10 Video Games That Got History Wrong

2. Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time

Assassin's Creed III
Ubisoft

Now Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is all about chronological corruption, so perhaps its anachronisms make perfect sense - and just like the regularly rewinding protagonist, they go both ways.

For one, Jordan Mechner's unnamed, eponymous Prince is a proponent of Parkour, a discipline not established, let alone perfected, until over a thousand years after the game takes place. Shortly before the first World War, French naval officer Georges Hébert developed a 'natural method' system of movement, later refined into the parcours de combattant better recognised today as military obstacle courses.

The game's 9th century setting is also home to historical anomalies stretching a thousand years back to the past. Babylon, the capital city, as is seemingly mandatory for any fictional depiction, of course features the famous Hanging Gardens. The problem is they crumbled about a millennia before hand - if they ever existed at all.

Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.