06. Prince Of Persia

**CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS AND BITTERNESS**
(PS3/Xbox360/PC/Mac, Ubisoft, 2008)
Has a videogame ever broken your heart?

Prince Of Persia was the 2008 incarnation of the long running series of fine games originally designed by Jordan Mechnar. The 2008 title saw a re-launch of the series with a new Prince and a new approach to the series art, music and storyline. A handsome, down-on-his-luck rogue, the Prince stumbles upon a beautiful young Princess named Elika, who is attempting to seal away an evil power that is slowly destroying her land, turning all the lush scenery into a murky blackness, known as "The Corrupted"
Our reluctant hero decides to help her and together the acrobatic duo must make their way through the broken down kingdom, learning from each other about life whilst slowly restoring the land to its former finery using the powers of Elika's god "Ormazd" Eventually hoping to seal the evil "Ahriman" and his souless creatures away in a temple in the centre of Elika's kingdom.
The player controls the Prince as he and Elika make their way through the land, performing all sorts of high flying maneuvers and relying on speed, timing and teamwork to get through their quest. The game is short and overly easy, but the pleasure comes more from the flow of traversing the dizzying landscape and the enjoyment of the story rather than the challenge of the game itself.

PoP's new art style is wonderful, reminiscent of fine watercolour paintings and is a welcome change from the grimy, industrial look of the previous games (Which are good games in their own right) The Prince is a good hearted and likeable hero and Elika a beautiful and strong-willed girl with just the right amount of vulnerability to make her completely captivating. I found much enjoyment and satisfaction in seeing these two heroes bust themselves hard to right the wrongs and save the kingdom...

Until the end... Boy, I gotta cram a lot of words here.
At the conclusion of the game, Elika sacrifices herself to imprison Ahriman. The Prince, going against all he has learnt on his journey, then re-releases the evil to bring her back to life. The corruption takes over the whole land and Elika is distraught at the Prince's selfish actions. The game ends with Elika's kingdom crumbling to the ground whilst the heroes blindly walk off into the desert.
Now, a game doesn't have to have a happy ending, nor do I mind a story having tragic elements, BUT, what PoP does is a cardinal sin in gaming, It says to the player "EVERYTHING you have done since you picked up the controller wasn't worth a shit"
By allowing evil to triumph and Elika's kingdom to collapse, all prior events are null and void. No matter how well you play, no matter how the chemistry builds between our heroes and no matter how much you achieve. Evil triumphs and the kingdom is destroyed.
Fuck your effort kid, here's an "edgy" ending.
The character development is betrayed, the Prince's selfish act proving that the adventure taught him nothing, Elika and her father sacrificing their lives was for nothing, the player's time and effort was for nothing. Evil won.

The general rumor is that this was to be the first chapter in a new series, fair enough, but Ubisoft have now abandoned this series, choosing to return to its "Sand of Time" storyline to fit in with the upcoming Disney movies. As a final face-stomp to the fans, Ubisoft banged out a forty minute "Epilogue" level. Better than nothing, right? Wrong.
The "Epilogue" still doesn't finish the story, with Elika admitting defeat and flying off, leaving the Prince to battle an approaching demi-god on his lonesome.
Thanks for that Ubisoft, now I only think you're fucking cunts.

Prince of Persia is a beautiful game, it isn't perfect by any means, it is very short and repetitive, but like Mirror's Edge, it provides the player with an almost zen-like, parkour-esque experience. PoP has brilliant, well voiced protagonists, an absolutely gorgeous visual style and a determined "Against all odds" storyline that pushed me to complete the game and see our heroes receive the kingdom they deserved.
I will AGAIN re-iterate, so there is no confusion, my problem isnt that the game had an unhappy ending, it is that the ending meant the player shouldnt have bothered trying. PoP is a game that should you 100% complete it, the conclusion essentially takes you back to 0%
I can think of about ten better ways to finish the story, both happy and sad, all of them better than the one Ubisoft gave us. But hey, I'm just some internet hack, right?

Whether they intended to complete this story over a trilogy or whatever remains to be seen. The deal of cosying up to Uncle Walt is one I don't see Ubisoft driftng from anytime soon,
This could well be the end of the road for the enthralling art style and wonderful characters PoP's 2008 entry gave us, all cut short well before their time. All we are left with is betrayed protagonists, an unfinished story and players cheated out of their hard work. Now I know how Shenmue fans feel.

I've broken my own rules, I've written beyond the length I promised myself for each entry and I've been reduced to spitting venom at games that I love.
Passion for gaming, movies, music or anything is no different from any other type of love:
When it's good, there's nothing better.
When it's bad, it's heartbreaking.