According to Eurogamer, Prince of Persia Classic will be released on June 13 on Xbox Live Arcade.  Previously announced by Ubisoft, the game "features the same intricate level design, exciting swordplay, puzzle solving, and storyline from the original."  Details regarding the pricing is unknown at this time.

Look below for 14 new images from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Wii. Arguably the "must-have" title for the console at launch, Link's latest adventure is said to capture a darker tone, much like Majora's Mask did on the Nintendo 64. ]]> Mon, 06 Nov 2006 08:55:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/prince_of_persia_joining_the_wii_party http://www.gamebump.com/go/prince_of_persia_joining_the_wii_party http://www.gamebump.com/go/prince_of_persia_joining_the_wii_party#
 "I can confirm that a game based on the popular Prince of Persia franchise is one of many titles Ubisoft has in development for Nintendo's Wii. At this time we can not provide an official date for the game or any additional information about it."

Now we can all start wondering how they'll integrate the running jump, and standing around on pressure plates with the Wii controller. Originally written by Philip Palmer]]> Mon, 07 Aug 2006 23:43:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/barbie_invades_activision_games_releasing_this_fall http://www.gamebump.com/go/barbie_invades_activision_games_releasing_this_fall http://www.gamebump.com/go/barbie_invades_activision_games_releasing_this_fall#

The first five games Activision will distribute under the terms of the agreement are games based on Mattel Entertainment's upcoming movies, including "The Barbie Diaries" for the PC and Nintendo Game Boy Advance, and "Barbie In The 12 Dancing Princesses" for the Sony PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, PC and Nintendo Game Boy Advance. Activision will also distribute titles based on some of Mattel's best-selling videogames from past years, including "Barbie Fashion Show," "Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus" and "Barbie Beauty Boutique."

Sands of Time reintroduced us to a new Prince of Persia - an innocent soul oblivious to the destiny that was about to unfold before him. Warrior Within continued the story, but the Prince was a changed man - bitter and angry not only at himself for unleashing such a horror, but at the heavens for causing him so much anguish. The last game in the Prince of Persia sands trilogy, The Two Thrones, has arrived, a year after the cliffhanger ending Ubisoft left us in Warrior Within. Finally having come to grips with himself, he is once again a changed man, but one for the better after going through the trials and tribulations of the first two games. He sails to his home of Babylon along with Kaileena, the Empress of Time. But, when he arrives, he finds it not the peaceful city he remembered, but a city ravaged by war and strife.

Just as the Prince has learned from his mistakes and become a better man, Ubisoft has learned from its mistakes and experiences with the first two games to create a third game that will be a treat to fans who have followed the trilogy. Sands of Time was lauded for its wonderful environmental puzzles, some of which required the use of sand powers, while it was criticized for its bland and repetitive combat. Warrior Within was praised for its new deep combat system, but was hated for its new bitter characterization of the Prince and too much focus on the combat. Two Thrones takes the best from both games and creates a very well-rounded game that balances the exploration and the combat all while adding a few new tricks.

Those unfamiliar with the trilogy should know that exploration and figuring out how to get from point A to point B is only half the fun. I personally found these parts more satisfying than the combat, though that’s not to say that the combat is bad. The Prince is a very acrobatic character – able to run along walls, up walls, swing on bars like a gymnast, wall jump, as well as plant himself in small spaces to shimmy up or down. There are times where you’ll spend quite a bit of time to scan your surroundings to figure out where to go next.

Making your way through the stages will feel like old hat to veterans, though there are a few new wrinkles, so you may want to keep the tutorial on the first time you play through. The first are wall-mounted dagger plates. These relatively easy to see squares are places where you can dig you dagger into the wall and hang there. Once you’re hanging from one, you can either jump up to another one or wall run to a nearby ledge – it all depends on the situation. Seeking out dagger plates is actually a pretty smart thing to do because if you see one, you’ll know you need to use it somehow to get pass the area. The other minor change is that now the Prince can balance on top of the rods that he formerly could only swing on. So, no more swinging from one bar to another directly above you; all you have to do is treat it like a set of normal ledges.

Combat remains relatively unchanged. You still have a dagger as a primary weapon. Secondary weapons can be picked up from slain enemies, but they still have a limited shelf life as they can only take so much abuse before breaking. You can also throw the secondary weapon and it’s still an effective tactic on certain foes. And for those of you who have played Warrior Within, you’ll be happy to know that the same combos from there work here as well.

One of the largest changes to the fighting system is the addition of speed kills. Speed kills are really just stealth kills, but with some add twists. To initiate one, when you sneak up on a guard, the edges of the screen with blur and you’ll hear a heartbeat. Once you see/hear that, hit the Y button to start the speed kill. From here, the Prince goes into an automated animation and it’s up to you to hit X whenever the knife flares a bright blue. Speed kills start out rather simple, but later in the game, the time window to press X shortens greatly so you better practice while the practicing is good. You’ll also want to be very good at speed kills because the innovative boss battles will require the use of this technique. Some may not like it, but it’s there and you’re going to have to deal with it. Of course, if you mess up a part of the speed kill, you could just rewind time with your sand powers.

The other biggest change in combat, however, is also a major plot line – the mysterious appearance of the Dark Prince. Fans first saw him in *spoilers* the ending of Warrior Within, proclaiming that “what is yours is mine” *end spoilers*. As the Dark Prince, you can’t pick up any secondary weapons, but when your permanent secondary weapon is the lethal daggertail, you won’t want anything else. With the daggertail, the Dark Prince can hit enemies from afar and in an area, and also use it for speed kills. Performing one of those is a bit easier with the Dark Prince because all you need to do is mash the Y button. The daggertail, however, isn’t just used for fighting. You’ll also need to use it when exploring to latch onto jutting rods to help him cross large chasms, or to grab onto a wall-mounted light to extend his wall run. You’ll also need to be quick about exploring as the Dark Prince because his health is constantly draining. The only way to replenish it is to kill enemies or find sand in boxes and vases that litter the stages.

The sand powers return once again, but this wouldn’t be part of the PoP sand trilogy if he didn’t have them. I already mentioned the recall rewind ability earlier. The other’s include eye of the storm which slows down enemies while you stay at normal speed (i.e. bullet time or “matrix”); winds of sand, which unleashes a radial force of sand; and sand storm, which is an upgraded winds of sand that can now instantly destroy enemies. Each of these requires the use of sand tanks. You can acquire more sand tanks by sealing sand gates. These gates are guarded by sand gate captains who can call for reinforcements, so it’s in your best interests to eliminate him first before he can shout for backup. If he does, be prepared to face off against at least four foes at once.

Graphically, Two Thrones doesn’t look too different from Warrior Within, but that isn’t a bad thing since Warrior Within look pretty damn good in the first place. The Prince is modeled well, especially with the glowing left arm and the daggertail embedded in it. The new look they gave Kaileena threw me off a little bit considering that she looks very different from her Warrior Within counterpart. Farah also looks very different from her Sands of Time version, but rightfully so because this is in a way a “different” Farah than the one he met in that game.

On the audio side of things, the music, thankfully now fits. Instead of the choppy “silence when not fighting to the blaring hard rock music when fighting and back”, what we have here is a set of beautifully orchestrated pieces that flow relatively well between exploration and fight sequences. I’m glad Ubisoft was able to remedy that. The voices, though, stand out. Each character’s voice fits not only the look, but also the personality. The parts were very well played, but the award for best voice actor has to go to the Prince. With the Dark Prince residing within him, the Prince is constantly talking to himself. And with them having different philosophies (the Prince wants to be noble and help out those in danger while the Dark Prince is selfish and wishes to dominate the weak), there are plenty of entertaining and sometimes downright hilarious conversations. One of the more memorable lines comes during the first boss fight. If the boss happens to grab you (and the boss is mighty large I might add), the Dark Prince will chime in with “Aww I think he wants a kiss”. There are more memorable moments as you continue to progress throughout the story.

And that brings us to the last point. The story has always been one the series’ strong points and Two Thrones continues that. The ending does an excellent job of wrapping up the series and will leave fans satisfied knowing that it has a definitive end.

The only outstanding problems I had with Two Thrones were the camera, the linearity and the odd spacing of save points.

The camera isn’t as big a problem as it can be in some games, but it can hinder you in a fight, but more importantly is the fact that you may not be able to see a certain rod or dagger plate that you need to get to in trying to progress. If you can’t find or spot it, then you’re stuck unless you’re willing to go with the trial-and-error route. I found myself having to do that in certain spots, but for the most part, the camera does a fine job.

When compared to Sand of Time and Warrior Within, Two Thrones plays very much like a straight line. In fact, when two paths are presented to you, you can bet that at the end of one of them is a fountain that tells you that you’re heading down the correct path and the other is a fountain that will give you a life upgrade.

Finally, the spacing of the water fountain/save points strikes me as a bit odd. There are times when you can go forever without seeing one and times when you’ll come across two after a few simple jumps. I just don’t get it.

Two Thrones takes the best of what Sands of Time and Warrior Within had to offer – great environmental puzzles and exploration and a deep combat system – and finds a way to balance all the elements to create one fine game. It’s a worthy addition to the Sands trilogy and does an awesome job of wrapping up the story. It’s a nice way for the Prince to bow out on this generation of consoles and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for not only him and the Prince of Persia series, but also for the rest of us.  

The great gameplay from Sands of Time and Warrior Within return with better balance and polish.

Little improvement over Warrior Within, but that game looked great in the first place.

Much better soundtrack than Warrior Within; superb voice acting, especially Prince/Dark Prince

Exploration, which is about 70% of the game, is awesome and combat ain�t too shabby either.

Multiple difficulties as well as art and video goodies that open up by accruing sand credits.

]]> Fri, 06 Jan 2006 14:22:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_the_legend_of_zelda_twilight_princess_ngc1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_the_legend_of_zelda_twilight_princess_ngc1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_the_legend_of_zelda_twilight_princess_ngc1# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Aaron Thomas.

All you need to know about the buzz surrounding The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, is that the line to play it is nearly four hours long. Fortunately, our tour with Nintendo started with Zelda, and I was able to play all four parts of the demo, logging almost an hour with one of the most anticipated games of the show. Since the demo was broken down into four separate parts, I’ll talk about each portion on its own.

Toanu Village

The game opens with the camera panning around a farm, and centers on Link, who is getting off of work early. Your boss tells you to call your horse, Epona, by blowing into a piece of grass. Of course, the tune is Princess Zelda’s familiar theme from Ocarina of Time. As you finish playing, Epona comes barreling out of the barn, and you hop on to wrangle some animals into the barn. This teaches you the basic mechanics of riding Epona, and is quite fun. You basically circle around a few of the twenty goat-like animals, and hit the A button to “whoop” and send them scampering towards the barn. After you finish, your boss shows you how to clear jumps with Epona, which is as simple as pressing A to get some speed, and letting the computer do the rest. A girl named Ilia, whose father is the mayor yells at you for injuring Epona by performing jumps, and you are scolded for being late to a meeting for which you are representing the town.

It was after making a few jumps that everyone’s favorite pastime, torturing chickens, from the SNES Zelda, came into play. You can grab a chicken, lift it over your head and then run and jump off a ledge to glide down to the ground. Of course, you don’t have to use the chicken for something useful; you can just toss it around, but beware the wrath of angry chickens. This portion of the demo concludes when you help a pregnant woman retrieve her baby’s basket, which is floating down the river. I didn’t get to finish this last part, unfortunately.

Horse Battle

The Horse Battle takes place a few hours into the full version of the game, and opens with a scene of a young boy, that has been kidnapped and tied to a pole. The pole is attached to the horse, which is being ridden by a quite nasty looking villain. Of course, Link is there to save the day, and hops on Epona to rescue the boy. The boss calls for reinforcements, who surround Link, swing swords, and shoot flaming arrows to keep you from the fleeing Boss. You can knock them off fairly easily with your sword, but you also must use your limited “spur meter” to speed up and attack the boss at the same time.

This battle is quite tense, and while not terribly difficult, does require quite a bit of concentration. When I struck what I thought to be the final blow, I noticed how hard I had been gripping the controller, and eased up a bit. Little did I know, I was about to have a head to head confrontation, where both Link and the boss charged at each other while riding across a bridge. I rode straight for as long as I could, turning to the left at the last instant, and just landed a blow that knocked my foe off the bridge, no doubt to his death. The camera panned out, showing the silhouette of Link and Epona against the backdrop of a setting sun.

Forest Temple

The Forest Temple felt quite a bit like one of the temples in Ocarina of Time. It was here that I got the boomerang, mapped it to whatever button I wanted, and immediately took out some pesky spiders that were impeding my climbing. The basic battle mechanics are introduced here, and they are very, very similar to what was found in The Wind Waker, and Ocarina of Time. There is a new finishing move, which is performed by pressing the attack button when a foe is near death. The game actually prompts you to do this, but it doesn’t seem like the prompt will be there in the final game.

As you make it through the Forest Temple, one of the suspension bridges collapses, leaving you stranded. A chimp-like creature comes out, and you learn that you can help each other out. The chimp can hang from the ropes that cross the chasms and catch you as you leap, swinging you to the other side. You’ll have to let a few more of the creatures out of their cages in other parts of the temple, in order to have enough of them to cross the biggest gap. Jumping is automatic, and Link will jump when he gets to a ledge, just like he has done in the last few games. You also learn to perform the roll maneuver, which will help you dodge attacks, and in this case, allows you to roll into a pole to knock a caged chimp off. I also spent some time smashing pots to get hearts and rupees, and also wasted a few minutes chopping some of the tall grass.

Temple Boss

The Temple Boss was the last of the four part demo, and featured Link against a plant-like creature, who then gave way to a sort-of demon. Using the boomerang, you could target bombs that were set on platforms surrounded by lava, and then target the boss. After holding down the button long enough, the boomerang charges up, unleashing a tornado that picks up the bomb, carrying it to your second target, and blowing it up. Things get a bit more complex as the next set of bombs are being carried by a chimp, who is swinging back and forth across the screen. You have to target him, lock on with R, and then target the boss, again unleashing the tornado. As he is hit with the bomb, he falls forward, and you must rush towards him and slash at his head. After repeating this process a few times, he dies in grand fashion, leaving just his giant eye on the ground. The game then thanks you for playing the E3 2005 demo, and fades to black.

It’s no secret that people have been clamoring for a realistic looking Zelda, and Twilight Princess delivers a visual style that will certainly please anyone. The graphics are crisp, and feel like a naturally evolved version of the Nintendo 64 titles. There’s no voice acting in the game, but there are the “grunts” from previous Zelda’s when you being a conversation.

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is poised to be a great last hurrah for the Nintendo GameCube. The game was a blast to play, and didn’t seem to disappoint anyone – even the people that only got to play for 10 minutes after waiting for four hours. You can’t find another game on the show floor that can do that. ]]> Thu, 19 May 2005 19:49:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_prince_of_persia_warrior_within_ps2 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_prince_of_persia_warrior_within_ps2 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_prince_of_persia_warrior_within_ps2# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Eric Dayday.

Last year, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time swooped in under the radar and became a surprise hit. Its great narration and story, beautiful environments, and refreshing gameplay were just a few of its highlights. However, many gamers complained about Sands’ short length and repetitive combat. Ubisoft heard those complaints and sought to address them in their latest “Prince” game, “Prince of Persia: Warrior Within.”

Picking up where Sands left off, the darker toned Warrior Within has our prince running from a time demon known as the Dahaka because he had unleashed the Sands of Time. The only way for him to get the Dahaka off his back is to travel to the past to kill the Empress of Time and prevent the sands from ever being created. This takes him to the Island of Time , where he’ll make his way through a castle, traverse a series of mysterious caves, and “stroll” through a wonderfully detailed outdoor garden. The clever level designs from the first game carry over to Warrior Within. These environmental puzzles were a big part of what made SoT great, and its nice the see that WW keeps the trend going. Odd jumps, sliding down curtains, and swinging on ropes and horizontal bars are not only cool looking ways to travel, they are necessities.

While the island itself is quite large, its size doubles because you’ll need to explore the island in two different eras – the past and present – thus answering the gamers’ complaints of SoT’s short length. This of course will change how the environments look; some obstacles may force you to take different route in the present than in the past because there may be say a large impassable tree that blocks a previously travelable route.

Some of the Prince’s time-controlling powers make a return also, which makes sense since he unleashed the sands in the first game. The rewind ability to correct mistakes and missteps, a fan favorite, returns, so no more complaining about “oh man I shouldn’t have done that, let me reset.” His hyper-speed ability returns also. All of his spells are not time related, however. Some of them can knock back or damage enemies that surround you. Don’t think that you can abuse abilities, because their uses are limited by sand slots. And no, sand slots do not regenerate over time, you must kill enemies or find sand refills hidden in breakable items that are littered throughout the castle, which I must say are never in short supply.

With all these spells at your disposal, the combat, thankfully, is the best and richest part of the game. Ubisoft heard the gamers complain about how repetitive SoT’s combat was, so they upped the depth tenfold. The number of combos the prince can pull off is simply outrageous. When you bring up the prince’s combo list, it feels like you’re reading a list from a fighting game – that’s how deep this system is. The fact that the prince can wield one or two weapons affects what combos are available to him. When using one sword, the prince has a variety of throws included in his combo set. When he’s using two weapons, he loses the ability to throw and grab enemies, but he can deal more damage in combos that hit for more. You can also opt to throw the secondary blade at an enemy for a chance to decapitate it, and the very least deal some damage to it. But the one thing you need to keep in mind is that the secondary weapon he carries in his non-dominant left hand deteriorates the more you use it, so you’ll need to constantly pick up new weapons from defeated enemies. Thankfully, they drop weapons very frequently so if dual swords fit your style better, you won’t find yourself at a loss too often.

Controlling the prince during combat and exploration may sound overly difficult from the description I’ve provided, but its not. The combo list on the pause screen, and the on screen hints on how to perform moves such as wall jumps and curtain swings at the beginning of the game are extremely helpful. You’ll find yourself orchestrating your own air ballet within the first hour or so of the game. One of the best parts of the game is thinking about which combo you want to finish off the next enemy with. You won’t have too much time to think though, because the enemies come at you in waves – and sometimes in rather large waves.

Lastly, there are the Dahaka chase scenes. These chases are so intense because they come without warning. When the cutscene signaling his arrival finishes, prepare to run and prepare your reflexes. As the Dahaka is chasing you, you must make your way through a series of traps and hazards quickly and efficiently or you’re majorly screwed. The chases offer a great change of pace and don’t go worrying that the Dahaka will come out of nowhere, because these are scripted events.

Prince of Persia is a great game, but it’s far from perfect. The gameplay skews a lot more towards combat than puzzle solving, which may turn off fans of the more puzzle-oriented Sands of Time, myself included. It feels like Ubisoft went overboard in addressing the repetitiveness of SoT’s combat system and neglected the one part that made Sands such a great game in the first place.

The game’s darker tone is another issue fans of the first game may have trouble dealing with. Instead of the confident nobleman, we are treated here to an arrogant brute that I found, and some others also, to be unlikable. And hearing him say the same arrogant remarks as he’s fighting got rather tiresome.

Warrior Within plays fairly linearly. There’s an on-screen map that tells you where you need to go and what time period to be in, so you really can’t get lost. The problem with that map is the lack of detail – it is so hard to figure out how to get to your destination with that map alone. And if you do somehow get lost, you’ll be stuck for a good long time. Because the game is linear, it’s always either the right way or the wrong way, and if you happen to go the wrong way thinking that’s the way to go, you’ll find yourself wandering for a long time before you realize your error.

As for the music, the only thing I can say about it is that it feels so oddly out of place. When not in battle, there’s no music, but when combat is initiated, this generic heavy metal music blares out of nowhere. And at the conclusion of the last enemy’s death in a particular room, the music slowly fades out and we return to the musical silence that accompanies the prince’s exploration. Eventually, you’ll learn to tune it out, but it would’ve been better had there been a soft ambient track that played during the lulls. Instead, the audio comes off choppier than anything else.

The frame rate also follows the music’s cue for being choppy. Never in Warrior Within did I notice a truly smooth frame rate. It’s not noticeable when you first start the game, but the further you get into it, you’ll slowly notice it more and more. It’s especially bad when there are a lot of things going on all at once. This problem, however, is PS2 specific. I was able to compare this version side-by-side with the GameCube version, and the GC version ran so much smoother, and at every point in the game. Continuing with the GC and PS2 comparisons, I also found that the GC’s version controlled a little tighter than the PS2’s. It’s not a game-breaking issue, but I could definitely see a difference.

Lastly, there have been numerous reports floating all over the web about programming bugs all over the place, many of them fatal to game saves. The biggest one I’ve read about is the time portal glitch. If you happen to enter a time-portal without activating it first, you’ll end up going to the other time period and then become stuck in that time period because the portal was never turned on. Another big bug, without trying to spoil a major plotline, is that when a game is loaded up, you will be controlling a different form of the prince. I can say for certain that both glitches are real. That is just sloppy work from the guys at Ubisoft. Maybe they shouldn’t have rushed this out to shelves.

Despite some of it’s glaring problems, like the choppy frame rate and the number of bugs, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is still a great action adventure game and a worthy addition to the Prince of Persia series. The fighting system is deep and robust, the environmental puzzles that made Sands of Time so great are still evident, and though darker, it expands the story of series, as the ending points directly at a follow-up sequel. Fans of the series owe it to themselves to at least check it out even if it falls short of SoT’s greatness. Fans of action games need to get their paws this to experience the Prince’s awesome combos and ability to use his surroundings to his advantage. However, if you have the choice, go with the GameCube version of Warrior Within – it runs smoother and controls a tad better.

The combo system is deep, with plenty of variety, thus eliminating mindless hack-and-slash monotony. The environmental puzzles are platforming at its finest

It’s a pretty game, but the choppy frame rate hurts a lot.

It feels like there’s only one music track, and it only plays during combat sequences. It’s nothing memorable.

Swinging on a rope, sliding down a curtain with your sword, then jumping down to decapitate an enemy is fun. And that’s just one way to do it. It’s like a choose-you-own-adventure book!

There are different difficulties to play on, and an alternate ending if you manage to find all 9 life upgrades. There’s also some hidden artwork in chest scattered throughout the Island.

]]> Tue, 25 Jan 2005 08:42:00 -0600