UbiSoft's latest installment of its much heralded franchise
Unlike some of the other games I have reviewed I am very familiar with The Prince of Persia franchise. I’ve been enjoying the games ever sense The Sands of Time. The franchise has had its low points, but it was also a great leap forward in 3D platforming. There were few games that properly executed the 3D platformer. Most struggled to not disorient the player as they jumped from platform to platform. Prince of Persia excelled where other platformers failed. UbiSoft added par core and buttery smooth animations as well as a solid control scheme and inventive level designs. It was a joy to watch Prince flow across and around his obstacles with little frustrations to the player.
Now we enter some tricky ground with this newest installment. Sure it has its more powerful console counterparts, but this review is about the Wii game. The Wii game is different from both the 360 and PS3 versions. It is made specifically for Wii. The graphics are serviceable, but not stunning like past games were. The Forgotten Sands rehashes earlier Prince games. But that’s not always a bad thing. That being said; there are some additions but not all of them are good.
Overall Experience:
The Forgotten Sands starts off its story vaulting the player right into the action. Players will quickly meet a genie who leads them through treacherous territory as they orient themselves with the Wiimote controls. As typical of PoP games the majority of gameplay happens because Prince makes a careless mistake that he must undo. Players will spend a good three quarters of the game chasing down and containing their mistake. The player will quickly acquire their first powers and will be well on their way to enjoying the puzzles and platforming that sparkles in Prince of Persia.
The story is mostly entertaining, but I feel there is a freshness missing. Maybe The Forgotten Sands doesn’t seems as classy as some former games. The Sands of Time (2003) had a great mechanic of rewinding time that was supported by an interesting story. This game seems a little lazy in its execution and overall meshing of the story and gameplay. Some of the powers you acquire by way of the story are interesting, but it almost feels like the story was pasted on top of some great gameplay ideas. Don’t expect a mind blowing tale, and don’t expect to connect on any type of deep level with the characters. The voice acting by Yuri Lowenthal, who played the Prince, is done well. No longer do we have the gruff biker voice of previous games in the franchise. We’re back to that likable British accent. The narrator is also a welcomed performance. Some of the voice acting is good but most of it falls flat. The genie’s voice is really bad. My wife says she sounds like a Care Bear. She is very right.
Gameplay Trailer
The new powers exclude the ability to rewind time. In place of that ability when players die the game automatically sends them back to the object they were on before they died. It removes the guess work that accompanies rewinding time, but keeps the efficiency of starting back where the player left off. No longer will players find themselves falling to their doom because they didn’t rewind time far enough. The abilities Prince acquires are great additions. It frees up the game and allows players to make their own paths. I found myself having to think more about where I was going because there was a platform in front of me that didn’t necessarily mean that’s where I went. I had to judge if that was the best way to proceed. The new powers include the ability to create hooks to hang from walls, manifest a vortex that creates a higher platform, and a defensive bubble that allows players to float in midair. All these powers can be used consecutively and by the end of the game all platforming will depend on them. What starts out strange and disorienting at the beginning of the game becomes natural by the end.
The Prince in his magical bubble
The controls are just as tight as they were in previous games. Animations are fairly smooth and the frame rate holds at a mostly consistent 60 frames per second. There has been a great addition to the controls that may seem like a hand holding assist but quickly I excepted it. I hope they put it in all future Prince of Persia games (at least while they’re in this format). In previous games it was sometimes hard to tell if you were going to jump on a platform. Camera angles made it difficult to judge and would often lead to Prince falling down bottomless pits. Now there is a sort of tether of light (for lack of a better term) that projects itself onto platforms and helps the player know if Prince can make a certain jump or wall run. At the beginning this may seem like it’s unnecessarily simplifying the game, but becomes very useful as paths and platforms become more complicated and abstract.
Platforming is where The Forgotten Sands excels. The developers really did a proper job of making levels challenging, fun, and even sometimes mind boggling. Some of the level design even borders on Mario Galaxy type stuff. No longer is there a set path. Prince can trudge his own trail if the player desires. The level designers completely embraced the magic of the universe and broke out of the box that so many platformers suffer from. The greatest feelings are when the camera pans back and the players sees a seemingly impossible path that they have no idea how to get through, but obstacle by trapezing obstacle they find their way.
I didn’t think this game was as bad as others have claimed. I went into The Forgotten Sands with low expectations, but after all eleven and a half hours of the game I was pleasantly surprised, but as much as I liked it there were some problems. These problems include a sometimes annoying and disorienting camera (which I believe all PoP have suffered from), a poor implementation of combat, half baked graphics, and a mediocre narrative.
Combat is just, meh...
Combat is probably the most problematic of all the things mentioned above. PoP games have had a hard time finding footing when it comes to combat. I think the third game, The Two Thrones, had the best combat of all the games. In this newest game UbiSoft scrapped everything good about combat in The Two Thrones. I believe they were going for a God of War type battle system. They failed. Prince isn’t fast enough, he’s not strong enough, and the enemies are annoying to hit. All enemies are fought in what the game calls, “Battle Arenas.” The player must defeat these enemies to escape the room. It’s Similar to Devil May Cry. These battle arenas are somewhat rare but can still be annoying after finishing some of the great platforming sections.
It will take around 12 to complete the main story. After beating the game there are several perks. These include: Developer diaries, the original Prince of Persia 2D game, a 2D challenge, a speed run challenge, and even Hero Achievements. The latter are very similar to Achievements or Trophies on other consoles. This game could easily turn into a Forty Hour experience if everything is completed. Some of the Hero Achievements appear to be close to impossible included, “Don’t not die during the main adventure.” I don’t even want to think about that one.
Crap Index:
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is a relatively tame game that I felt comfortable playing around my daughter. Some of the combat may be a little graphic, but there is no blood. Enemies are mostly abstract creatures that don’t resemble humans. Some of the creatures may be too scary for young children. A few enemies look like mummified rotting belly dancers. These enemies show skin, but it’s rotting green skin. There is no nudity or cursing in the game. There are scenes where Prince kisses a statue for some magical powers. I would encourage that children are explained the fairy tale elements of this story. There are hints of mid-eastern religion throughout the game, but, hello, it takes place in ancient Persia.
Kissing a Statue
Prince is a pure hero. There are little to no flaws about him. He’s self sacrificial and besides beating the tar out of evil apparition type enemies he does little violence in the game. The story is one of self sacrifice and teaches lessons on the difference between what we want and what we need. In the end Prince chooses life over a kingdom.
The Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is a light PG type game. There is even a cooperation mode where a second player can join in on the fun. Middle schoolers to high schoolers and even adults should be perfectly fine with playing this game. If you have to choose between the new movie and this game-- get this game.
Overall Experience: 8.2
Crap Index: 8.5
Average: 8.3
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