Review: Prince of Persia

OKAY, sorry this one is late, and I know a lot of people have been poking me to do this review, so here it goes.

Prince of Persia is definetly a breathe of fresh air. Aside from the fact that we have not got a Prince of Persia game in a while, this one has kept us waiting. Is it worth the wait though, that is the question. I can say that I really do not know. Seriously, this game is good, but there are a lot of small flaws in it that keep making me complain for some reason. Like the fact that the game is too short and that there is no difficulty curve because they do not force you to do the levels in succession. Elika does every little thing for you because she is always saving you and killing every enemy for you. The combat is too easy and forgiving. The thing is, all of these things are small things. Also, they all amount to the same general idea that the game is just too easy and the combat is boring.

The platforming, art design, graphics, and cutscenes are all pretty much polished. The game definetly feels nice and controls well. It is cool to see a nice platformer on the 360/PS3 (Although I would much rather recommend LittleBigPlanet as your platformer). Even though that is cool, I am not going to give this game a mercy review.

All in all, it is a good game, it is fun, but the challenge is really sucked out of it. The combat needs work, but it has its good sides. Elika is a good element to the storyline, but not to the gameplay, and the gameplay matters more.

Overall: 8.3/10

Entry 5 "Year Awards"

Best Fighting Game:
Super Smash Bros Brawl

Best Rhythm Game:
Patapon

Best Puzzle Game:
World of Goo

Best Action Adventure Game:
Grand Theft Auto IV

Best Platformer:
Braid

Best RPG:
Fallout 3

Best Strategy Game:
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift

Best Driving Game:
Burnout Paradise

Best Shooter:
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Best Graphics:
LittleBigPlanet

Best Soundtrack:
Super Smash Bros Brawl

Most Intelligent Dialouge:
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Most Suprisingly Good Game:
Call of Duty: World at War

Best Original IP:
LittleBigPlanet

Most Artistic/Creative Game:
De Blob

Best Multiplayer Game:
Super Smash Bros Brawl

Most Innovative Game:
World of Goo

Best Story:
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Funniest Game:
No More Heroes

Best Customization Game:
LittleBigPlanet

Best Boss Fight:
Scorge (Gears of War 2)

Best Level Design:
World of Goo

Best Co-operative Game:
Left 4 Dead

Best Voice Acting:
Grand Theft Auto IV

Most Interesting Plot:
The World Ends with You

Best Game Premise:
Dead Space

Developer of the Year:
2Dboy

Best PS3 Game: 
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Best Wii Game: 
World of Goo

Best Xbox360:
Fallout 3

Best DS game:
The World Ends with You

Best PSP Game:
Patapon

Best PC Game:
Sins of a Solar Empire

Best Console Game:
Metal Gear Sold 4: Guns of the Patriots

Best Handheld Game:
The World Ends with You

GAME OF THE YEAR:
Metal Gear Sold 4: Guns of the Patriots

Entry 4 "World of Who?"

Some people might have seen that IGN chose a game called World of Goo as the Game of the Year for Wii. It beat Super Smash Brothers Brawl. Is that a good thing or a bad thing, and who is to say. I got World of Goo the day it came out, but sadly it was not that popular. It was made by an Indie developer called 2Dboy. If you have seen this game, you would never believe me when I say THIS GAME WAS MADE BY TWO PEOPLE.

When I reviewed SSBB a while back on IGN, I gave it a 9.4/10, because it was a great game. The reason why I gave World of Goo 9.6/10 as a review is because this game sells for only $15.00 and it features a very unique and polished physics engine. Granted Brawl is a better game, World of Goo gives you more for your money.

If you have not got this game, GET IT. It is an amazing puzzle game with so many different situations of puzzles as well as a charming storyline (4 player co-op is available). Even after the game, there is a mode where, if you exceptionally completed each level with extra goo, you build a tower with the excess goo left around to get to an extra ending. Trust me you will love this game. Hopefully we will get more from 2Dboy in the future.

Oh yeah, you can spell good without goo!

Entry 3 "Why so Praised"

I look at games for what they are, and there are some games that make SO MUCH MONEY that really should not. Of course I am going to use Madden as my example. You see children (quoting Three Dog if you did not catch that) our society loves to buy these games, but it begs the question... WHY? Why buy a recycled series that almost does nothing for you. If you like these games that is great, but do not keep buying them one year after the other. What I mean is, if you bought '08, it is so similar to '09 that you do not need to buy '09. Why not wait for '010, because hoprefully by then they have made enough changes to spend $59.99 on the product.

This is obvious for most behemoth sport realistic games (i.e. NHL, NCAA, NBA, NFL, and so on). The reason why I chose Madden is because it makes SO MUCH MONEY. They are practically stealing candy from a baby! Now be advised, I am not telling you what to buy, I am just setting out the circumstances, and if I were a frequent buyer of realistic sport behemoth games, I would want more for my money.

You can spend your money on it if you really want to, because odds are if you bought '01 you bought all the following. I am trying to say that you should demand more for your money, especially if you like the series.

Entry 2 "Is Creative Still Cool?"

In came through my mind one day that we have what is an exception in gaming. It seems that Nintendo's IP games are merely an exception these days, because all other games and game developers seem to have switched over to the "Accepted" FPS boat. I acknowledge that these games are fun, but when did every game have to switch over to the serious "badass" (stressing the quotes there) genre of men in their primes gunning people down in a first person view?

When I used to go to a game store, it would be hard to choose which game to pick because they were all so unique in their own ways. Now it is a question of which shooter should I get on my Xbox360. I must point out the obvious exceptions: Prince of Persia, Bioshock, Fallout 3, Viva Pinata, and Banjo and Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts (I HATE THIS GAME). What a short list, and even Bioshock and Fallout 3 are FPS games, but they deserve regognition for being unique shooters. My arguement is that there are to many of them that do not stand out at all.

I think the biggest example of this is Call of Duty 4 and Call of Duty: World at War. Seriously, these games are good, but they do not do anything special. They make a "badass" (again stress the quotes) FPS with "DUDE MIND BLOWING" cutscenes all about some people fighting a war. There is no main character to this series, only a guy in his prime gunning down people in a first person mode. There is nothing special put into this game, just a short campaign, a good online system, and some guns. Our gaming society accepts this game, and that would be cool, as long as it was not the only thing accepted. This is getting annoying when I walk down an isle and I am constantly reminded that half the selection is Gun games.

Entry 1 "The Hardcore Crisis"

Before you say anything, I am aware of the line up for 2009 and I am aware of Pikmin 3, The Conduit, Madworld, Wii Motion +, and so forth. This article is merely for 2008 alone.

This year was a very dry year for Nintendo's Wii system. While the other systems had many good games released, Nintendo only had a select few (De Blob, Super Smash Brothers Brawl, World of Goo, the Strongbad series, et al.). The biggest complaint of this year was that Nintendo neglected to care about their hardcore fan base. Now instantly we are all reminded that Nintendo is a company that wants to make money, and although Wii Music is not the game for me, it is bringing in profit. What I am getting at is Animal Crossing: City Folk. First of all, this game was the big "WHAT IF THEY DID THIS" game. So many possibilities and yet none were executed. Supposedly Nintendo thinks that was our "hardcore" game that Nintendo delivered. It is evidence in the commercial Nintendo made for Animal Crossing: City Folk that the targeted audience was casuals. This would be all good and swell if this was not the "hardcore" game, or at least "hardcore" according to Nintendo, at Nintendo's E3 conference.

Next I will hit Wii Music right where it deserves it. Again, some people may enjoy this game, and it is just not my type of game. That is all good and fine until Nintendo shows this as their main attraction for E3. That is why I have a problem with it. If people want to blow $49.99 on a button mashing and waggle feast game with no real point or goal in mind, be my guest.

All I am saying is that Nintendo can appeal to casuals as much as they want to keep their wallet's heavy, just be sure you do not forget about the people who really like you and your creativity. After all, the hardcore Nintendo fan base is what used to ride the Nintendo train. After all, back in NES - Gamecube times, do you remember Nintendo releasing any games similar to Wii Fit, Wii Play, Wii Sports, Wii Music, Brain Age, and ect? It seems that Nintendo has lost the sense of gaming is a creative way to have fun, but rather is now in the mindset that gaming is a good way to make bank.

Intro

By now, you have probably noticed the name "demontium" somewhere else online (i.e. YouTube, Xbox Live, EA Wi-Fi, Gamefaqs, Gamespot, or something else) so an introduction is not needed. I will do one anyways. For obvious reasons, I am not going to share any personal information. I was born in 1992. I am 16 and have been a gamer since 1995. Since then I have been playing many games and I still keep and collect all my systems and games. My favorite Genres are RPG, Action, and Adventure. My library contains over 450 games and I am still going strong! I own a NES, Super Nintendo, Gameboy, Nintendo 64, GBA, Sega Genisis, Sega Dreamcast, Nintenso Gamecube, Nintenso DS (and lite), Xbox, Xbox360, and a Wii. I will continue developers and companies continue.