This wouldn’t be too tricky if it wasn’t for the way the city has crumbled (with platforms often being held up by narrow pillars and broken away from each other) and the evil corrupted beings that now live there. These are used to unlock new magical powers which are needed to reach certain parts of the game world. Elika is able to use her own magical energy to restore life to the area, ridding the corruption and releasing 45 light seeds into the surrounding area. Inside each of these 20 zones is a patch of fertile ground on which a magical tree sits.

After a fight inside an ancient shrine, corruption (a kind of dark matter) is spread throughout the land, and the once beautiful kingdom is thrust into darkness.īeing the good guy he is, the Prince takes it upon himself to go with Elika on her quest to rid the world of this corruption, revitalising one area at a time. All isn’t quite as it seems, with Elika’s father being the King and some kind of deal being made between himself and Ahriman, the evil dark lord. Elika, clearly a girl from the rich side of town, appears to be running from her father, and she’s important enough to have guards trying to stop her escape. The Prince is a cocky guy, no doubt aware of his rippling muscles and rugged good looks, so when an attractive young lady appears in the middle of the desert it’s no surprise that he takes an interest. Prince of Persia does away with one of the most fundamental game design rules and is all the better for it. It might sound like a gimmick destined to make for an entirely forgettable, unrewarding experience, but it’s not.

Jump off a cliff, get stabbed by a dark demon or fall into a pool of dark corruption all you like, because you’ll get saved and returned to safety. Despite Prince of Persia’s ancient setting, there’s something very modern about the game design that could well be used as a template for many games to come.

Prince of persia ps3