Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (Xbox 360) review "Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is the closest Ubisoft has ever come, and probably ever will come, to replicating 2003’s brilliant The Sands of Time. It certainly took them long enough to figure out that this is what we’ve always wanted; Ubisoft’s habit with this series has been to try something new, be taken aback by criticism, and then revert to formula when they realize that what they created never needed to be tampered with. "

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is the closest Ubisoft has ever come, and probably ever will come, to replicating 2003’s brilliant The Sands of Time. It certainly took them long enough to figure out that this is what we’ve always wanted; Ubisoft’s habit with this series has been to try something new, be taken aback by criticism, and then revert to formula when they realize that what they created never needed to be tampered with.

That it’s taken so long to get here is ultimately Forgotten’s biggest problem. This is now the fifth game that the modern incarnation of this series has produced, and the dizzying acrobatics that define these games isn’t as revelatory as it once was. Sands took us all by complete surprise, whereas Forgotten is precisely what you’d expect it to be. It makes you wish Ubisoft hadn’t spent so much time putzing around with Nolan North and that Dark Prince character, because if they hadn't, perhaps Forgotten would still have felt fresh.

It’s still a lot of fun, though, for the same reasons Sands and (to a lesser extent) The Two Thrones were. That’s not surprising, given how much Forgotten pays homage to those titles. It more or less pretends the 2008 reboot never happened – fine by me – and has Yuri Lowenthal reprising his role as last console generation’s gallant Prince. The series returns to its linear roots, and most of the game is set in an enormous palace rendered in various shades of brown. The lion’s share of the script has the Prince making humorous quips to himself or exchanging banter with a female sidekick (who for some reason has a Russian accent). It’s a very familiar experience, to understate it.

Where all of this familiarity becomes a good thing is in the platforming, which is as smooth, tight and exhilarating as it ever was. When Sands was released seven years ago, I commented to myself that you could be floored watching the Prince pull off these sensational acrobatic feats, only to play the game and again be floored by how deviously simple it all is to control. The Prince’s parkour abilities – running along walls, swinging from poles, sliding down inclines – make for platforming sequences that look incredibly complex at a glance, yet become second nature in practice. The best games make players feel like superheroes, and the Prince of Persia series has its own extraordinarily effective method of doing so.

The old control scheme is back, too, much to my relief; incorporating the right trigger into wall-shimmies feels infinitely more comfortable than the 2008 version’s large automated system. The old time-reversal mechanic, that wonderful innovation of instant-death platforming, also makes a welcome return and gives players a cautious pat on the behind. There’s always room for error, but not too much error.

Forgotten has a few new tricks up its sleeve, too, and they really expand upon the parkour platforming, giving this title an identity all of its own by the second half of the adventure. The most prominent of the Prince’s new abilities is the power to solidify water by slowing down time – which doesn’t make much sense, I guess, but go with it. This starts as a way of incorporating new objects into the environment – a waterfall becomes a wall, a fountain spout becomes a pole, and so on – but becomes increasingly more urgent as players are called upon to change the flow of water often in the middle of a platforming sequence. For example, you’re swinging from a stream of water, you jump off, and then you’ve got to release the left trigger to pass through the waterfall that separates you from the platform you’re trying to reach. Stuff like that.

Man, you should see some of the things you’ll have to pull off by the game’s final act. All four of the shoulder buttons play a vital role in Forgotten, and your index fingers will be given quite an exercise: You’re running along walls with the right trigger, you’re changing the flow of water with the left trigger, you’re literally summoning pieces of scenery out of thin air with the left bumper, and time reversal is mapped to the right bumper. Forgotten’s camera is constantly sweeping over extended gravity-defying jumping puzzles that look impossible to complete, and it’s such an empowering feeling to turn that skepticism on its side by pulling it off perfectly. And if you screw up, hey, rewind and try again.

Now then, the elephant in the room. Show of hands: Who plays Prince of Persia games for combat?

Way back when I played Thrones for the first time, I commented that combat is always the biggest problem with this series, and that future iterations would be better off without any action whatsoever. Stick to what the series does consistently well, I say. Forgotten does have combat, and it’s all the worse because of it. Even the few steps forward that the swordicuffs in previous games have explored – such as stealth kills in Thrones – are ignored here in favor of simple, clumsy button-mashing. It’s not even distinct anymore; this is just God of War without the style, depth or brutality.

I’ll tell you what, though: If the combat in Forgotten can be credited with one thing, it’s for not slowing the game down. Even Sands came to a dead stop whenever the Prince was forced to draw his sword. Here, dozens of enemies can fill the screen at any time, yet the Prince slices through them with such astonishing ease that most battles, no matter how intimidating, are over in a flash. Plus, a newfound experience system and skill tree represent a feasible reward for your work. I don’t want to give the impression that the combat is good, but at the very least, it’s quick and painless. This is probably the first Prince of Persia game in which I wasn’t outright dreading every single enemy encounter, so, y’know, baby steps.

Maybe it’s still a little hasty to call Forgotten a modern incarnation of Sands – the simplistic story is nowhere near as charming, and it’s too short to leave a lasting impact – but I’m pleased to see the series return to form, and an end-of-credits promise to continue exploring this Prince’s story makes me all the more excited. Of course, knowing Ubisoft, they’ll probably experiment for the next entry before coming to their senses again. If that’s the case, enjoy tradition while it lasts.

Community review by Suskie (June 12, 2010) Mike Suskie is a freelance writer who has contributed to GamesRadar and has a blog. He can usually be found on Twitter at @MikeSuskie.