Despite the name this mobile game has very little that connects it to the Prince of Persia franchise. This could be any character in any environment.
Prince of Persia: The Shadow and the Flame isn't a bad game, but to be honest we expect a little more from a Prince of Persia title.
Despite the name this mobile game has very little that connects it to the Prince of Persia franchise. This could be any character in any environment. Like in other Prince titles, as you explore the game there are traps to be avoided and secret areas to discover and explore.
It's a side-scroller, and you use the left side of the screen to move, the right side of the screen for actions, such as jumping, climbing and combat. You can choose to use virtual joystick and button combination, but that interface is limiting.
If you touch and hold the Prince will crouch and creep, which enables sneak attacks that can take out enemies with one strike. When you enter combat you'll use common controls: swipe to attack, tap to block. If he falls in battle, you can use potions to revive the prince, or choose to restart the level.
The gestural controls are frustrating, though, as the Prince's response time is just too slow. When you want him to climb down a ledge, for example, you have to sit and wait for the animation to play. For an adventure game like Prince of Persia rapid reflexes often make the difference, here the wait can be excruciating.
Players collect coins from treasure chests that can be used to purchase potions, weapons, and combination attacks. Coins can also be purchased using real money. You can purchase special weapons based on those in Ubisoft's console edition of Prince of Persia, but they are so expensive that you'll either be spending real money, or playing for a long time to earn enough coins to get a chance to at them. Sadly, The Shadow and the Flame isn't fun or interesting enough to make you want to expend that effort.
Platform: iOS; Developer: Ubisoft