
Prince of Persia is a glorious game to behold – a visual feast for the eyes. From the outset as I witnessed the prince wandering aimlessly amidst a sandstorm, his shouts for his lost donkey “Farah” muffled by the roaring wind; to the first encounter with Elika as she tries to evade her pursuers, I was impressed by the visual splendor. There’s little doubt in my mind that as an opening sequence Prince of Persia successfully seduces the player.
And believe me I was seduced – for most of the time.
Beyond the cell shaded graphics there is a charm to the game that I find appealing. The interaction between the Prince and Elika, which starts out as a necessary companionship born out of the circumstances, develops as the adventure progresses. The early flirtatious sarcasm and teasing matures to become a more heartfelt relationship, and I actually believe that there is some genuine affection between the two - or maybe that’s all just wishful thinking in my head.
However, juxtaposed with the good there are some aspects within Prince of Persia that aren’t quite to my liking. The four magical abilities gained by Elika at the temple of the Tree of Life, which are awarded upon gathering a set amount of light seeds are really just variants of the same theme. The Step of Ormazd shoots you directly from one magical pad to the next like a cannon ball, The Hand of Ormazd shoots you from one pad to another but in a less direct route; and upon gaining the Wings of Ormazd, Elika flies the Prince all over the map, but with only limited control to move up-down-left-right to avoid objects. We really should just view these abilities for what they are; a method to control the players exploration and provide some linearity, but some more interesting and diverse abilities certainly wouldn’t have gone amiss.
As it is only the second Tower Defence game I’ve played on the iPhone, Tap Defense has a lot to live up to considering my last journey with the genre was with the sublime Fieldrunners, however, this game can more or less hold its own comparatively speaking.










