Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, What were they raving about, again? Options

[Tanegar]

I just picked up Sands of Time off Steam for $2.49. I'm not far into it, but I have to say I'm not that impressed. The camera is the enemy, which is a Very Bad Thing™ for a platformer, especially one that incorporates melee combat. Fixed camera angles are bad enough, but when transitions between cameras cause the controls to reverse themselves, you have a recipe for multiple accidental suicides. I can already see what one of this game's major frustrations will be. I realize Sands of Time predates Batman: Arkham Asylum, but I can't help judging it against AA's vastly superior controls. Arkham Asylum is a shining example of the right way to port a console game to the PC. Sands of Time, if the beginning is any indication, really isn't.

[Karoline]

I could be wrong, but isn't the sands of time the one that was originally for the PS2 like over a decade ago? It's a bit unfair to compare a game that is that old to one that is so new. I'm sure at the time it was amazing graphics and gameplay, and I do specifically recall there being complaints with the camera, but it is one of those 'makes an otherwise amazing game simply great' sort of things.

Edit: Yeah, released in late 2003, so over 7 years old, while AA was released late 2009, so slightly over 1 year old. It's hard to fairly compare games 6 years apart. And like I said, it had poor camera control which caused some gripping, but was otherwise (from what I'm seeing) an amazing game.

[Tanegar]

Respawning enemies and teleporting enemies make me want to skullfuck the developers in the eye sockets. Apparently, in the Prince of Persia universe, there is no such thing as a tactical retreat, because the monsters just teleport right in front of you. Nevermind the fact that your health is down to a sliver and there's a pool of health-restoring water at one end of the room, no, YOU MUST KEEP FIGHTING. RETREAT IS FOR COWARDS. HEALING IS FOR WEAKLINGS. That's not an artifact of the game's age, that's just plain old shitty design.

[Blade]

I had fun with it. If I recall correctly, it gets better after a while (then starts going downward but not for long).

I haven't been far in the sequel (Warrior Within), though. It's just boring, despite a more complex fighting mechanism.

[Tanegar]

Well, I'll never know if it gets better or not because I can't get past the first fucking boss fight. Let's see: earlier, vaulting over the heads of enemies was introduced as a vital combat technique. So, of course, in the first boss fight, they give me enemies who can't be vaulted over and who hurt me when I try, combined with lax controls such that I often find myself attempting to vault one of the un-vaultable foes when I meant to vault one of the vaultable ones. Also, the new enemies like to knock me down, and it is apparently MANDATORY that I lay there for several seconds no matter how much I mash the keyboard. It is very, very easy for two enemies to lock me down and beat me to death, and I can't do a damn thing except sit here and watch it happen. Shitty, shitty design. How the hell did this game get 89 on Metacritic?

[Critias]

How the hell did this game get 89 on Metacritic?

Maybe 89% of the people out there are just better at it than you are. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

[Kagetenshi]

Well, I'll never know if it gets better or not because I can't get past the first fucking boss fight. Let's see: earlier, vaulting over the heads of enemies was introduced as a vital combat technique. So, of course, in the first boss fight, they give me enemies who can't be vaulted over and who hurt me when I try, combined with lax controls such that I often find myself attempting to vault one of the un-vaultable foes when I meant to vault one of the vaultable ones. Also, the new enemies like to knock me down, and it is apparently MANDATORY that I lay there for several seconds no matter how much I mash the keyboard. It is very, very easy for two enemies to lock me down and beat me to death, and I can't do a damn thing except sit here and watch it happen. Shitty, shitty design. How the hell did this game get 89 on Metacritic?

Having played a game that bears only vague resemblance to what you describe, I'm going to go out on a limb and say "because the critics weren't playing the PC version".

~J

[Blade]

I don't remember having that kind of trouble, and I played the PC version too.

[Belvidere]

I've played each Price of PErsia game as they've been released and all in all they were great games, aside from the camera angles, that is the one complaint they've never responded to. But as for combat, its always been fluid and easy to work with. I'm going to have to say that any issue with combat comes from either PC lag OR you just aren't that good at it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

[Reg06]

I never had any problem with the xbox version, which I loved and beat. It wasn't easy, but certainly wasn't anywhere near Nintendo hard.