We’ve been following The Legend of Vraz since it was first announced, and now that it is finally released, quality PC time has been spent with the game. I’ve gotten through most of the first section of the game so far and have played enough to give you my first impressions and thoughts on the game vs. what I was expecting.

When I first covered the game, I thought that it was going to be a lot like a modern update to the original Prince of Persia. That was a game that I loved so very dearly as a young lad. I’d spend hours and days trying to navigate the traps and guards but I never beat the game. The Legend of Vraz seemed similar enough in terms of plot line and gameplay (based on the video footage).

The Legend of Vraz, however, is a totally different game. There are some really cool things about it such as the hand-painted graphics, different power-ups, secret areas, missions, and the variety in enemies. The graphics are very clean and the use of colors and lighting is great. The environments were obviously worked on for quite some time. Additionally, places like the secret treasure areas and the little side missions to complete add even more fun to the game. But then, there are some things that are constantly annoying me.

For one: the music. Being Indian myself (the game takes place in India), I feel like I’m stuck in a Bollywood movie with a non-stop musical sequence. It’s just the way it sounds to me; and is much more of a personal thing. However, when you get to the second area in the game the music starts to change up a bit.

Then there are the controls, which have huge issues. First off, they’re not remappable. Being an FPS guy and someone that is used to a set control scheme like WSAD, I don’t like the new one. In fact, I avoided the mouse altogether and stuck with the keyboard. You can use the mouse to shoot, don’t get me wrong, But it also controls the movement of the Prince.

For example, if you click here, then you’ll move here. If you want to shoot an enemy you need to click on it. I much would’ve preferred to control his bow with the mouse and all interactions and movements with the keyboard. Instead, I’m controlling everything with the keyboard using the arrow keys and spacebar and the left control button as well as some others.

I stared at the screen in total confusion.

Otherwise, it seems like a pretty solid game. It actually seems like something that if ported to a Tablet PC, would do wonderfully if it were a purely touch game or even used the gyrometer for movement. A similar control scheme could even be done one an Android phone or an iPhone due to how the hardware works.  Either way, I still have yet to deliver my final judgment on the game, so look for a final review soon.