Prince of Persia has only been out since December 5th and it’s already been vastly reduced in price. The state of the economy has led many retail outlets to drastically lower the prices of products that usually wouldn’t be so cheap. Furthermore, the January sales will now contribute to a further reduction in prices. All these sales mean that it’s now the time to pick up that relatively new game that you’ve been wanting but couldn’t afford and, while you’re at it, why not make the new Prince of Persia game one of those purchases?

Once again you take on the role of the Prince (although, sadly, he has now been Americanised) who comes across a girl named Elika whilst looking for his donkey. Elika’s father than releases the God Ahriman, and so begins the journey of the Prince and Elika to try and imprison Ahriman again. You’ll do this by travelling around beautiful cell-shaded environments in order to heal fertile grounds that have become corrupted following Ahriman’s escape. This means that the dark tendrils of corruption will always be near, snapping at your heals as you carry out death defying leaps.

Elika herself plays a key part in the gameplay, as it’s technically impossible to die. While the Prince is able to perform a variety of acrobatic moves (as per usual) - such as climbing walls, wall running and jumping from wall to wall - he will need Elika to provide acrobatic support. For example, if there’s a platform that the player wants to reach but it is too far away to jump then Elika can provide a boost to help you leap further. If you still manage to fall then Elika will always jump down and save you, regardless of how far you fell or how impossible a rescue situation looks. While it does make the game easier it’s also a little disappointing that Ubisoft took away the ability to reverse time, something that I felt was a great feature. It’s not like they’ve replaced it with something more innovating either, but at least you’re going to have a less frustrating time with the game.

Prince of Persia is far less of a puzzle and more of a simple platformer than previous iterations, but it does have it’s moments. It makes you wonder if the future of games is always going to be about making them easier for the casual crowd, and it makes it even more frustrating for fans of an already well established series. Still, this doesn’t make it a bad game at all, it just means that you’re probably not going to get as many hours of it as you might have with one of the other instalments in the series. When you can get it for less than £20 though - only a few weeks after release - then you’ve got a decent enough game that is fun while it lasts, even if it’s not that terribly long (which is a bit like Fable II).

This is part of the Bargain Bin series, which is dedicated to bringing you excellent games for mere peanuts. Got a bargain you know of? Hit me an email!