This is One Word Review, a concept that I shamelessly lifted from my friend Creighton over at Nerdology (it's okay, he said I could). The idea behind OWR, as we like to call it, is that videogames are so often rated, reviewed, and discussed to exhaustion that it is sometimes a relief to read a succinct, definitive description of a game--a single word that sums up the most prominent characteristics of the gaming experience. That's the idea, so here goes:
Autolingering
Showing posts with label Prince of Persia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prince of Persia. Show all posts
Sep 20, 2009
Dec 24, 2008
Taking Risks: The Expansion Of An Artform
As the videogame industry marches eternally into the realm of increasingly sophisticated technology, creating videogames that push the envelope and take full advantage of the resources available to developers becomes ever more costly -- a fact of life that developers and publishers never hesitate to point out.
Claims that a game needs to sell at least X-hundred-thousand copies in order to simply break even are common, and complaints about unoriginal game content are often rebutted with evidence that consumers more often than not tend to play it safe and go with what they are familiar with when it comes time to cash out at the register. Whether the average game consumer is indeed the same man, woman, boy, or girl whose passion for the pursuit of gaming excellence drives them to complain about these seeing-eye sequels and copycat productions is up for debate, but in any case, the dissonance between critical and fiscal demand is quite evident. But that is for another discussion.
In 2008, we have seen a great many rehashes of old titles -- the numbers 2, 3, 4, and beyond adorned many retail packages this year -- but we have also seen games that represent great leaps of faith on the part of developers and publishers. I personally praised games like Penumbra: Black Plague, Patapon, Braid, Too Human, and Mirror's Edge for challenging traditional gaming archetypes and delivering truly innovative gameplay experiences, and sincerely hope that the positive response to these games far outweigh the negative, encouraging their creators to continue exploring ways to expand the definition of videogames. They may not please every gamer, but these games are essential to the industry's growth.
Ubisoft's Prince of Persia producer Ben Mattes seems to agree, and even cited Mirror's Edge as a big risk-taker in 2008. In a recent interview, he expressed his disappointment at the lack of recognition his studio received for the "high level risks" involved in the acrobatic platformer's development.
Yes, studios should be recognized for their efforts to elevate the medium to new plateaus, but what exactly constitutes a thorough attempt to achieve this sort of groundbreaking development? What determines whether a specific design decision is merely a change from the established formula, or if it is indeed a "major risk" in the creative process? How do we define the term "risk" as it relates to videogame development?
Blurring the lines between genres, infusing topics typically reserved for purely academic discourse and analysis, introducing previously unimagined and untested gameplay mechanics, presenting a product whose meaning is entirely subject to audience interpretation; these are risks -- design elements that take gamers out of their comfort zone and reach into unexplored territory.
Did Prince of Persia ever really push the envelope in such a way? Eliminating consequences for gamers' mistakes was a bold move, but it never felt like a monumental change; the game did not represent a paradigm shift, and it certainly didn't fundamentally alter the way people think of videogames. I do applaud Ubisoft for their efforts with Prince of Persia, but Elika was not revolutionary.
If anything, she took the "risk" right out of the game. :-p
Claims that a game needs to sell at least X-hundred-thousand copies in order to simply break even are common, and complaints about unoriginal game content are often rebutted with evidence that consumers more often than not tend to play it safe and go with what they are familiar with when it comes time to cash out at the register. Whether the average game consumer is indeed the same man, woman, boy, or girl whose passion for the pursuit of gaming excellence drives them to complain about these seeing-eye sequels and copycat productions is up for debate, but in any case, the dissonance between critical and fiscal demand is quite evident. But that is for another discussion.
In 2008, we have seen a great many rehashes of old titles -- the numbers 2, 3, 4, and beyond adorned many retail packages this year -- but we have also seen games that represent great leaps of faith on the part of developers and publishers. I personally praised games like Penumbra: Black Plague, Patapon, Braid, Too Human, and Mirror's Edge for challenging traditional gaming archetypes and delivering truly innovative gameplay experiences, and sincerely hope that the positive response to these games far outweigh the negative, encouraging their creators to continue exploring ways to expand the definition of videogames. They may not please every gamer, but these games are essential to the industry's growth.
Ubisoft's Prince of Persia producer Ben Mattes seems to agree, and even cited Mirror's Edge as a big risk-taker in 2008. In a recent interview, he expressed his disappointment at the lack of recognition his studio received for the "high level risks" involved in the acrobatic platformer's development.
"In terms of us taking a shot and missing, I guess I would have to go a little higher level here and speak about risks in general.
For years we've all been reading complaints about sequels and companies churning out carbon copies of proven formulas without focusing on innovation or taking risks. Fans, developers and critics alike seemed ravenous for new ideas -- new IPs; major innovations -- advances in this art-tertainment (I'm trying to coin a new term here ;)) form we all love.
We tried to really embrace this challenge on PoP. We set out to keep a few core fundamentals but to re-imagine everything else, discarding some very well entrenched ideas not only about the brand but also about videogames in general (and we weren't alone. EA took some major risks this year with new IP and innovations - Mirror's Edge and Dead Space, for example).
What surprises me is how little these high level risks seem to be noticed and appreciated as attempts to shake up the industry and push things forward. Perhaps I'm an idealist, but I think perhaps I was expecting a few more virtual pats-on-the-back for our attempts to do something new.
Whether this means we didn't totally succeed in our risk taking or whether our industry in fact has a stronger appetite for the familiar then it wants to admit remains to be seen. Honestly I hope it is the former."
Yes, studios should be recognized for their efforts to elevate the medium to new plateaus, but what exactly constitutes a thorough attempt to achieve this sort of groundbreaking development? What determines whether a specific design decision is merely a change from the established formula, or if it is indeed a "major risk" in the creative process? How do we define the term "risk" as it relates to videogame development?
Blurring the lines between genres, infusing topics typically reserved for purely academic discourse and analysis, introducing previously unimagined and untested gameplay mechanics, presenting a product whose meaning is entirely subject to audience interpretation; these are risks -- design elements that take gamers out of their comfort zone and reach into unexplored territory.
Did Prince of Persia ever really push the envelope in such a way? Eliminating consequences for gamers' mistakes was a bold move, but it never felt like a monumental change; the game did not represent a paradigm shift, and it certainly didn't fundamentally alter the way people think of videogames. I do applaud Ubisoft for their efforts with Prince of Persia, but Elika was not revolutionary.
If anything, she took the "risk" right out of the game. :-p
Dec 9, 2008
Such Great Heights -- Prince Of Persia Review
To take an already critically acclaimed videogame franchise and entirely re-envision it for a new generation is some feat. What's an even greater achievement is to stray from the original formula and still come away with something spectacular. While Ubisoft Montreal's Prince of Persia for the Xbox 360 and PS3 may not definitively improve upon, nor fall drastically short of the older entries in the franchise, the game is a solid, enjoyable experience that, despite design flaws, is indeed spectacular.
This Prince of Persia is the tale of a new "prince" -- a vagrant tomb raider who loses his latest bounty, stumbles into a sandstorm, and finds himself mixed up with a beautiful woman in the middle of a battle between gods. The story seems heavy, albeit a bit standard, but the narrative is actually light, and the focus is squarely on gameplay. The problem with this, however, is that the gameplay itself also happens to be surprisingly dainty.
On their quest to seal away the evil god Ahriman forever, the Prince and companion Elika must locate and restore a number of formerly pristine "fertile grounds" that have been corrupted by the dark deity. Much of the storytelling comes in the form of optional dialog between the two protagonists. Unfortunately, the way these segments are delivered to the audience involve a break in the action, when they just as easily could have been voiced over the platforming gameplay. Tapping L to make the two chat does little more than take the controller out of the player's hands in favor of a perspective shift, and make the somewhat interesting, yet visually unimportant conversations a chore to sit through, thus encouraging players to skip them altogether. Only at a few key junctures in the adventure does the game really work to advance the plot. Combined with an inevitably monotonous my-first-platformer control setup, this offers little motivation for players to press forward.
![[pop.jpg]](//4.bp.blogspot.com/_FIdObcQ_sNo/ST6tnTR-ndI/AAAAAAAASA4/XfjuKozsoFs/s1600/pop.jpg)
The platforming action is not immediately intuitive, as there is a delay between controller input and on-screen action. The idea seems to be to allow players to string together lengthy acrobatic combinations across long stretches of obstacles with relative ease, and for the most part it is effective. The slight delay between controller command and equivalent on-screen action is somewhat jolting at first, and fluid traverses across the many platforms, columns, rings, bars, walls, fissures, and more that fill the environments take some time to realize, but once the control style is practiced for but a short while, it does become second nature. Players will find themselves skating through the Prince's world more fantastically than in any other Prince of Persia game to date. This isn't to say that the acrobatic gameplay is superior to prior games, but that the moves available are simply more wildly unrealistic. The fact of the matter is that as complex and incredible as the Prince's moves may be, the corresponding player input boils down to very simple and borderline leisurely button taps that require little skill to accurately perform. At times, "second nature" can end up meaning "mildly boring," as if the game is playing itself, but newcomers to the hobby, genre, or franchise may just find the pace to be ideal.
Being set in such an expansive (and visually stunning) world, there are certain areas in the game that are far more satisfying to play through than others. The locales appearing to pay homage to the older, arguably more engrossing Sands of Time trilogy are in fact some of the most bland parts of the game, but navigating the complex architecture constructed by Ahriman's Alchemist (one of the four sub-bosses) allows players to partake in simultaneously beautiful and practical level design on a truly grand scale. The game is at its best when whisking the player quickly from one obstacle to the next through this sort of environment, the Prince avoiding corruption and performing long and varied sequences of jumps, swings, slides, wall-runs, etc. Action such as this takes up about a third of the game, the rest being divided among travel, combat, and...orb-collecting.
Light orbs are the keys to the city, so to speak. Collecting these liberally sprinkled balls of joy opens up four types of Prince-flinging, glyphic plates placed on walls throughout the game world that must be utilized in order to move forward. Herein lies another problem. Despite the lack of challenging gameplay, running through the game world can still be very enjoyable as long as the player is actively progressing toward the goal of the moment. After purifying each of the 20 fertile grounds, however, extensive orb-collection adversely affects forward momentum, backing the game up into N64-era platforming a la Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64. Either game type, on its own, is perfectly fine, but in Prince of Persia, the reliance on orb collection to advance feels like fly-in-my-soup syndrome. Ideally, players would be able to ignore the orbs altogether, but still pick up enough of them via normal exploration to unlock subsequent areas and advance through the game. This is not quite the case; players can almost get away with that strategy, but dedicated orb-hunting is unavoidable.
![[pop.jpg]](//1.bp.blogspot.com/_FIdObcQ_sNo/ST6tm2bxf3I/AAAAAAAASAw/DkB3JNfhvjI/s1600/pop.jpg)
Players are granted plenty of freedom in the path they take to the game's conclusion, however. Like those platformers of the 90s, Prince of Persia is characterized by a type of non-linear, hub- and sub-world design, wherein the players, rather than the designers, determine the order in which they visit and complete the game's many areas. Because there are no boundaries between these places, it is possible to easily jump (run, swing, climb) from one to the next, all the while observing magnificent watercolor vistas that illustrate the immense scope of the land.
Each of the fertile grounds is protected by a single enemy. It may seem odd that players fight these foes prior to exploring the area they guard, but in a way, the setup makes far more sense than the more common boss-at-the-end style that most games employ. Instead of basically having their way with an area before seeing any real opposition, Prince of Persia makes players earn the right to explore each one. The Prince and Elika battle each of the guardians in rhythmic combo- and counter-based two-on-one combat that combines real-time control with quick time events (QTE). These sequences are easily the most intense and adrenaline-pumping portions of the game, but because there are only so many possible combinations of sword, gauntlet, and Elika attacks available, these fights can turn into cases of deja vu as players advance further into the game.
As a work of art, Prince of Persia is a nearly unmitigated success. The unique graphical style is crisp, colorful, and beautiful, especially as applied to the epic landscapes and structural design within the game world. The score is a bit more subtle and less impressive, but the compositions definitely contribute to each area's overall mood and serve to better the gameplay experience.
Prince of Persia may not be the absolute pinnacle in princely acrobatic gaming, but it is certainly an enjoyable game. Marred by some inconsistent pacing and less-than-engaging action, it still manages to deliver a wondrous and open world through which players fight and fly to the game's exciting conclusion.
This Prince of Persia is the tale of a new "prince" -- a vagrant tomb raider who loses his latest bounty, stumbles into a sandstorm, and finds himself mixed up with a beautiful woman in the middle of a battle between gods. The story seems heavy, albeit a bit standard, but the narrative is actually light, and the focus is squarely on gameplay. The problem with this, however, is that the gameplay itself also happens to be surprisingly dainty.
On their quest to seal away the evil god Ahriman forever, the Prince and companion Elika must locate and restore a number of formerly pristine "fertile grounds" that have been corrupted by the dark deity. Much of the storytelling comes in the form of optional dialog between the two protagonists. Unfortunately, the way these segments are delivered to the audience involve a break in the action, when they just as easily could have been voiced over the platforming gameplay. Tapping L to make the two chat does little more than take the controller out of the player's hands in favor of a perspective shift, and make the somewhat interesting, yet visually unimportant conversations a chore to sit through, thus encouraging players to skip them altogether. Only at a few key junctures in the adventure does the game really work to advance the plot. Combined with an inevitably monotonous my-first-platformer control setup, this offers little motivation for players to press forward.
![[pop.jpg]](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FIdObcQ_sNo/ST6tnTR-ndI/AAAAAAAASA4/XfjuKozsoFs/s1600/pop.jpg)
The platforming action is not immediately intuitive, as there is a delay between controller input and on-screen action. The idea seems to be to allow players to string together lengthy acrobatic combinations across long stretches of obstacles with relative ease, and for the most part it is effective. The slight delay between controller command and equivalent on-screen action is somewhat jolting at first, and fluid traverses across the many platforms, columns, rings, bars, walls, fissures, and more that fill the environments take some time to realize, but once the control style is practiced for but a short while, it does become second nature. Players will find themselves skating through the Prince's world more fantastically than in any other Prince of Persia game to date. This isn't to say that the acrobatic gameplay is superior to prior games, but that the moves available are simply more wildly unrealistic. The fact of the matter is that as complex and incredible as the Prince's moves may be, the corresponding player input boils down to very simple and borderline leisurely button taps that require little skill to accurately perform. At times, "second nature" can end up meaning "mildly boring," as if the game is playing itself, but newcomers to the hobby, genre, or franchise may just find the pace to be ideal.
Being set in such an expansive (and visually stunning) world, there are certain areas in the game that are far more satisfying to play through than others. The locales appearing to pay homage to the older, arguably more engrossing Sands of Time trilogy are in fact some of the most bland parts of the game, but navigating the complex architecture constructed by Ahriman's Alchemist (one of the four sub-bosses) allows players to partake in simultaneously beautiful and practical level design on a truly grand scale. The game is at its best when whisking the player quickly from one obstacle to the next through this sort of environment, the Prince avoiding corruption and performing long and varied sequences of jumps, swings, slides, wall-runs, etc. Action such as this takes up about a third of the game, the rest being divided among travel, combat, and...orb-collecting.
Light orbs are the keys to the city, so to speak. Collecting these liberally sprinkled balls of joy opens up four types of Prince-flinging, glyphic plates placed on walls throughout the game world that must be utilized in order to move forward. Herein lies another problem. Despite the lack of challenging gameplay, running through the game world can still be very enjoyable as long as the player is actively progressing toward the goal of the moment. After purifying each of the 20 fertile grounds, however, extensive orb-collection adversely affects forward momentum, backing the game up into N64-era platforming a la Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64. Either game type, on its own, is perfectly fine, but in Prince of Persia, the reliance on orb collection to advance feels like fly-in-my-soup syndrome. Ideally, players would be able to ignore the orbs altogether, but still pick up enough of them via normal exploration to unlock subsequent areas and advance through the game. This is not quite the case; players can almost get away with that strategy, but dedicated orb-hunting is unavoidable.
![[pop.jpg]](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FIdObcQ_sNo/ST6tm2bxf3I/AAAAAAAASAw/DkB3JNfhvjI/s1600/pop.jpg)
Players are granted plenty of freedom in the path they take to the game's conclusion, however. Like those platformers of the 90s, Prince of Persia is characterized by a type of non-linear, hub- and sub-world design, wherein the players, rather than the designers, determine the order in which they visit and complete the game's many areas. Because there are no boundaries between these places, it is possible to easily jump (run, swing, climb) from one to the next, all the while observing magnificent watercolor vistas that illustrate the immense scope of the land.
Each of the fertile grounds is protected by a single enemy. It may seem odd that players fight these foes prior to exploring the area they guard, but in a way, the setup makes far more sense than the more common boss-at-the-end style that most games employ. Instead of basically having their way with an area before seeing any real opposition, Prince of Persia makes players earn the right to explore each one. The Prince and Elika battle each of the guardians in rhythmic combo- and counter-based two-on-one combat that combines real-time control with quick time events (QTE). These sequences are easily the most intense and adrenaline-pumping portions of the game, but because there are only so many possible combinations of sword, gauntlet, and Elika attacks available, these fights can turn into cases of deja vu as players advance further into the game.
As a work of art, Prince of Persia is a nearly unmitigated success. The unique graphical style is crisp, colorful, and beautiful, especially as applied to the epic landscapes and structural design within the game world. The score is a bit more subtle and less impressive, but the compositions definitely contribute to each area's overall mood and serve to better the gameplay experience.
Prince of Persia may not be the absolute pinnacle in princely acrobatic gaming, but it is certainly an enjoyable game. Marred by some inconsistent pacing and less-than-engaging action, it still manages to deliver a wondrous and open world through which players fight and fly to the game's exciting conclusion.
Nov 29, 2008
The Count | My Holiday Wishlist '08
5. Left 4 Dead
I’ve played Left 4 Dead. I loved Left 4 Dead. I want to play more Left 4 Dead.
I have some friends. They have Left 4 Dead. We like to kill zombies. We can do this together.
4. Time to play Fallout 3
Like Sinan said in his Silly Season editorial, it would be a crime to give a game as special as Fallout 3 anything less than my undivided attention. I’ve had this thing installed on my PC for about a month, and have yet to play past my in-game childhood. I have so many other games to play and obligations to satisfy, so I just keep pushing this beautiful blend of the Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises back to an imaginary time when I will be free to roam the post-apocalyptic world, uninterrupted. Maybe I should have wished for a time machine...
3. Metal Gear Solid 4 on 360
I love Metal Gear Solid. The truth of that statement alone would have been enough for me to grab a PS3 earlier this year, but rumors of an eventual Xbox 360 port kept me from dropping those Benjamins. Now, after all of the critical acclaim, my love and desire burns even stronger. I MUST play MGS4 soon, and a 360 port would be a big help in realizing that dream.
2. LittleBigPlanet & a PS3 to play it on
Yes, I know this sort of negates my last wish, but I’m not putting all of my eggs in one basket. LittleBigPlanet earned my vote for Best of E3, but alas, I haven’t played the game since then. Somehow, buying a new console for just a couple of exclusive titles seems ill-advised in today’s economic landscape, so I wait. Regardless, LittlBigPlanet is the game that I have drooled over the most this year, and I am dying to experience what it has to offer. From the excellent platforming gameplay to the robust community features (so long as Sony doesn’t absolutely cripple that part), this game has WIN written all over it.
1. Prince of Persia
I am a huge fan of the Sands of Time trilogy, but somehow the newest game flew under my radar for quite a while. Maybe it was just that I knew the game was coming, had it on my "get these games" list, and needed to pay no more attention than that; it was a done deal. Now, though, as we draw ever closer to the game’s release, I become more and more excited by the day. What I have seen of the game thus far conjures up fantstical images of a game where Sands of Time meets Shadow of the Colossus meets the Assassin’s Creed engine meets incredible artwork...and more. Why wouldn’t this be my #1?
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