Apex Legends ruined my life. Itsslick movementand engaging gunfeel means that I compare any other game to it the moment I take my first step. There’s nothing worse than realising the new game you booted up won’t let you jump. More commonly, I get a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach when I attempt to crouch mid-sprint and crawl to a halt instead of sliding down the hillside and into the sunset.
This is primarily a problem in 3D games.Fortniteadded sliding many seasons ago, and instantly became a ten times superior game to the version that preceded it. Think about it. Even if it doesn’t feel as smooth as sliding inApex LegendsorTitanfall 2, a good slide is still a good slide.
Think about how good sliding into cover would work in The Last of Us. Back 4 Blood might have hung around longer with sliding. Imagine Elden Ring with Titanfall-level slides.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Kingdomnails this. I’d heard the new game was anaccomplished platformer, but the sliding really is something else. My first experience of how good it feels (aside from sliding under a collapsed pillar in the tutorial), was when fighting the first boss. A horse-riding behemoth armed with an almighty spear,General Uvishkahas greater movement capabilities and a far longer reach than our puny protagonist, Sargon. What he can’t do, however, is slide.
That’s only natural, being atop a horse and all, but Uvishka’s one weakness is ours to exploit. I’m not ashamed to admit that I died to him the first time around – I was getting used to his attacks as well as figuring out my own. Second time around, however, I went balls to the wall and all-out attack. Instead of carefully trying to manage my spacings and dodge attacks, I slid underneath the hooves of Uvishka’s steed, stabbed it in the bum, and slid back under again.
Slide, stab, slide, stab, slide, stab. Dodge the AOE attack. Slide, stab, slide, stab. Some may call it cheesing, but I refer to it as fun. It’s an improved dodge, one that simultaneously zips out of the way of an attack and exposes your opponent’s back. It’s just a shame that the shield enemies in the next level block those slides, so you have to jump instead.
Prince of Persia’s slide is unusual. It’s short and brisk, as opposed to the long, sweeping moves of third-person games. It also doesn’t really synergise with any of the game’s other movements, other than allowing you to sprint if you hold the trigger down. Jump height and wall bounces are unaffected by a slide before and after. So why does it feel so good?
The slide is perfectly abrupt. It begins, and as soon as Sargon hits the floor, he starts picking himself up again. The quick movement is enough to sell the little speed boost, but not so long as to leave you vulnerable or overstay its welcome. It works while platforming and in combat, as Uvishka could testify were he not impaled on a castle wall.
Some Games With Great Sliding
The animation itself is important too. The Lost Crown only runs at 60fps, but sometimes it feels smoother than that. The slide feels buttery as Sargon drops so quickly to the floor and so eloquently picks himself up again afterwards. This is a technique Sargon has perfected across a thousand battlefields, and one that you need in your arsenal if you’re to survive the ascent up Mount Qaf and beyond.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crownmakes you work for your double jump. It has beautiful technical platforming sections. It has an impressive art style that instantly pulls you under its spell. But best of all is its mastery of the most humble mechanic – the slide. Even if the rest of the game was trash, I’d play on purely in the hopes that it gets upgraded into some kind of super slide kick later in the game. Even if it doesn’t, I’m perfectly content with sliding around Assyria just as it is.
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