 "Very good strategy in the Prince of Persia universe" | 2007-03-09 |
| - Reviewed By kinggrim |
| The Prince of Persia trilogy of games to hit consoles over the past few years were superb action/adventure games that were really something to behold. Battles of Prince of Persia for the DS isn't anything like what you may have experienced on the consoles, but that's not necessarily a bad thing here. Because of the limitations of the DS, Prince of Persia has been transformed from an action platformer to a turn based strategy game, and surprisingly it mostly works. Taking place between Sands of Time and Warrior Within, Battles of Prince of Persia finds the Prince commanding his troops in some massive battles. Featuring a surprisingly deep and complex strategy engine, along with an interesting card system which spices up the gameplay a notch, Battles of Prince of Persia offers enough challenge to give strategy fans a good time, but newbies to the genre will find the game quite difficult. This isn't really something that's easy to pick up and play or easy to get into, despite offering a tutorial. That being said, if you don't mind turn based strategy, this game has quite a bit to offer. Graphically, the game isn't much to look at, but there are some nicely designed animated cut scenes here and there, and the story ties up some events in the Sands of Time trilogy as well, plus the game offers great use of the touch screen. With all that being said, it's ultimately dependent on you how much you'll dig this game. Strategy buffs will want to check it out regardless of it's license, but Prince of Persia fans expecting something along the lines of the console games will be disappointed. |
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 "ROCK SOLID TURN-BASED WARGAME" | 2006-08-19 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2XB1F5WXDR263 |
I have never owned a hand-held game system until my sons got a DS Lite for my 40th birthday. Prince of Persia Battles is the first game I played, and coming from a table-top wargaming background, I thought this game was excellent.
Playing as a general of an ancient army, you maneuver small, medium and large size units ranging from archers, spearmen, swordsmen, cavalry, and even war elephants against an opposing general and army in a wide variety of offensive and defensive missions. Your ability to command is effected by how many cards your general rates every turn. You can play these cards for their order value, i.e. a selected card may allow you to give orders to 3 of your 12 army units for a given phase of the turn. Or, you can play a card for an effect, i.e. enhance the defense and armor values of all units within command range of the general.
As you progress through the story driven campaign, your earn new cards after battle victories. Some of these cards, which you can trade with other players via wi-fi, are very unique and provide very interesting and colorful ways to going about winning the day on the battlefield.
I like the artwork alot and have to say the game designers did a great job of creating very historical looking units. For those of you looking for something a little more "epic", don't worry. There is an evil army that brings various monsters and giants to the field of battle. Don't underestimate the enemy giants. Yes, they look brutishly stupid but their ability to hurl huge boulders at great distances in the midst of your peasant archers makes for a bad day!
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| "Not your father's Prince of Persia" | 2006-04-15 |
| - Reviewed By neek7 |
When I heard that the Prince of Persia will be making an appearance on the DS, I was thinking, Ubisoft would do well by not turning it into some lame 2D platformer. Well, they didn't. Instead, they totally revamped people's impression about the Prince of Persia series, and turned it into a turn-based strategy game! Now, I'm not exactly a fan of this genre, but I did enjoy Advance Wars DS. And, to a certain extent, the concept works pretty well, even though it could've been a little more polished.
The story of the game happens between the events of The Sands of Time and Warrior Within, so it has been billed as "the lost tales" of the Prince's adventure. The game plays like the usual strategy game. You know, you'll be in-charge of a group of soldiers, and you'll go into the battlefield, attempting to conquer a map with whatever resources you've at hand. There's quite an impressive array of men that you can use - swordsmen, artillery, archers, etc. Obviously, they'll also have their respective strengths and weaknesses, and it's entirely up to you to decide how you want to approach an area. So far, so good.
Now, the gimmick of this game. Battles of Prince of Persia actually uses a card-based battle system, which basically sums up how the tactical battles are fleshed out over the course of the game. When you enter a battlefield, you'll hold a deck of cards. Most of these cards are your usual command cards, but some of these are a little less ordinary, allowing you to drastically boost your troops or decrease the morale of your opponents. If you've played Dynasty Warriors before, think of these cards as a substituition for the Rally and Roar commands, for example.
With the limitations arising due to the use of cards, you'll get to be more involved in the strategy part of a, well, strategy game. Do you use your boost cards early in the game to gain an quick upperhand? Or do you keep them towards the end just in case? Herein lies the joy of the game. Apparently, there're also over 200 cards available in the game, so some sort of card manager is also incorporated into the game to make it easier for the player to manage their cards. Players who find card-based games a tat confusing may well make use of this feature extensively.
The presentation of Battles of Prince of Persia is its weakest link. The 2D graphics are uninspiring, and the audios are almost non-existent. Most of the times, the presentations just look and feel like they're down to their bare bones. The breathtaking cinematics commonly found in the console versions of the Prince of Persia games are nowhere to be found. Yes, I understand that the DS may not be the best machine to work a game's graphics on, but surely, it shouldn't be so bad.
Overall, Battles of Prince of Persia is a neat little title to engage if you're into strategy games. The card-based system throws some spice into an otherwise straightforward tactical feast, and the overall gameplay is still highly enjoyable despite its lack of fanfare. I'd recommend this to players who enjoy this genre, or Prince of Persia fans who wanted something more than running along the wall and the likes. |
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| "Just a real quick review on the game - I dont normally review games" | 2005-12-14 |
| - Reviewed By pearl_jams_the_cure |
Well as the title suggests, I'm not going to really get into it - Just give you a quick overview - I looked for reviews on here before buying the game, & couldn't find one - So maybe this will help you out a bit.
- This is a turn based strategy game much like Advance Wars.. only not nearly as fun as Advance Wars at all - You are given a deal of cards & you can move them to the opposing enemy & attack.. but theyre just cards - you cant control what your army is like.. & after a while, the game feels lame - However it is a great game to play once in a while.. although it lacks the ability to hold interest - If you're interested in following the story line, theres also a lot of reading.
The game appeals to mostly an older audence of 17 & up - However theres a thin line between making a strategy game for older people & just making a game that feels lame after a while
The whole card thing was a bad idea - You see the battles scenes when your cards attack or get attacked.. but its the same thing over & over
If you haven't gotten Advance Wars yet, get that instead - This Prince of Persia game just feels like a rehash. Id recommend getting this only if you really love Advance Wars. |
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