Prince of Persia: Rival Swords review

Are Wii controls enough to make an old game new again?

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Nunchuk chain-whip is cool

  • +

    Level design still amazing

  • +

    Slightly prettier on Wii

Cons

  • -

    No new material

  • -

    Hit-or-miss control scheme

  • -

    Unskippable cinemas

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

More than a year after the Prince of Persia trilogy wrapped with the awesome Two Thrones, the acrobatic adventure series has finally made its way to the Wii with Prince of Persia: Rival Swords. But while the title's new, don't be fooled - unlike the feature-rich PSP version, Rival Swords is just Two Thrones with fancy motion-sensitive controls.

That's a little disappointing, but it's not exactly bad. Repackaged or no, Rival Swords is still a kickass adventure from start to finish, and the Wii controls - while they can be hit or miss - definitely add to the experience. Think Zelda with an acrobatic twist, with the Nunchuk's thumbstick used to run around and shakes of the Wii remote used to attack.

It's a setup that works brilliantly for some things and horribly for others; for example, attacking by swinging the remote for the Prince's right hand or the Nunchuk for his left? Awesome. Running along walls by squeezing the remote's trigger? Great. Trying to dash up a wall and stab the Prince's dagger into a hole by shaking the remote? Not so much. Overall, though, the game adapts to the new controls better than you'd think, and if you never played Two Thrones, then Rival Swords deserves a look.

Like Two Thrones, Rival Swordsopens withthe Prince returning hometo Babylon to find it in flames. It seems that by mucking around with the past in PoP: Warrior Within, he's unwittingly resurrected one of his greatest enemies. Said enemy sacks Babylon and unleashes the deadly Sands of Time, turninghis soldiersinto monsters. Now Babylon is infested with sand zombies, the Prince is hunted through the streets and, worst of all, he’s lost his shirt again.

Despite the downer of an opening, Rival Swordsmarks a return to the lighter, more adventurous tone of The Sands of Time, as well as to the puzzles that made that game great. There are still plenty of enemies to fight, but now there’s a much greater focus on leaping, running and climbing your way through baroque deathtraps. These bits are challenging, but the solutions are usually obvious enough to not break your momentum as you hurtle through them. And if you screw up, the Prince can slow down or reversetime, letting you undo any boneheaded mistakes.

More info

GenreAction
DescriptionThe best Prince of Persia since Sands of Time returns with cool motion controls and not much else
Platform"Wii","PSP"
US censor rating"Teen","Teen"
UK censor rating"",""
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
More
Mikel Reparaz
After graduating from college in 2000 with a BA in journalism, I worked for five years as a copy editor, page designer and videogame-review columnist at a couple of mid-sized newspapers you've never heard of. My column eventually got me a freelancing gig with GMR magazine, which folded a few months later. I was hired on full-time by GamesRadar in late 2005, and have since been paid actual money to write silly articles about lovable blobs.