About the game.
You probably know this game. But for the few who maybe do not...
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time is a 2003 third person 'action adventure' by Ubisoft Montreal (developers of other good game such as Assassin's Creed and the Splinter Cell series) and a continuation of the iconic Prince of Persia series. The last game in this series before it, Prince of Persia 3D, was a horrible failure, so the developers had to avoid tanking again to not doom the franchise - and by god, they did a marvelous job of it. With a metacritic rating of 92, and universal acclaim from all review magazines and websites, they fashioned a wonderful adventure about a persian prince who needs all his combat prowess and acrobatic skill to reverse a horrible mistake. They also pioneered the use of time powers, allowing you to slow down time, freeze enemies, or even rewind out of certain death situations - effectively combating the need for constant quicksaving that usually permeates these games.
Quotes from someone who isn't just a dude on the internet.
"I have no hesitation in stating that this is without a doubt the best control system of its kind ever created. With impossible grace pulling off complex and fantastic maneuvers and never sacrificing the precision so crucial for true ease of play, this is how it should be done." - Gamecritics.com
"Recommended wholeheartedly. It looks fantastic and features responsive controls, some original play mechanics, a good story, and plenty of thrilling adventure. In the simplest terms: Do not miss out on this game." - Gamespot
"You've probably done a lot of the things you'll do in Prince of Persia before, but never to this standard, and apart from the innovations, the consistency, the logic and the spell-binding presentation, what makes it so special is just how well made it is." - EuroGamer
"Pure magic. Soft lighting effects and elaborate, detailed architecture give the entire experience the quality of an opium-induced vision where time moves at the speed of your imagination. PoP's immersive atmosphere takes you to another level altogether." - Electronic Gaming Monthly
I can't recommend this title enough for its difficulty, beauty (which is downright stunning), exceptional level design, and elaborate move set. It's a wonderful good time." - GameInformer
"An outstanding game -- a dazzling, masterful achievement... Thanks to wholly intuitive control, stunning atmosphere and satisfyingly clever environmental puzzles, the title easily ranks as one of my favorite adventure offerings of all time." - IGN
What makes this game so great.
As you can probably tell from the quotes above, there's a lot of things about this game which make it excellent. Let me just give my own opinion on these.
Graphics: Well, they were excellent for 2003. That's five years ago now though, and in the computer world, that's basically an entire generation. They still look very nice, though, which comes to a good part from not relying on polygon counts that much, but rather - like the original Prince of Persia - wonderfully fluid animation. But not only are the main animations very well done, but they also created a ton of transition animations so your character doesn't suddenly jerk from one stance into another, but rather switches fluidly.
Gameplay: Well, I suppose the combat could have been a bit more varied. It's still very far from bad, though, and the meat of the game - navigating the levels via acrobatics - is absolutely rock solid and remains fun even after a dozen playthroughs.
Audio: The musical score is breathtaking. It is the only game I have ever bought the official soundtrack to, because it is SO GOOD. It accentuates the game immensely. The voice acting is also excellently done, and fits perfectly.
Characters & Story: There is really just one word I think of fitting for these: charming. Everything about the setting, the characters, and the character development makes you empathize with the Prince, and it is incredibly easy to sink into this magical persian fairy tale full of wonder and not ever want to return.
Atmosphere: The graphical style, the background music, the voice acting, and the.... well, feel from the characters and story create a wonderful atmosphere just bursting at the seams with charm and flair, creating a believable (as far as fantasy worlds can be believable) world which you can't help but love.
Technical LP stuff.
There's no difficulty selection, so I can't make this harder (or easier, I guess) on myself. I will however get all the upgrades possible, so I suppose we can call that 100% completion.
I will attempt to keep a M-W-F update schedule, playing from save point to save point, except when this would make for ridiculously short videos (< 10 minutes).
I'll be using Viddler and GameVee as my hosts (please don't die on me), though if anybody has issues with both of these I may be convinced to use a tertiary one.
No I'm not just doing this because Yahtzee did that PoP trilogy video a bit ago, I've been planning this since before that and if you really believe otherwise you are a doodoohead.
Scrolls of History
Intro: Viddler
Maharajah's Treasure Vaults: Viddler
Unleashed the Sands of Time: Viddler
The Palace's Defense System: Viddler
Death of a Sand King: Viddler
The Warehouse: Viddler
The Sultan's Zoo: Viddler
Something glowing up there: Viddler
Daybreak: Viddler
The Drawbridge: Viddler
Waterfall: Viddler
Out of the Well: Viddler
The Sultan's Harem: Viddler
The Hall of Learning: Viddler
Observatory: Viddler
Prisoner Seeking an Escape: Viddler
The Hourglass: Viddler
The Tomb: Viddler
Honor and Glory: Viddler