Run, jump, and climb your way through Ubisoft’s latest iteration in the Prince of Persia franchise: The Forgotten Sands. Anyone familiar with the franchise and its recent reboot will immediately notice this is not the Nolan North prince. Instead, we return to the Sands of Time era, as Ubisoft attempts to bridge the gap between the first game and its sequel, The Warrior Within. Why the departure? In my opinion, this was done to act as a companion to the recent live action summer movie, which is set in the same universe. After the first hour of play, it will be clear this is the Prince of Persia we all remember, but the game quickly evolves into a unique experience.
To get all the hate out, this game feels slightly unfinished. Built in the Assassin’s Creed 2 engine, expectations would be that this game should look better, but it falls short. Animations are stifled and over exaggerated, especially in combat. Textures and environmental effects are missing a certain level of polish fans would hope for. Also, the combat is rather boorish, where enemy attacks are telegraphed for such a long time, it is rare to take damage. Looking past the faults; however, there is a really creative entry in the Prince of Persia universe waiting for you. With your brother’s kingdom in peril as Solomon’s Army lays waste to his people, a Djinn tasks the prince with restoring the balance and saving the day. In order to do this, you will be granted elemental powers to help you on your journey.
In combat; however, some variety is added to the lackluster gameplay, as you command fire, ice, wind, and stone. Despite these additions to the combat, it is in the platforming where the new mechanics really shine. As you progress through the story, you will be granted additional powers of traversal to help the prince overcome various obstacles. As expected, the rewind feature is the first of these, but later you will have the ability to freeze water. Picture a waterfall between two fountains which look like poles the prince would traditionally swing on. To grab the first fountain you must freeze the water, but to reach the second fountain, you must unfreeze, pass through the waterfall and then freeze again to grab the second fountain. The complexity of these puzzles increases over the course of the game, and you can begin to see how this is not your typical Prince of Persia. Additionally, you gain two abilities: to recall broken sections of the palace one at a time, and a sort of air dash you can use on your enemies. Soon you will be jumping and dashing through waterfalls to get across crumbling bridges and balconies. Ultimately the end goal is to use these abilities to defeat Solomon’s Army and its leader, the Ifirit.
The story is a little cliché, but when you can run through a hallway, jumping across spikes, rolling past traps and sliding down banners unscathed, the experience is there. Although it will not win any awards, this is a fun addition to the Prince of Persia franchise. Play it NOW if you are looking for some old-school platforming with a new-school twist.
*note: all images are the result of a Google Image Search
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