Prince of Persia

The 2008 Prince of Persia marked a restart for the series - Ubisoft Montreal abandoned the dark tone and more linear structure of the previous Sands of Time trilogy and offered a more open world, a strikingly stylized cel-shaded look reminiscent of a painting, and an immortal main hero accompanied by his companion Elika, thanks to whom the game almost entirely did away with classic game over screens - falling into a chasm simply had the prince rescued and the game continued. The game launched in December 2008 simultaneously on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Both console versions launched the same day and were very close in both content and visuals - the same open world divided into several themed areas, the same acrobatic movement system enabling fluid wall-running and rope traversal, and combat mechanics based on timing dodges and counterattacks. Differences between the Xbox 360 and PS3 releases were minimal, limited to small technical details due to the different hardware and the use of trophies instead of achievements.

The downloadable Epilogue expansion, which later concluded the story and offered new areas to explore, also released simultaneously on both consoles, so PlayStation 3 players didn't miss out on any content or face delayed availability compared to Xbox 360 owners.

Simultaneous release on both consoles was standard practice for Ubisoft at the time for its major first-party franchises, reflecting an approach where the publisher didn't want to alienate either main platform with a later or reduced release for its flagship titles.

The cel-shaded graphics also aged very well on both consoles - unlike the photorealistically styled games of that generation, the stylized, painterly look didn't date as quickly, which holds equally true for both the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions to this day. Neither platform offered any exclusive content that would put the other at a disadvantage, so the choice between PS3 and Xbox 360 remained purely a matter of personal controller and game library preference.

Why play it: Thanks to the stylized cel-shaded graphics, which have aged much better than the photorealism of the era, it's a pleasantly timeless experience on both PS3 and Xbox 360 alike.