Prince of Persia : The Forgotten Sands

The 2008 release of Prince of Persia took the franchise in an invigorating new direction, employing open-world design and a painterly artistic e to great effect. It breathed life into a series that had been treading water fstyl
or years, but you won't see any of those new elements in The Forgotten Sands. This is a throwback to the superb Sands of Time, focusing on elaborate level design and the sort of acrobatic wonder that would make even the most agile monkey jealous. Unfortunately, the leap back in time is not entirely smooth. The early porti
ons have a paint-by-numbers feel, offering no surprises for those familiar with the franchise, and the combat is shallow and lacks the flair the prince so often exhibits. But those missteps fade away once the prince gets into a groove.

The intricately designed levels are full of surprising twists and the deft maneuvering required to pass the more challenging sections makes completing a particularly tricky room rewarding. A few problems keep The Forgotten Sands from reaching the level of its timeless predecessor, but playing through this gravity-defying adventure is still time well spent.

The story in The Forgotten Sands focuses on the sibling rivalry between the prince and his brother. At one point in their lives, they got along perfectly fine, but relationships tend to crumble when demonic possession rears its head. Although the story is ho-hum cliche, there is a certain charm in the manner it's told. The prince narrates the events during the action, and his personality interjects some lighthearted fun into the proceedings. Thankfully, this is not the dour prince who appeared in the previous game in the franchise, but rather the good-natured fellow from The Sands of Time, and his quips add to the experience. Unfortunately, the prince's personality is not the only thing borrowed from The Sands of Time. The opening level, in which you try to break into a castle under attack, borrows heavily from the opening sequence of its predecessor, and it seems as if the predictable level design is a portent of things to come. The Forgotten Sands does break free from its inspiration after a few hours, but that doesn't excuse the forgettable introduction

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