Basics - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Guide - IGN (2024)

Basics

Before jumping into the amazing adventures of the Prince of Persia, you'll need to do two things. First, you should familiarize yourself with the different aspects of the game by reading every last word that follows. Secondly, you need to call your friends and any loved ones you may have and let them know that you will be unavailable for the next few days, as Prince of Persia: Sands of Time is about to own you.

Platforming

The majority of your time in the Sultan's Palace will be spent running along walls, jumping across bottomless chasms, and swinging on poles. If you don't have great platforming skills when you enter the Palace, you will by the time you finish PoP. There's just no way to complete the game without some solid platforming talents. For all the platforming offered in PoP, there are only a few basic moves in the game, which are then repeated in different forms, with greater variety throughout your adventure. Master these moves and you are golden.

Wall Run:

The most important move in the game, the all run is executed by holding down the Special Action button and running at a wall. There are two types of runs. You can run directly at a wall to climb up it (or vault off it) or you can run at a wall at an angle to run along the wall for a short distance.

Jump:

Jumping is vital as well, as you will need to jump up to reach levers and ledges and will need to leap across gaps. More importantly, you can jump at almost any time. So if you are on a ledge, you can leap to a platform or if you are holding a column you can leap off to a ledge or another column. If you want to jump in a specific direction, be certain to aim in the direction as you hit the Jump button.

Bar Swing:

Bars stick out of walls and down from ceilings and are often disguised as tree branches or flag poles. You will automatically grab onto a bar when you near it. You can shimmy along a bar by pressing left or right. To swing, hold down the Special Action button to gain momentum, then press the jump button to leap off. You can also turn around on a bar (even when swinging) by tapping Up.

Ledges:

Ledges are sometimes tough to spot, but they will save your heinie quite often. You can shimmy across ledges by moving left or right, drop down to hang on a ledge by pressing the Cancel button, pull yourself up on top of a ledge with the Jump button, and even leap off a ledge (that you are standing on) with the Jump button. Most importantly, you can shimmy around corners, as long as the ledge continues on the wall.

Columns:

Some columns can be climbed. Look for skinny poles sticking up from the ground or ceiling. You can leap to grab and then move up down, or rotate to position yourself for another jump. In later areas, stalactites act as columns.

Ropes:

Rope climbing is fun! You won't come across a rope until halfway through PoP, but once you do, you'll love 'em. You can climb up and down and rotate on a rope like you would a column, but you can also swing in any direction by holding down the Special Action button. Jump to leap off in the desired direction.

Ladders:

Walk up to a ladder and you automatically grab hold. Move Up or Down to climb and press Left or Right to switch sides of the ladder.

Sand Powers

Once you acquire the Sand Dagger (don't worry, you get it very early in the game), you will have access to several powers. Before talking about the powers, however, it's important to understand how your Sand and Power Tanks work and just what the heck they are.

Sand Tanks:

The large yellow balls on the upper left of the screen indicates your Sand Tanks. You begin with four tanks, but by finding Sand Clouds (also called Retrieves) throughout the levels, you can increase your tanks for a total of ten. For every eight Retrieves you acquire, you gain an extra Sand Tank.

Power Tanks:

The white crescent symbols next to the Sand Tanks indicate your Power Tanks. Shove you dagger into sixteen enemies and Retrieve their sand to add another Power Tank (you can't have more than ten). Most of your special moves require energy from the Power Tank.

Refilling Tanks:

Any time you perform a Retrieve on a Sand Creature, you fill up some of your Sand Tanks. When all of your Sand Tanks are full, you begin filling your Power Tanks. Find a Sand Cloud, however, and your refill both Tanks completely.

Power of Revival
Cost: 1 Sand Tank

Though the Prince has many useful powers, this one will be your saving grace throughout the majority of The Sands of Time. By holding down the Rewind button, you can literally rewind up to ten seconds of gameplay. Miss a jump and you can save yourself. Make a bad combat move and get cut by a bunch of Sandbags and you can rewind and rewrite history. Invaluable.

Power of Restraint
Cost: 1 Power Tank

A useful combat power, the Power of Restraint allows you to freeze a single enemy in time. The enemy turns gray for 10 seconds and can be chopped in have with a couple of sword strikes. To use this power, you just need to use your dagger on an enemy. If you strike other enemies within a very short period, you can freeze all of them.

Power of Delay
Cost: 1 Power Tank

Tap the Rewind button during combat and you will slow time for 10 seconds. This slows time for everyone, including you. It's useful if you are surrounded and need more time to plan your course of attack and defense. It's not a particularly effective power, but those who have trouble with combat, it can be helpful.

Power of Haste
Cost: All Power and Sand Tanks

A powerful attack, the Power of Haste allows the Prince to move as if he is in fast motion for ten seconds, bouncing from one enemy to the next. You must have an equal amount of Power and Sand Tanks full. This consumes every last bit of power, so it is not to be used lightly. However, it is good to use if you are facing a boss or if it is to end combat with one final multi-hit blow.

Power of Destiny
Cost: Nothing

Each time you step into a Save Point, you are given a vision. The vision shows clips of what you will be doing up through to the next Save Point. Pay attention, as visions show how to solve just about every puzzle in the game and will show you where and when to jump at crucial moments. If you need to see a vision a second time, step back into the Save Point.

Water

Water is life, literally. Any time you find a water fountain, spring, puddle, or lake, do not hesitate to drink up. Stand in or at the water source and hold down the Special Action button. It takes time to drink, making it difficult in combat. However, a quick drink in battle can be the difference between success and painful failure.

Dying

Dying is a part of platform games and so it is a part of Prince of Persia. However, you have some tools to save you from death. If you have any power left in your Sand Tank, be sure to Rewind. Whether you missed a ledge and fell to your death or took an axe to the back, the Rewind can save you for another go. When you die, you will usually start in the beginning of the room, so that anything you did previously does not need to be performed again.

Combat

When you're not running along walls and jumping over spike pits, you'll be battling demons of the sand. There are numerous creatures in Prince of Persia, but most are merely alternate versions of one another. So long as you know the basics of combat, you should be able to make your way through without meeting an untimely demise.

Attacks:

To defeat your enemy, you must first strike with your sword. Combat is versatile and free-flowing in PoP. It's also quite simple and intuitive. Merely press in the direction of the enemy you want to attack and swing your sword. You can quickly toggle between enemies to bounce back and forth, striking three or four in the blink of an eye and keeping them from striking at you. Remember, just point at whom you wanna strike and swing, swing, swing.

Block:

Blocking is vital to your survival. As long as you are facing an enemy, you can hold the Special Action button and parry their attack. You can't block attacks from behind or the side, however, so make sure you face your enemy when blocking. Avoiding damage is the only way to win later battles, so practice your blocking techniques early on.

Dodge:

You can dodge enemy attacks by pushing in a direction and pressing the Jump button. Left and Right result in a roll, Up and Jump results in a vault over your enemy, and Down and Jump offers a backwards flip. Since you can only block attacks from the front, dodging is your best choice to avoid damage when surrounded.

Retrieve:

When an enemy is stunned use your dagger to retrieve the sand from them. This vanquishes your enemy (it's the only way to destroy most sand enemies) and fills one Sand or Power Tank. A stunned enemy only remains so for ten seconds, so make sure to get to them before they revive themselves.

Wall Launch:

Press towards a wall or column and hit Jump and Attack at the same time to launch yourself off the wall and at your enemy. This is an excellent way to knock down an enemy. Follow this with a Retrieve. Enemies who block the Wall Launch will not be knocked down, but any who fail to block will fall.

Vault:

Jumping over enemies is cool and useful. Press towards an enemy and hit Jump to vault over them. While vaulting, you can attack with your sword. If you are daring, you can attempt a Retrieve while vaulting over an enemy. You must use your dagger as you are passing overhead. If successful, you get a cool visual. If not, you just lost an opportunity for a solid sword strike.

Counter-Attack:

Counter-attacks require very exact timing. The moment you block an opponent's attack (the exact second that the two weapons strike) with the attack button to knock the enemy's weapon aside and perform a powerful spin-kick. You can also attempt to perform a Retrieve by using your dagger the instant the weapons strike, but this counter is even less forgiving, meaning timing must be precise.