Game Review #5 : Prince of Persia(2008) (Xbox 360/PS3/PC)

This is the final game review I'll be doing. The game is Prince of Persia for the current gen consoles or should I say, the latest.

Price of Persia is an action/adventure game with loads of platforming. The game is played in a third person perspective.



Let me explain how the story and setting goes, Sir Prince(I am pretty sure he does not have a name) got lost in a desert storm and ended up in some place where he conveniently ran into a girl(Elika) who is running away from her father. Turns out that Elika is a princess and her dad, a King. Elika soon explains her situation that her father gone nuts and had released the evil Ahriman to doom the world so in order to seal him back, they must travel all over the lands to reseal special spots(called Fertile Grounds) that once help Ahriman in place. As the game progresses, the relationship between the Prince and Elika improves and soon reveal the truth of Elika's Existence and her source of Magic powers.


So the game takes place in Elika's kingdom in an open world(You can travel anywhere you want assuming you have the abilities to get there), there are 5 key areas, the Temple, the Ruined Citadel, the Vale, the Royal Palace, and the City of Light. All these areas are severely damaged from the corruption's release and each area has basically its own theme. The world is very beautiful, rich with colour(after you restore life to them) though even in its corrupted state, it looks great.


The gameplay involves alot of tricky platforming stunts and a regular dose of combat. In Prince of Persia, the goal is to restore life to the fertile grounds to reseal Ahriman back. Doing so requires you to traverse around the kingdom which is basically main part of the gameplay. The importing thing to note that travelling around the world is a very fun, you do alot of jumping, climbing, scaling, and wallrunning and with Elika's magic help, super jumps, run on vertical platforms, to flying through the air Alladin style. You will also need to collect Light Seeds(scattered all around the kingdom) in order to unlock more of Elika's powers that allow you to reach places unreachable before.


Unlike previous game in the Prince of Persia franchise, Combat takes place on a one on one basis. while travelling around, the Corrupted will sometimes appear to fight you. Combat involves you and Elika to perform various acrobatic moves to kill the enemy or make it fall off the cliff. The combat system feels like there is a Scissors-Paper-Stone theory behind it. You can use the sword, gauntlet, Elika's magic, and acrobat to attack or react to the enemies' behavior.


The funny thing is that you don't die in the game, if you make a mistake platforming, Elika will use her magic powers to save you. This also applies during combat but the penalty would be the enemy will regain some of it's health back.


The Games graphics are beautiful, it has a cartoon feel to it but the world and it's characters are richly designed.

Audio in the game is pretty much standard fare, the background music is nice but it is often re looped and played making it dull after awhile. Sound design is good though. For example, you can hear echos in open spaces but none in closed rooms. Loads of ambient sounds around(birds chirping, insect cries etc.)

In conclusion Prince of Persia is a good game. What I don't like is that the game sometimes forces you to revisit some areas(to collect more Light Seeds), it is there that the platforming feels repetitive but it is always fun experiencing new areas.

The Verdict : Cher Shen Approves :D
P.S : The ending was really painful to me

Game Review #4 : Dead Space (Xbox 360/PC/PS3)

If you like horror movies, then Dead Space is a game not to be missed. This third person shooter/adventurer will suck you in.


Let me explain the setting and story. The game takes place in outer space onboard Mining Ship USG Ishimura, which has sent out a distress signal which then prompted the arrival of Isaac Clarke(you), Zach Hammond, and Kendra Daniels to investigate the status of the USG Ishimura. Isaac is an engineer who has a personal reason to investigate the ship, to find his girlfriend, Nicole Brennan after he received a video from her, requesting for help. The trio and 2 armed infantry arrived by another spaceship which crash-landed into the USG Ishimura. With their vessel in a very bad state, the trio have no choice but to proceed with their mission without a chance for turning back.

Shortly after boarding the USG Ishimura, the trio encounted a surprise attack by the Necromorphs(The Alien/Zombie like creatures mutated from human corpses by some alien virus), killing the other 2 infantry in the process. Isaac is now alone while Zach and Kendra escaped together. The trio later contacted each other and Zach believes the best way to stay alive is to repair the ship. This sends Issac off to eventually explore the entire USG Ishimura with each area having some maintenance work to be done, and the conspiracy of a cult involvement slowly reveals itself.


Necromorphs are the enemies in the game, as explained earlier they were all once human as the occupants of the USG Ishimura. Unlike your typical Zombie Horror games, Necromorphs require a little bit of strategy to kill them, by taking apart their limbs. How you dismember them will affect how they can go against you, eg shooting off their legs will cripple them to the ground which impedes their movement. As you progress, more Necromorph variants show up, though some are recycled powered up versions that are faster and tougher. You can escape them by running away, but in this game they will eventually chase you through the air vents and ducts in the ship so basically, you can be attacked anywhere in the game. When I played this game, I actually found a cheap tactic, if the room is connected to an elevator, you can hide in there and shoot from the door, the necromorphs won't enter the elevator.


Players take control of Issac Clarke in a third-person perspective. He wears a special suit catered for his engineering work, giving him 2 special abilities, the 'Stasis' and the 'Kinesis'. Stasis slows the time of whatever it contacts with, making it slow-mo, while Kinesis allows you to move large and heavy objects with your hand(think psychic powers). These 2 abilities are mainly used for solving the puzzles found in the game level, though stasis is also widely used against fast moving enemies too.


To fight off his enemies, several weapons can also be found in the game, from the Plasma Cutter, Plasma Rifle, Flame Thrower, to the Contact Beam(Crazy laser beam weapon). These weapons can be obtained by finding it's blueprint which can then be purchased/produced at the unmanned electronic shops found around the ship. Being an engineer, Issac can also upgrade his gear with power nodes found in the game, with various customization paths for each of his equipment(eg, Armour upgrade to have more oxygen, health, defense).


Traveling through the USG Ishimura is an awesome experience, the environment is both visually and aurally immersive. The ship is realistically modelled and textured, and the lighting is used intelligently like what you expect from horror movies. The sound effects are disturbing and you can always hear a necromorph crawling in the vents keeping you on your toes, signaling you that you going to be attacked but you just don't know when. One special thing to highlight is the presence of ZERO Gravity areas(Outside the ship and some interiors). In zero-grav, you have limited oxygen so you can't stay out there for long. You can also do some zero-grav jumps to reach other platforms(really cool but I find it nauseating sometimes). To add to the immersive experience, you can only hear whats in your suit(Breathing, footsteps, etc.) which means you can't hear approaching necromorphs which the game likes to take advantage of to surprise you by having them backstab you.



Another thing to highlight in Dead Space is it's User Interface design. There is no HUD implemented in the game, Issac's suit provides all the information that the player needs(Eg, Health is displayed by the meter aligned to his spine, Ammo is displayed by the screen on the weapon), while menus are displayed via holographic projection from Issac's helmet.

In conclusion, in the horror genre, Dead Space is in a league of its own. The entire experience is very immersive which will definitely spook you.

The Verdict : Cher Shen Approves :D (Play this in a dark room with good headphones on a High Definition Screen)