate. Not the best story of the entire trilogy Ubisoft! In fact you've turned the once noble Prince into a guy who's more concerned with his ass than anything else! And that's the whole story. No plot twist, no saving the world, no stopping the bad guy. Just a guy who wants to save himself.
The Controls are easy to get used to. You use the analog stick to move, X to jump, Square to attack, Triangle for secondary attacks, Circle to drop off ledges and throw secondary weapons, L+analog stick for camera movement and R for special actions (Running on walls, pushing, pulling, blocking etc). So the controls are easy to get used to and I have no problem with them whatsoever.
The Graphics are excellent for a PSP title! Literally everything that looked good on the PC version has lost none of it's potency here! The environments are dark, gothic and gorgeous and the character models don't look too bad as well (except the Prince looks a bit too much like Aragorn). However there are times where the game gets too dark for it's own good making it difficult to see a certain ledge to climb up and some of the backgrounds (especially the gardens level) are rushed showing many underdeveloped texures. Overall, the graphics are nice and keep making the game jaw dropping to look at every time!
Gameplay is simmilar to "Sands of Time". As the Prince you need to jump, wall run, jump and summersault etc from ledge to ledge and branch to branch. Familliar stuff, but "Revelations" adds new gamplay mechanics to make it stand out from it's predecessor. First off, the game is non linear as opposed to "Sands of Time" which means you can explore the island of time and it's entireity. Unfortunately you will also be doing a bit of backtracking which I will get to later. "Revelations" also features a time travel mechanic that allows the player travel back and forth to the past or present. So the game is like "Back to the Future" with swords but who cares? I like this idea and it's fun to discover what the same area is like in two different time periods! The Present has vegetation and castle ruins and is more gothic compared to the two whereas the past is more grand and glorious, showing grand architechure. Another change is the free form fighting system. In "Sands of Time" the combat was good but the lack of moves made the fighting a bit boring and forced. In "Revelations", the Prince can perform a variety of vicious Sword techniques to make Aragorn look like a unskilled rookie. With a single sword, the Prince can perform some brutal grappling techniques such as strangling enemies, decapitations, cutting enemies in half etc. With double weapons, the Prince can use deadly weapon combos to effectively double the damage he can do. Personally, I prefer double weapon combat because that's where the meat of the Prince's techniques lie. I thoroughly enjoyed this combat system but most of the double weapon techniques are just spins. Why? Don't the developers know that spinning around too much causes nausea? Why not do other cool moves like stabbing a enemy with a secondary weapon then kicking him off, or double stab lift the enemy up and then slam them on the ground OR specific moves with different weapons? Why not do that Ubisoft! However the strength of "Revelations" is navigating your way around the environment. Always has, always will be. Time powers make gallant return. Old favourites like the Rewind and Slowdown make an appearance but 2 new ones enter the fray catering specifically to combat. Breath of Fate allows the player to knock down enemies in one blow and Ravages of Time allow the player to cut through the enemies like the Flash becoming drunk and wielding a sword. During some sections in the game, the Dahaka will have the Prince in his sights and thus a chase sequence begins forcing the Player to escape as fast as humanly possible lest the Dahaka kill you. It's a fun sequence that doesn't feel out of place and also makes you understand the Prince's fear of this beast! Seriously do not screw up the timeline or he will come for you! Overall, the gameplay is awesome but a few misteps taint the experience a bit.
The sountrack of the game ROCKS! But for a "Prince of Persia" game, it doesn't fit. This soundtrack is more suitable if Dante was in the Middle East or something. I absoloutely dig the guitar solos and drum pieces but again, the music is very unfitting. The SFX are the same as "Sands of Time" which is good. You expect some realistic sounds and they do it very nicely. The voice acting is well done though. I think Monica Belluci's seductive voice suits the character of Kaileena very well. The Prince sounds good too but I think they should've brought the previous Prince voice actor back because this Prince sounds just a little bit too macho for his own good. The enemy voices are good, but can get a bit melodramatic at times. Overall, a great but unfitting soundtrack and some neat voice acting throughout.
The Downsides. sigh.. Grab some popcorn folks because this is gonna take a while. First off, I really don't like the non linear structure of this game. I mean, why would I want to go back to areas I've been to before in in a total of 5 times! It just slows down the pace of the game and it gets dull really fast. I'd rather go through areas that change each time rather going through the same place more than once. Backtracking should only occur when you want to uncover secrets, not to progress through the story! Also I don't like the Prince's personality in this game. He just seems a bit of an overgrown teenager to me. I understand it's because he's been running from the Dahaka for 7 years but the guy has to have some sense of humour at least! Where was the saracasim the Prince had in the first game? I like his combat taunts because to be honest, who doesn't want to mock enemies for thier inability to kill you. Other than that he seems like more like a villian rather than a hero because of his meciless carnage and reckless attitude. FOR GOD'S SAKE DUDE! YOU'RE NOT DANTE OR KRATOS!! LEARN TO DRAW A LINE SOMEWHERE! Also, there's no support character. Not only does this make this game a bit boring, it also makes the whole journey seem meaningless. In "Sands of Time", Farah was a good support character because she helped you with puzzles and combat. I enjoy having someone to work with. Can't they make Kaileena a support character in this game? Haven't you thought about that Ubisoft?! The parts where you get the Sand Mask represent the most tedious parts of the game as most the levels are pure drab with no substance or style. Okay, onto conclusion!
"Prince of Persia: Revelations" on it's own merits is an entertaining adventure with minor flaws so to speak but as a sequel to "Sands of Time" it's a bit uneven and tends to make things hard to swallow. Let's overview the facts shall we?
The Good: Fantastic level design, awesome graphics, great soundtrack, neat voice acting, superb platforming, innovative combat system, time travel is interesting, game takes longer to complete than "Sands of Time" (12-15 hours), gothic environments are very nice, easy to use controls, Dahaka chases are soo much fun, more content and artwork to keep you busy, two different endings!
The Bad: The Prince is a lot less likable compared to "Sands of Time", story is inferior, no support character, combos mostly consists of spins, no support character, backtracking is tedious, easy to get lost (no map. oops!), sound bugs and frame rate drops is a little annoying, Sand Wraith levels are not fun at all.
The Ugly: None!
Title: Awesome!