Prince of Persia - The Forgotten Sands
Release date: 21 may 2010
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms:  Xbox 360, PS3, PSP and NDS

Main Story:

Prince of Persia-The forgotten sand is the next chapter in the sands of time universe. This action adventure is a one-player game marking the next-gen console debut of Ubisoft’s critically acclaimed series.

After his adventure in Azad, the prince returns to his brother Malik’s kingdom to help him defend the kingdom from the threat of an invading army bent on its destruction. After a desperate attempt that sees the brother’s unleashing a sand army that turns the tide of the conflict in their favour. There’s a devastating outcome in that everyone in the kingdom but the two brothers are turned to sand. To save the kingdom, the prince must travel on an epic adventure in which he will lean the true meaning of leadership and that great power often comes with a great cost.

The medallions they possess are the clue and the only thing they can do is try and make it through this ordeal. The prince has the ability over time and is able to go back and change time to cheat death; figure out puzzles with an addition the prince will now have the power over nature as well.

The control of water is available to the prince and allows the prince to freeze water for a limited amount of time. Waterfalls can be frozen to reveal secrets, jets of water from cracks can also be frozen to create platforms from which to swing and jump from to reach new areas.

The story is easy to understand and makes for a realistic storyline on which to follow. Each point in the game has video playbacks and together as you advance forward creates a seamless plot.

Controls:

Control’s are easy to understand and not difficult to remember. Fluid, responsive and fun combat system’s with awesome adventure elements.  The controls are very responsive and allow the player to seamlessly control the events on the screen. A tutorial is also available which can be turned on or off if things don’t seem to clear.

Game play:

Prince of Persia is a fun game to play and looks to be bringing all of the game play that we know and love. Acrobatic movements, the prince is able to utilise every angle of the game. In my opinion what I remember most about the game was how the game play tied in with the story line and together with the genre being an action adventure makes for much fun.

The entire concept of a game is to give the user a fun experience to escape in and this game does just that. Level’s vary from normal too hard, difficulty of the game play can have a major effect on the enjoyment of a game thus the difficulty can be lowered. Navigating throughout the game is easy but puzzles need to be solved in order for you to proceed to certain levels and can be tricky at times.

Graphics:

The game is built on the Anvil engine, which is the same engine that powered the most recent prince of Persia titles, so expect all the fluid animation’s with great visuals and other technical wonder’s the forgotten sands has to offer. The graphics definitely lives up to the capabilities of the PS3 console and are in high amounts of detail in the character’s and landscapes. Objects have life like properties and interact well with the character. Prince of Persia has a distinct visual connection to the player in terms of graphics. 

Presentation:

The user interface is easy to navigate and understand. The game also has the usual feature’s that allows you to save where you left off in case you lose all sense of time!

Sound:

The sound effects are realistic and background music adds a good ambience and character to the game. The sound is clear and can be played in high definition because of the blu-ray disks of the PS3 system.

Replay value:

Prince of Persia fan’s will be excited on the return  of this new title and will make for an excellent replay  value,  especially with the release of the Hollywood blockbuster but will not follow the same plot as the movie but will further the sands of time storyline to give player’s a better understanding of that setting. 

Conclusion:

Prince of Persia was worth the wait and is on the Top shelf of its genre. With a mystical story line this game has hours of action game play, puzzles and secrets to unfold. Every corner something unexpected happens and that is what I find appealing in adventure games. You never know what to find or expect. Prince of Persia lives up too it’s name and deliver’s what is promised, a journey through the sands of time.

The depth in the landscapes and sheer size of the game impresses me combined with the smooth movement of the game and precise realistic action’s. I would say that this is an all in one package and hopes to impress prince of Persia fans. Finding your power and see the prince unleash his destiny is what gamer will find when playing this game. 

I found when playing that you get drawn in and almost start to think that it’s your destiny you fighting for. The fact that the game has a story sequence make you want to know more each time you complete one phase and move on to the next which adds flavour and interest. In doing so it engages the player’s interest in playing on and this is very important in action adventure genres.