It’s been a long 5 years since we have run on walls with the Prince but he makes a triumphant return in the 2010 release of Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. Forget the massive changes made with 2008’s Prince of Persia, our original ruffian Prince is back from The Sands of Time bringing along the amazing and challenging platforming with him. The ability to die is back bringing the series back to its tough as nails free-running. We also see the return of time manipulation a piece once again missing from the 2008 reboot. We begin the journey with the Prince taking a trip to visit his brother’s kingdom only to find the land is under siege. Thankfully the ignorant brother believes the idea of releasing a magical army from its vault. In typical fashion this unleashes all hell upon the kingdom, forcing our Prince to go toe to toe with the dead to put them back to sleep. The events take place after Sands of Time but before Warrior Within, acting as somewhat of a link between the two. The overall plots in Forgotten Sands stumbles from the get go, never really becoming enjoyable or mysterious and almost every twist or turn can be seen from a mile away. It stands as a decent bridge between the first two, but doesn’t really add anything new or interesting about the Prince other than the introduction of a family member. It’s unfortunate since we have typically been somewhat spoiled with the storytelling in each iteration, but for the most part the Prince’s parkour-esque moves keep your mind off the uneventful tale.
If you’re as crazy in love with the PoP franchise as I am, it’s most likely due to the phenomenal and puzzle like platforming segments. FS starts out fairly slow with its platform segments, but as your near the middle of the game and unlock some crazy powers, things get pretty intense in the best way possible. You’ll be freezing streams of water which is the main new addition to the game, allowing you to turn a stream of water into a pole to swing on. There are some more elements tossed into the platforming throughout the game, but the excitement is in playing it. As you’re near the finale, the platforming becomes almost rhythm based as you must time different button combos perfectly to keep the Prince from splattering on the ground below. I’m gushing over the acrobatics, but only because they make a triumphant return in the series. The combat on the other hand tends to break up the flow of the game for a good majority of the game. The combat is pretty stale for the most part with the Prince only having access to a limited number of moves for the first half of the game but things start to pick up in the second half as you gradually unlock magic attacks and power them up. This is where things tend to pick up, especially when you encounter a group of 50 or so enemies. The AI is also fairly boring to fight against as most enemies rinse and repeat their attacks. You’ll understand your enemy so well by the end of the game that the only time you’ll ever really face death is with a poorly timed jump. Ubisoft has added an experience system in the game allowing you to choose one new power up every time you earn a certain number of points. The biggest issue I had with the system is the fact that there wasn’t really a method of earning any extra points.
Since most fights have to be completed to move on, almost every person who plays the game will receive the same number of XP as another, at least you have to select which upgrades you want as it is impossible to completely power up the Prince on the first playthrough. The game is also very short, clocking in at around 6 hours, with almost no replay value and a few meager collectibles. Fortunately, challenge rooms typically involving fighting waves of enemies were included to give some more play time after the story is complete. Visually FS is up and down with some scenes and settings that look great, while others are extremely bland. The lack of beauty in the game is probably its biggest downside. If the game contained more varied and stunning locales, it would have made FS stand up there with the previous games. Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands almost floored me. Since it has been announced I expected a rushed final product that didn’t come close to the well received games before it. I was astounded when I hit the credits and realized that I had just played a good game. Forgotten Sands is by no means the best Prince of Persia title, but it will appease fans until we see the next evolution in the series. Please don’t let the fact that this game is releasing fairly close to the movie turn you off, it’s not a movie tie-in by any means. Forgotten Sands may not be one of the most stunning games released this year, but just like the previous Prince of Persia games, Forgotten Sands knocks it out of the park with some of the most satisfying platforming you’ll see this year.
