Game of the Day: Prince of Persia

Today, after several weeks of waiting I finally got my GAME Exclusive Steelbook Edition of Prince of Persia for the Xbox360 (unfortunately the PS3 version of the Steelbook were out of stock). Of course I traded in my regular version of the game that I had for the PS3 shortly after ordering this Limited Edition which has resulted in minimal cash loss, it also helped ordering from UK which made it alot cheaper than if I had bought it here in Sweden. Holding this limited edition in my hands now I must say it was worth it. The whole package is black and super-stylish, at least when your remove the protective plastic around it with the out of place ugly Xbox360 green banner on it. The art is blueish and changes with the light, the backside has a smaller art with no stupid info ruining the godly black slickness. Surprisingly there are no extras with this Limited Edition but I don't really mind since I only bought it because I love the steel case and how stylish it looks. My only bonus being that now I can whore achievements from the 360 version of the game as well (SHUT UP, MIKE!!!).

Of course being a huge fanboy of this game I popped it into my Xbox first chance I got to unwind today and I am once again in love with it. The first thing that jumps at you is the amazing and colorful art style with some of the best animations in a game to date. Shortly after I am once again in love with the mostly desolate world, The Prince and my lovely companion Elika who's always there with snappy remarks. The whole game basically oozes charm and magic which completely grips me despite some shortcomings in the gameplay. It's a game that is very simple and doesn't exactly have a complex story but for me these are actually huge pros because I love the minimalism and the never frustrating platforming. It really makes the game more about the experience of admiring the view rather than running right through it and it's absolutely lovely that you have a constant companion throughout the game in Elika because it really makes the whole game about the relationship of these two characters. Sure, there are many clichés but they don't detract from the experience at all in my opinion and only serve to make the game feel like it's going back to basics of storytelling.

When I played this game for the first time about a year ago I wasn't really aware of Team Ico's games but I do remember this game being called a rip-off of their games on the internet. Now after I've played Shadow of the Colossus and know more about Ico I can say that there is some truth to those claims because it really feels like Ubisoft have gone out of their way to create an artistic and minimalistic game such as the two Team Ico games. They of course haven't succeed as well because they clearly didn't take the idea to the fullest, but I personally welcome the effort because it makes this game the closest thing this generation to a Team Ico game with gameplay that clearly has more in common with Ico and a story that reminds me of Shadow of the Colossus. I'm sure that will change once The Last Guardian rolls out next year but for now I am utterly happy climbing around in a beautiful artistic pastel world with my lovely companions The Prince and Elika saving the world together. Sadly I have now written myself into playing the game some more. Bai!