Could have easily been the best in series.....
Anyways for those who don't know, the Prince Of Persia series was easily one of last generations best Action Adventure series along the likes of God Of War and Devi May Cry. The critic scores and more importanty the User Ratings scores speak for themselves as in the case of the sands of time, warrior within and two thrones.
Even though there were some discrepancies in the SOT trilogy (Fans fighting between SOT and WW as the best in series), the recent installments in the series have created a much deeper worry for the fans i.e. the waning and dare i say destruction of one of the Oldest Legendary franchises (20 years).
The 2008 release though not terrible, was way different from a prince of persia game. However it was something new and something fresh. Disappointed by the sales and the ratings of the 2008 new prince, the veteran Prince Of Persia of SOT decided to make his grand debut on the next gen consoles.
Named the forgotten sands and as guessed the story lies between the sands of time and warrior within, the game seems nowhere what so ever between the two games. Plus to add to the misery the prince's face is totally different and not in a good way (like WW or T2T).
The game has its solid points. The platforming is at its very best and shows exactly why this franchise had been so great not just because of its combat system or story but also the platforming, puzzles and the traps.
Speaking of the combat system, it isn't terrible. But for hardcore Warrior Within fans like myself it is disappointing. Especially when you consider the slower but amazing combat system of Assassin's Creed 2 you just wonder why this game could not have had Warrior Within's combat + Assassin's Creed 2 counters.
The graphics are also solid. Built on the Anvil engine which powered ac 2, pop fs manages to fix the shadow problems that marred the beautiful graphics of ac 2 to some extent. The graphics are easily some of the best graphics that you will see this year atleast on the PC.
The main problem is not the combat system. It could have been tolerated since its understandable that the game is before warrior within. But still there should have been a counter system similar to sands of time.
Anyways the main problem of this game is the story. No references to the prince's past, no mention of farah or even a slight subtle hint of the dahaka (since he is supposed to have chased the prince for 7 years). Plus unnecessary additions like Razia and Ratash. Malik was a great character and there could have been some backstory about him, maybe make him a playable character.
Powers are good. The Rewind time is back. You also have water freeze. The only good attack is the Whirlwind. The Fire, Freeze and Stone Armor attack are weak attempts and a testament to ubisoft's lack of understanding of the words "Magic Spells". The last hour is however very epic with amazing scales like Gow 3 and similar to mental realm but much better.
The game could have been an easy 8.5 or even maybe 9 if it had gore, a good combat system and proper back-story relating SOT to WW.
Another disappointing thing is that the game ends in a cliff hanger. So a Trilogy within a trilogy can be expected which is a sad news. They should have had only one good Solid revisit to the SOT Series.
The 2008 prince was understandable. Ubisoft were going downhill after two thrones. Double agent, Far cry 2 were disappointment. AC though good was repetitive and did not deliver as it was hyped. So same thing was expected with one of Ubisoft's best franchises.
However after a game like AC 2 this was not what was expected. My suggestion would be to either stop with the POP games and continue with the actual next gen pop game which is AC or stop revisiting the SOT series and make a solid sequel to the 2008 prince of persia. But alas the hope for an Excellent prince of persia game like last generation is non-existent.
And lastly Prince Of Persia these days has become just a platformer. SOT series was known for its graphics, combat, story, platforming, traps, puzzles in short everything - 3 all round games. So if Ubisoft wants to make a Solid prince of persia game they need to have a solid story and combat system and not just great platforming something like Assassin's Creed 2 or Warrior Within which i still believe IMO are two of Ubisoft's Best All Round Games ever created.
Game can only be recommended to hardcore POP fans that too if you are more of a SOT fan than WW. Non-POP fans can only play if they are more interested in platforming than anything else. I would rather suggest you to pick up a 5$ copy of the Prince Of Persia Sands Of Time Trilogy and definitely try one of last generations best Trilogies if you have never played prince of persia and are thinking about giving this one a try.