Prince of Persia
Review
Prince of Persia Epilogue review, take 2
by Virgin Wolf
reviewed on PS3
Prince of Persia Epilogue review
I loved Prince of Persia when it was released last year. The graphics were gorgeous, especially the environments. The animations were extremely smooth. The gameplay was just about pitch perfect for what Ubisoft was trying to do. The story was excellent and provided a nice arc in which the main character went from barely caring about the problem to doing whatever it took to solve it, except one thing. That one thing that he was unwilling to give up set up a cliffhanger that had just as many gamers praising it as did hate it.
Great on paper
So when Ubisoft announced that a DLC under the name of Epilogue would be released, I found myself interested. At $10 is it worth the money? Well, yes on paper but no in practice. Epilogue offers a new combat maneuver known as Sprint, which allows the Prince to charge into an enemy from a distance for an effective attack. Ellika is also given a new magic technique called Energize that reforms destroyed areas so the Prince can make it across.
There is also greater challenge to the traps in the game. In the first game if you dodged the first trap you were almost guaranteed to make it to the end of a platforming section. In Epilogue, you must look further down the line to truly get the timing right.
There is a somewhat new boss in the form of the Shapeshifter who switches between the Hunter and the Warrior from the main game. A new skin for both the Prince and Ellika rounds out the DLC.
Worthless gameplay
Like I said, on paper this looks to be a pretty hefty and worthwhile piece of downloadable content. Unfortunately, it isn't. The Sprint attack is almost worthless. I was unaware I was even using the attack at first because it leads directly into a quick-time event. Each time I was beaten down, got back up, and used the same combos from the main game. Ellika's Energize ability is probably the best of the new content. It is a great blend of the platforming and magic segments. One of her old abilities is used as well which definitely makes it fun to play.
While the game is initially more of a challenge because of the change-ups in the traps, I quickly settled into the new rhythm and found few sections that really held me up. The Shapeshifter is a joke of a boss. His patterns are easy to pick up on and I defeated him quicker than either of the encounters with the Warrior or the Hunter from before. Another problem is that I'm just not sure if he is actually dead or not. I just beat him as I normally would and a little later, Epilogue ended. The new skins are fine if that is your thing, but they don't add a whole lot.
Too short
To be honest, I wouldn't mind many of these things if it wasn't for one major thing. The graphics, music, and voice acting are as good as ever, and the gameplay is still fun, but the game is over before you realize it. I beat Epilogue in two hours. That's it. And it has absolutely no replay value unless you want the trophies.
Nothing in that package makes a two hour game seem worth $10. Not even the story. It doesn't even go anywhere. You find out what happens directly after the ending of the main game and where the sequel might be headed. In all honesty, Epilogue should have been the Prologue of the next Prince of Persia. It would have made a great introductory level and set players up for what they would do for the rest of the game. As it stands right now, I can't recommend Prince of Persia: Epilogue.
5.0
fun score
No Pros and Cons at this time
