Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands Review

We were quite dismayed in the office when we learned that our new site is still under construction and the post that we wanted to lead our grand opening with, would have to be altered at the last minute to be published via this site instead. But truth be told we are kind of glad that it has panned out this way, as at least now we have the opportunity to put right a few of the more, ‘choice’ reviews out there for Prince of Persia:The Forgotten Sands

Now some of you out there may have already made up your mind about this game, after reading some of the reviews already doing the rounds on T’internet. However when we were seeing that PoP:The Forgotten Sands was scoring as low as 6 on some of the more, how can we put this politely? Rubbish gaming sites. (There that wasn’t too painful now was it?) Well then, we are just glad that we can balance the scales against these shoddy reviews.  And so without further ado, let’s clear up the mess and confusion surrounding Prince of Persia:The Forgotten Sands. To the review with us driver, and don’t spare the horses!

The story of The Forgotten Sands takes place between Sands of Time and the Warrior Within titles. And so should quell any notion that this is a movie cross-over or tie-in game, it isn’t.   From the stunning opening sequence that see’s our Prince high atop a minaret overlooking the vast kingdom that is the domain of his regal brother, Prince Malik. Our hero surveys the panorama from his vantage point as swarms of enemy attackers bear down upon his brother’s city.

PoP:The Forgotten Sands sets its stall out early as it drops you seamlessly into the action, (once, that is,  you have vaulted over the standards bar that Ubisoft have obiously set to high for this title), and  places you into the games tutorial. One of the first things that you will notice in Prince of Persia this time around, is that the combat and control systems feel a lot more fluid and far less cluttered then in past versions. Combo’s can be achieved via the same button, albeit dependent on the pauses in between pressings. As for the gymnastic sequences for the Prince, this time out he feels more confident in his abilities, though on more than one occasion we found ourselves leaping unexplainedly into an abyss or gaping chasm below us, particularly when attempting a diagonal jump. But for the most part it behaved pefectly and we could, if we were honest, put these mistimings down to ‘user error’ as opposed to glitches in gameplay or poor controls. In reality the techniques applied to the Princes movement, we felt, was based more around attracting the casual gamer, rather  than pleasing the minority of gaming masochists out there who find games such as Ninja Gaiden a Sunday morning’s outing in the park.

As you will notice from the still on the right the combat is now more Dynasty Warriors than Rogue Warrior, and we applaud this decision. The action seems to be never ending during these scenes and the pause between battles for the Prince to scale to heights untold, or delve to depths yet fathomed, are welcome breathers after the chaotic and hectic battles that will leave you fighting for breath.

Our first enocounter with the upgraded combat system came in very early and with a quick flurry of slashes from our blade we felled the first few guards with ease. Proud of our prowess with the sword we discovered tougher enemies lying in wait just a few short paces from our last encounter and these proved to be a sterner test of our abilities, but our hero dealt with them in much the same fashion.

It’s worth noticing that even during the tutorial that combo’s, and more complex mixtures of acrobatics and swordplay, can be acheived very early in the game With just a few presses of the action button and a little experimatation, you will soon be  jumping and leaping from NPC to architecture and so on. One move we were particularly fond of, was to leap onto the shoulders of an attacker, and then at the same moment as we leapt toward our next target, we finish of our Hellish springboard with a deft slice to the victim’s spinal cord, in the word’s of Jazz Club…nice!  Another staff favourite was to hold down the ‘A’, (square) button to charge the sword for an unblockable and devastating attack.

The addition to the Prince’s arsenal, not only see’s him having a return of the power of Time but also his newly acquired ‘elemental powers’ , of which some can be used for combat, whilst others such as the freezing of water, will assist you in  ascending to the areas that other powers just cannot reach. Another new ability that we found to be thoroughly entertaining and original was the ability granted to you by your guide, who appears throughout the game at random moments as you enter a glimmering portal. Toward the end of the game, however,  you will be granted one of your best powers, that being the ‘memory’ ability. Which allows the Prince to see the ruins of the city through the eyes of  his spiritual guide,and so because of this, Our Hero is then able to reconstruct the rubble to its former glory and is subsequently able to traverse the area. Genius.

Now we know that there are the cynics out there who have, inexplicably, rated this game as low as 6 and we have even discovered one band of pretentious know-it-alls who gave Prince of Persia:The Forgotten Sands a lowly and quite frankly despicable 4 out of 10. Now we are here to tell you that though every game cannot be Ghost Recon:Future Soldier, and every game is not Assassin’s Creed. This game earns its right to stand alongside titles such as these on its own merits rather than being downplayed by other peoples failings.

Prince of Persia:The Forgotten Sands is a thoroughly enjoyable action adventure puzzler that will entertain all ages and all types of gamers from your younger casual gamer to your more experienced older gamer who has favoured genres. The action is captivating whilst never quite verging on the repetitive. The scenery and puzzles are innovative, even though we noticed that one ‘ree-voower’ had questioned as to, “Why are the switches 10 feet from the ground?” The answer is quite simple my un-witty compadre, the reason the switches are so high up is because its a ‘videogame’ and not your front room. Then again I suppose he was trying to sound all clever and controversial? Epic fail

So right from the word go, Prince of Persia:The Forgotten Sands is a winner for all here at GamesMediaPro. he awesome swordplay coupled with breathtaking scenery blends sublimely with acrobatics that are unparalleled in any videogame. From the severing of the first guard’s throat to destruction of the Final Boss, Prince of Persia will have you coming back for more time and again with a replay value that you just don’t seem to find in a lot of titles these days. All in all a great game and a worthy successor to the Prince of Persia crown. We give it a well deserved             8.5/10