Prince of Persia: the glitch of death

You may remember that on Friday, I made the case for Ubisoft’s 2008 reboot of the Prince of Persia franchise. Well, after my weekend’s experiences, I’m tempted to take it back.

On Sunday, I played the game for about four hours straight, restored life to all the lands and headed for the final battle, taking place at the tree shrine that acts as a hub for the game world. I saw a shiny door. “Awesome!” I thought. “That shiny door means something great lies within!” Sadly, it wasn’t to be. I couldn’t pass through the door.

Then, I realised there was a wall on the left, so I scaled it, in search of answers. At the top,was one of those pull switches the Prince and Elika have to collaborate on, every time they have to be activated. “Oh, this’ll do it,” I thought, still optimistic as I neared the end of a journey that I began at the tail end of 2008, and finally got around to beating. Unfortunately, the switch wasn’t moving, and the game wasn’t explaining why this was the case.

So, I teleported to a different part of the map, assuming that if I returned later, the glitch would somehow fix itself. Nope. I came back and the shiny door had been replaced by a normal-looking one, but still, no dice. After 30 minutes of trying to work it out, I looked online (there’s a thread here on the subject) and found out it has something to do with the order in which you fight the game’s four bosses. It’s never been fixed, as far as I’m aware.

Thanks, Ubisoft! It’s a shame, because I honestly think the game up until that point – particularly the fight with the Alchemist at the top of the world – is spectacular. Don’t give up on this version of the Prince, Ubisoft. Just make sure I can finish his next adventure.