Game Review: Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

Billy O'Keefe - Mclatchy -Tribune News Service

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

Reviewed for: Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 Also available for: Windows PC, Wii, PSP and Nintendo DS

From: Ubisoft

ESRB Rating: Teen (violence)

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Five "Prince of Persia" games in seven years after three in the preceding 14 has taken the franchise from nowhereville to sequel city in a hurry, and "The Forgotten Sands" does itself no favor by abandoning the dramatic visual and narrative makeover that made the 2008 reboot such a pleasantly fresh surprise.

"Sands" instead is a direct sequel to 2003's "The Sands of Time," which provides the basis of the "Persia" film currently in theaters (and, consequently, should answer whatever questions you had about Ubisoft ditching that reboot and rushing "Sands" out 17 months later).

Early on, "Sands" feels less like a sequel to "Time" than a capable but uninspired imitation of it. It plays like a typical "Perisa" game, mixing some ambitious environmental platforming with sword combat that's more fun than special. Per series tradition, the massive traversable environments - ledges, trapeze swings, poles, cliff sides - feel like gigantic environmental riddles more than simple action game playgrounds, and the game uses an assisted character movement scheme that doesn't hold players' hands but also doesn't require angle-perfect precision jumping. As with "Time," and per story dictation, players eventually receive a limited-use ability to rewind time and correct mistimed jumps without reverting back to a checkpoint.

That rewind trick becomes indispensable once "Sands" comes into its own and gives the Prince powers that dwarf anything "Time" did. Players gradually receive the ability to alter the environment - freeze and unfreeze water, make entire structures appear and disappear - while simultaneously jumping through and climbing around it in traditional and (thanks to yet more abilities) exhilarating new ways. "Sands'" early levels aren't exactly dull, but the designs in the second two-thirds of the game, which mix and match abilities with abandon and place a premium on meticulous timing and some serious thumb gymnastics, put them to shame.

"Sands'" combat, which pits the Prince against several dozen grunts and the occasional heavy at once, is considerably less impressive, but also an improvement on the 2008 game's drab one-on-one combat. The Prince has a modest array of upgradable sword attacks and spells, but the combat typically amounts to little more than mashing buttons to kill a few dozen enemies while dodging the glacial attacks of the handful who get a chance to fight back. It's nothing other action games haven't done considerably better, but it is good for a mindless break between the more cerebral platforming parts, and it never carries on long enough to become a detriment to the fun.

What can be a detriment is "Sands'" occasional ability to just act up and not play nice. During the course of this review, for instance, a segment near the end of the game proved impossible to pass until the game was rebooted, after which point everything clicked and the same attempted maneuvers worked perfectly. The game's checkpoint system is generous enough to make this an inconvenience more than a deal-breaker, and there's no telling how likely it is you'll even encounter this problem. But if you suddenly find certain techniques failing you no matter what you do, your best recourse may be the reset button.

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