While I understand the need to keep players from avoiding important game elements, it should be done in a manner that doesn't disturb the suspension of disbelief. In one very large room that was filled with water, I hit an invisible barrier when I tried to swim too far in one direction. One new feature that was added was swimming, which I liked but found limited in its presentation. Unlike the first game, all of the movement options available to you are a lot more precise in their function and veteran players will be happy to note that their character will jump exactly when they hit the jump key rather than hurtling over the edge of a deep pit. In many ways identical to the original release, Prince of Persia 3D is a classic platform game that has you jumping over pits, grabbing onto ledges and dodging insidious traps through 15 long levels. What's really impressive about Prince of Persia 3D (or distressing, if you weren't a fan of the original) is how the Red Orb design team have managed to bring so old a game into the third dimension without changing the feel of the gameplay at all. Still, the cutscenes (although a trifle skimpy) worked well as a carrot to keep me wanting to make it just a little bit further into the game. While I found the tale to be well written, the story didn't really offer much except an explanation as to why you were back in the damn dungeon again and a reason for you to bother with getting back out. As with the original game, every so often cutscenes pop up to let you in on what's happening elsewhere as you continue your escape. From here, you must escape your prison, stop the plans of the evil vizier and reunite yourself with your new bride. Helpless, you are dragged off to a dark dungeon and chucked into a cell without and weapons or equipment. During the course of the meal the dancer goes crazy with the knives and rapidly wipes out the guard sent to protect you and the king. As the game begins, you (now a true prince) are invited to a banquet featuring some pretty risqu¿ (okay, risqu¿ for 12th century Persia) entertainment. Prince of Persia 3D makes a half-hearted attempt (in the first pages of the manual) to carry on the storyline that started with Prince of Persia all those years ago. And finally, Jordan Mechner has returned to retool his original masterpiece, an event that, at least for the geekiest of us, is akin to the Second Coming. has appeared out of nowhere and released a compilation of early titles for the system of the same name. Hasbro is releasing new versions of Pong and Missile Command. Now it seems that there is a deep thirst in the PC gaming collective unconscious to return to the games that started it all. Since that time, the industry has grown exponentially, feeding on itself over the years by retooling the titles of the golden age of videogaming and releasing them again and again in a thousand unrecognizable forms. It's been well over a decade since Jordan Mechner and Broderbound released the first Prince of Persia.
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