Almost all of the dialogue is optional, requiring the player to trigger each individual exchange that make up a larger conversation. The dialogue is divided nicely into either banter that drives character development or setting/background information about the princess' quest. Sound boring? It would be if not for the simple and compelling story told mostly through the dialogue between the two main characters (there are no villagers, inn keepers, or anonymous npcs to speak to). There are boss fights, and those fights are basically the same as the regular fights. You can't die here either, but if the princess has to step in to save you it prolongs the fight. On rare occasions you fight an enemy, just one, and the enemies are nearly identical. if you fall, the princess saves you and you end up on the last safe platform you were on. The game's mechanics are similarly simple: you jump, climb, and run along walls to get from point A to B. (Note that he is not a prince, and there is no mention of Persia in the game) He runs into a magical princess on a quest who is pursued by her father and decides to help for no particular reason.
The game's overall design is simple and streamlined, starting with its set up:Ī Han Solo-esque protagonist is lost in a desert sand storm searching for his donkey laden with stolen treasure. What sets Prince of Persia apart from most other big budget video games is that it manages to assemble these pieces into a coherent and polished single player experience. It meets the requirements of a contemporary, mainstream video game: beautiful polygon based graphics, competent (sometimes charming) voice work, good character design and development, good sound design, and it does a good job of delivering the narrative alongside the gameplay. The game doesn't do anything revolutionary (unless you count the fact that you can not die). Considering how many components there are in a contemporary big budget game this is an impressive feat, and understandably rare. The new Prince of Persia is a good, mainstream video game released in 2008.