Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands – Preview

It’s tough to admit to a mistake. Really tough. But if any company in the game development world is prepared to do it, then it’s Ubisoft. The previous addition to the Prince of Persia series appeared on Xbox 360 and PS3 and disappointed a great number of players by being far too easy and unengaging. So, like the Prince himself, Ubisoft is hitting the rewind button and heading back to a better time.

Yes, the Prince is indeed going back to Persia, and he’s taking his sands with him. And despite the upcoming movie, this is no tie-in. Ubi is adamant that The Forgotten Sands is brand-new original experience ‘built from the ground up’ (whatever that means), which utilizes both the Wii’s exemplary motion controls and the Prince’s new-found elemental abilities – it’s not just time that the Prince can manipulate.

Many puzzles and environmental hazards require you take control of water and wind as well as mastering your considerable athletic prowess. One devious puzzle sees the Prince having to actually freeze large bodies of water in order to progress.

The Prince has to use levers to activate water jets, which he then freezes to use as poles to spin on and then get to higher ground. It’s fantastically inventive, and the exact type of thing that made the modern Prince of Persia games so appealing in the first place. That, combined with the time-rewind mechanic that single-handedly eliminates the frustration associated with platforming, means that the Forgotten Sands is shaping up like a real return to form.

The final thing to get excited about is combat, which is where the motion controls start to come into their own. Unlike the previous Prince of Persia game, which featured solely one-on-one battles against strange beasties, The Forgotten Sands goes back to the Sands Trilogy’s multi-enemy battles, with even more enemies on screen than ever before, and a slicker, smoother system for moving between them and slicing them up. Motion control is tight and intelligent too, so you won’t be hindered by inaccurate swings of your Remote.

Ultimately, our initial impression is that The Forgotten Sands could well be everything that dedicated Prince of Persia fans have been clamoring for, and there’s not a bare-chested Jake Gyllenhaal in sight…

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