Review
Release Date: 04.03.2007
Platform:
PSPDeveloper:
PipeworksPublisher:
Ubisoft EntertainmentReviewed by
Ashton Liu on 11.28.2008
While critical consensus may vary, the newly remade
Prince of Persia trilogy was generally accepted as a success. The modern re-imagining of an age old classic has garnered a large following and great support over the years; it stands to reason, then, that it would produce what many other successful franchises have: ports. And while the latest PSP port series,
Prince of Persia: Rival Swords, takes the final game in the trilogy on the road, the transition has been anything but smooth. In fact, the journey from home consoles to a portable system has actually worked against the stalwart Prince's favor.
The prince has come home to his kingdom and found that - surprise - it has fallen victim to an evil wizard. Within the first hour of the game, his gal pal Kaileena gets murdered, the evil wizard achieves ultimate power, and the prince's body becomes infected with the sands of time, bringing out the darker half of his personality with a fierce vengeance. The prince has definitely seen better days, but he sets out to right what has been wronged anyway while still dealing with the recent bug he caught.
The graphics in the game take a definite step down from the original game, which is thoroughly unsurprising. It becomes incredibly evident when objects in the game are seen close up; many character models end up looking blocky and lack detail. The cutscenes too have been compressed something terrible, and the quality is rather poor. The game holds up better in the sound department however; the voice acting is clear, the music is well done, and the varying sound effects present throughout the game have been seamlessly transitioned into the portable version.
The gameplay in
Rival Swords is rather simple. As the prince, the game focuses more on stealth, and it's much easier for the prince to defeat enemies by sneaking up on them and killing them silently. Although the prince has a large pool of unique moves and attacks, it's much more to the player's advantage to kill enemies through stealth rather than in head-on confrontations, as the prince can't last long in a direct confrontation against too many enemies. The prince can also pick up or steal weapons from enemies both dead and alive to increase his battle abilities, as well as fling enemies into each other and perform all sorts of other stylish moves. There is quite a bit of variety in how players can take on enemies in this game. The platforming sections are where the game's challenge really is, though - each platforming section is a sort of puzzle that the player must solve through the use of the prince's various acrobat-like moves. These segments are rather numerous, so it's a good thing that each one is fun to figure out and conquer.
When the prince becomes infected by the sands of time and becomes his darker persona, the gameplay takes on a more action-based playstyle. The dark prince's life is constantly dwindling due to the corrosive nature of the sands of time, so players will need to hurry through his segments before he dies. While controlling the dark prince, the player has access to an extra weapon in the form of a whip that can be used to lash enemies in different combos depending on the button sequences pressed. Also, the enemies in the dark prince's scenario drop items that regenerate the prince's life, so that the time limit put on the life bar isn't so daunting. Both forms of the prince have access to the special ability of the sands of time - namely, to turn time backwards and prevent his own death. This ability is mostly only useful for the prince's normal form, however, as when his dark form dies, it's usually due to running out of life, and turning back time will only cause the same death to happen over again.
All of this is separated into bite-sized chunks that are perfect for on-the-go gaming, and in theory it should've made for a solid game - but then you actually start playing the game, and find out that not only are the load times atrociously long, but the framerate is horrifying to behold. Too many times I've seen the framerate of the game drop into the single digit zone because I dared to have two enemies on screen at the same time. Sometimes even without much happening on the screen, the framerate goes to hell, and I have no idea what is happening. In a game that relies on timed button presses and reflex to play, this is an absolutely horrible downside, as I've died countless times because the framerate is way too erratic. This renders what is, at the base level, a good game, incredibly unplayable - battles become arduous because you can't figure out where enemies are, platforming segments turn into trials of patience as you fall to your doom because the framerate caught you off guard, and bosses become an exercise in frustration as the choppiness leads to your inevitable demise. Even the large helping of extra content can't help the game overcome its unplayability.
It's a shame that
Rival Swords turned out like this, because it does almost everything right - great gameplay in healthy doses, a bountiful supply of extras, additional exclusive gameplay, the list goes on. But none of that really matters when the core of the game is destroyed due to the poor optimization. If you really want to play
Prince of Persia, stick to the home consoles; the portable version just doesn't cut it.
