PSP World

Prince of Persia Rival Swords

This time in Prince of Persia Rival Swords, the Prince makes his way home to Babylon, bearing with him Kaileena, the enigmatic Empress of Time, and unspeakable scars from the Island of Time. But instead of the peace he longs for, he finds his kingdom ravaged by war and Kaileena the target of a brutal plot. When she is kidnapped, the Prince tracks her to the palace – only to see her murdered by a powerful enemy. Her death unleashes the Sands of Time, which strike the Prince and threaten to destroy everything he holds dear. Cast out on the streets, hunted as a fugitive, the Prince soon discovers that the Sands have tainted him, too. They have given rise to a deadly Dark Prince, whose spirit gradually possesses him.

Rival Swords is essentially a remake of the Prince's previously released Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, now revived for Wii and PSP.

While the Wii version boasts new motion controls, the PSP remake packs new areas and a brand-new multi-player race mode, which has huge gameplay potential.

As in The Two Thrones the player fights with the Dagger of Time. The designers have also added a stealth system to the gameplay. In the past two games the player had to rely solely on open-surrounding, multi-enemy combat. As in, The Two Thrones the PSP version expands upon this by adding a speed-kill system, which allows the Prince to quickly and quietly kill any enemy not aware of his presence. The player cannot perform a speed kill on one guard if another guard can see it. If the player does not complete the speed kill, the enemy knocks them off and the speed kill fails. The amount of moves or the length of time required greatly depends on how strong the opponents are, with boss battles taking the most.

Like the console versions of the game, the prince retains his gymnastic rolls, flips and mantling abilities. In fact, the game throws you into immediately leaping over gaps, shimmying across ledges and sliding down ladders within the first thirty seconds of play. The sense of verticality is back as well, as you'll climb columns and bounce back and forth between pillars, or use your dagger to cut a path down tapestries. The dagger isn't only for breaking your fall, since you'll be able to use it pair it with a secondary weapon to increase your combos in battle.

With the split second timing that Prince of Persia games require during puzzle sections or some battle sequences, players really need a solid camera. Fortunately, the camera in Rival Swords is responsive, with the ability to use the L button and the directional pad to move the camera around at any time. You won't have to constantly adjust the camera, because it will intelligently place itself during certain moments, like making jumps between pillars. Players will also have landscape moments where you can get a bird's eye view of an area, including any possible threats that may await you, like guards or traps.

Depending on the amount of sand you collect, you'll be able to unlock various artwork and illustrations in two different galleries. However, there's much more to the game than the single player story. Players can launch into chariot races at any time and run horses around three separate tracks: a ruined city, an underground sewer and a desert area. Players will also be able to engage other people in multiplayer matchups.