show you this list you will, 1: notice that the hate list is a lot longer than the love

one. And 2: see that right between giraffes and purple drank is, Prince of Persia, The

Sands of Time. Every little aspect about this game works perfectly with one another to make

an experience that is one of my all time favorites.

You play as the Prince, a young and arrogant prince of Persia who is tricked into releasing

the deadly Sands of Time and must set out to right his wrong. Along the way he teams

up with the beautiful but deadly princess Farah, and together they work through the

many traps and puzzles as the make their way to the Hourglass of Time. Having Farah around

surprised me because she is not like most NPCs that make you play escort missions. She

can actually hold her own in fights and doesn’t need her hand held to make it to the next

area. She is more personable because you find that the conversations between the Prince

and her are very well written and make you actually intrigued by their situation.

But as good as the story and characters may be the real satisfaction comes from the gameplay.

The Prince is a very agile guy and can do things that would make Neo envious. You think

that running on walls would get boring quickly, but I have played every Prince game multiple

times and I have yet to find it boring, along with the rest of the Prince’s abilities.

You become very familiar with all the Prince’s move as you will use them to get through each

room.

Each room is in fact a giant puzzle. You have to figure out how to get to the exit all the

while avoiding enemies, booby traps, and your own dumb decisions. Luckily the Prince comes

equipped with the dagger of time, which is much more than just a weapon. As you will

find out very quickly, the Dagger has the power to rewind time, thus giving you a retry

without having to load from a checkpoint. This allows the game to throw some very difficult

sections at you because if you mess up, you can rescue yourself. And trust me, you will

be doing this a lot. The levels are very tricky and you will die often, but they are not cheap

difficult. Every time you die, you will say, “Yup, not suppose to do that.” Then rewind

and figure out what you need to do next in the level. It also helps in combat as you

can freeze enemies or slow time down.

And as you work through the game you will notice the rooms are more than just a setting.

Just as the story entangles itself into the gameplay, the setting does the same. You really

do feel like you are taken to mystical Persia. All the rooms are bright and truly gorgeous.

A lot of time and effort went into designing not just the graphics but the entire art direction.

Everything feels engrossing and creative, while still feeling real enough to allow yourself

to fall deeper into the story. The game doesn’t just look pretty. It has something special,

with the gameplay, the setting, the art, and the sound. All of it works so well together

that it makes you understand you are playing something special.

The only thing that holds this back from being perfect is the combat is a little lacking.

With having to use the same finishing move on every enemy, the battles will become kind

of tedious and boring, and have you looking forward to the next puzzle section.

If you have never played this before, you are doing yourself a huge disfavor. Find yourself

a copy and take a trip back to Persia, and prepare for one unique experience.