Prince of Persia: Rival Swords Review - Wii

6

Gameplay: 6
Graphics: 4
Audio: 7
Innovation: 4

Introduction

The rebirth of the Prince of Persia franchise with Sands of Time was a godsend to the increasingly stale platform genre. It told the story of a young unnamed Prince who, through naïve pride, unleashed a horrible curse upon the world by unleashing the Sands of Time. His subsequent quest for redemption brought him closer to the daughter of the Sultan betrayed, Farah, and they fell in love even as they fought back demons and attempted to rewind time itself to save their respective kingdoms.

Of course, in the final act all was revealed and the Prince, having rewound time, was the only one who remembered the love Farah and he had shared. Without the woman who had loved him, albeit briefly, and tormented by a demon known as the Dahaka sent to kill him by the Empress of Time for having altered time itself, he left in search of yet greater redemption.

Ultimately he succeeded in not only defeating the Dahaka but in wooing Kaileena, the Empress of Time herself, and together they returned to his home, the city of Babylon which is known in modern times as Baghdad. Unfortunately, things are as bad in old Babylon as they are in the new with war tearing through the city.

Unlike the previous two titles in the series, the Empress takes on the role of narrating this tale, while the Prince is reduced to a character study by the Empress's observations. The Prince himself is a changed man, his child like innocence in the first replaced by blood thirst for survival in the second. Now he is trapped somewhere between, leading to a particularly nasty case of Split Personality Disorder, and the resulting possession by the Sands of Time results in a monstrous alter-ego: The Sand Wraith.

Gameplay

In Price of Persia: Rival Swords, the Prince himself – so long immune to the Sands of Time – becomes infected through the course of his adventure, forcing him to not only deal with another personality but also a physical transformation. This sets up a play style that quickly switches between acrobatic platforming and aggressive combat, all served with an intricate narrative that really does justice to the medium's ability for story telling.

The writing is spectacular, definitely above and beyond the second titles teenage angst while falling barely short of the original's charm. As Kaileena narrates the Prince's journey through his home of Babylon, explaining the neurosis developed through his journey through time, the Prince becomes a tragic figure rather than a brave hero. The story is beautifully handled, with Kaileena's voiceover directing the tale and the Prince's two personalities, voiced amazingly by both actor's from their respective prequels, tells a story that really is, unfortunately, the game's strongest asset.

The element of rewinding and otherwise altering time continues with Rival Swords. The Prince once again has the Dagger of Time in hand, allowing him to rewind time when mistakes are made and (continued next page)