It’s difficult to say whether the release of Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is a response to middling reaction to 2008’s Prince of Persia, or to the imminent release of the film—the truth probably exists somewhere in between. The 2008 series entry was a confused affair; more fun to watch than it was to play, the game featured a unique art style, an intriguing universe and a couple of fun characters, but little actual game. Playing like one massive, unfolding quicktime event , little challenge was offered except to those rabid completionists looking to reach every dubiously placed orb.
The Forgotten Sands fixes many of its predecessor’s mistakes, though I wonder if it was by conscious decision, or merely adherence to the conventions of the previous Sands of Time trilogy. Fans of that trilogy will find the game extremely familiar; all the old trappings are there: the Prince once again finds himself fighting an army of sand creatures, scaling questionably constructed palaces, evading ubiquitous traps, and saving himself from embarrassing falls with the power to reverse time. As someone who loved the Sands of Time games, it was immediately satisfying to sit down with these old conventions and play what, to my mind, constituted the first “real” Prince of Persia game since 2005’s Two Thrones.