I am a sinner. I am a games critic that not only enjoyed Prince of Persia 2008 but has also never played Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. I’ve watched it being played and I’ve got it on my list of games to go back to one day, but sadly I did not experience it back when it was new and had nothing else to make comparisons to.

Yet even for me it was pretty clear that The Forgotten Sands was a cash-in attempt on the film’s release as well as the disappointed fans of the franchise. It takes place between Sands of Time and Warrior Within, allowing players to enjoy the character before he smoldered with a generic rage. The acrobatic platforming is the primary draw to the game with the combat playing second fiddle. In other words, a return to form after Warrior Within went with a more action-oriented approach.

Unfortunately the story feels as if it was shoe-horned in for the sake of making a game that would follow Sands of Time. There is no real growth or change in the Prince, nor does there seem to be any explanation on how the events of the game trickle into the rest of the series. After doing some research I’ve discovered that, on the whole, there is none! It is a pointless addition that adds nothing to the series.

I’m not kidding about that, either. Aside from some abilities like freezing water and lunging through the air into an enemy, there’s nothing here that wasn’t in a previous game or in Prince of Persia 2008. It’s a completely pointless addition in story and in gameplay.

Yet that doesn’t stop it from being fun, which I shall get to tomorrow.

“Wait a second!” someone cries. “That’s it? All of the negative problems in the new Prince of Persia summed up in less than three-hundred words?!”

Yup.

Continue to the positive impressions

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