Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands XBOX360/PC Review

The Prince of Persia IP has been for quite a while, from the pixelated 2d characters on the first game decades ago to the Full Featured film with Jake Gyllenhaal. It has come a long way from the 386x PCs to the big screen and you would think that the next installation on the game franchise should all wow us. Sadly that is not the case.

You play another Prince of Persia (duh!). You are helping your brothers defend your home city when you find out your brother wants to release Solomon’s Army as a desperate move to fight the conquerors of your country. You find out later that the army is evil and you have to stop it. Pretty standard Prince of Persia plot.

The gameplay is what you would expect from a Prince of Persia game. You jump around, killing opponents, mash buttons in combinations to stop the evil, and fall several times. Funny thing is, you only have 2 attack buttons which seriously reduces combat to a mash and pray activity. Dodging is counter-productive as well considering you’re always surrounded.

Although there is a sense of satisfaction when you pull off jumps and grabs unscathed, a sense of achievement is sadly missing since the obstacles are very easy to navigate through. In the more later levels the obstacles become absurdly difficult turning your ease in the first few levels intro extreme frustration.

Graphics wise, we expected this game to be a beauty considering the last prince of Persia was a cell shaded masterpiece. Repeated enemy textures anyone? There’s no noticeable variety in the opponents you encounter even in the environments you playthrough. Even on the PC where everything should look a lot better than in consoles (provided you have a powerful PC), the game looks and feels bland.

The sound design isn’t particularly notable either. Voice acting is on the shabby but acceptable end. The sword clashes and sound effects of boulders and catapults don’t excite the senses. The music is pretty standard fare too.

As for replay value, there isn’t much. Yes, you can play it again if you want to, but you’ll be doing the same things you did on your first playthrough leaving no room for decision making in this railed out action adventure.

Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands is a disappointment considering the satisfactory success of the movie it came out with.

Graphics – 5
Sound – 5
Gameplay – 4
Replay Value – 3