Oh my gosh! It is very very good so far! I've played about a couple of hours, and it is just a lot of fun, and not at all the disaster I had expected from the cheesy demo movie. The graphics -- which I had been skeptical about -- work really well, and everything looks gorgeous. It isn't just the technical excellence though; the art direction is also very good, and maintains the balance between cartoonish and edgy.
The gameplay has been streamlined from before with a new gimmick, which works surprisingly well. In the past we had the "turn back time" mechanic, which worked better than it had sounded on paper, and here we have a constant magical female companion, who performs rescue acts whenever the acrobatics go wrong. Again, on paper, it sounds horrible, but it works really well, especially when you realize how many hours of loading it saves you. Plus, it helps that the companion is made to look very attractive... well as attractive as a bunch of pixels can look. That's another thing about the visuals, everything is highly tasteful. The hero is muscular, but he is more Raphael Nadal, than Hulk Hogan. The princess is pretty, but not like the giant funbags sluts that litter the video game landscape. Everything else, including the monsters, environments etc are all very restrained, and not at all over the top. Thankfully, the Persians are also drawn quite respectfully. It is a pity that their voices are more at home with every day America rather than what would have sounded more authentic, but oh well. Other than that, the voice acting is quite good. The game is also surprisingly humorous.
An interesting change is that conversation is triggered by the left trigger. While essential cutscenes start automatically -- though they can be skipped --, conversations are optional, and can be activated at any time -- and are almost always relevant. Fortunately, so far the dialog is excellent. The characters also have an endearing quality to them, and the protagonist is full of funny/cheesy one liners that are delivered with the right humility, giving them shades of the old Lucas Arts games. Heck, at times, the character reminds me a bit of Peter Parker.
Finally, I come to the combat, which is very good. I'd say that so far it is already deeper and more enjoyable than Sands of Time, or Assassin's Creed.
Anyway, I am going back to the game, but I want to say that this whole package feels a lot like a Nintendo game. It just has that feeling of quiet dignified excellence to it. Let's see how it pans out. From what I've read, some of the problems rear their ugly head later, but let's see.
