Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

The story of Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is set between events in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. The Prince is sent by his father (King Sharaman) to an unnamed kingdom at the edge of their family's territory so that he can learn leadership and battle skills from his brother Prince Malik. Apparently, the Prince's family do not remember his previous adventures in Azad and think he has no experience at all.

When the Prince arrived at the kingdom, he learns that his brother's army is on the verge of defeat by invaders. When they finally meet up, Malik reveals that he intends to release King Solomon's Army. The Prince argued for caution but Malik insists that he has no choice. The sand army is uncontrollable however and among those released by Malik using a magical seal was Ratash, an Ifrit lord in Solomon's time. Ratash created the sand army and attacked humans in the past. Solomon and the other Djinns imprisoned Ratash as punishment.

In the ensuing panic following Ratash's release, the brothers are separated. Each one holds a piece of the magical seal. The Prince later meets Razia, a Djinn, who offered help. She instructs the Prince that the two seals must be reunited to lock up Ratash once again. Razia also gives the Prince power to help him fight the sand army.

The Prince on his way to meet his brother Prince Malik

Prince Malik about to use the seal to release Solomon's Army

If you have played the Prince of Persia Trilogy, the combat is pretty much the same but with some changes in magic. Jumping, wall running, wall rebounding, climbing, rolling, and banner dropping are still the acrobatic skills the Prince will rely on to get to the next level. The Prince can control fire, water, wind, and earth. There is a skill tree for upgrading. Among those the Prince can learn are Power of Time, Power of Flow, Power of Flight, Power of Memory, Ice Blast, Whirlwind, Trail of Flame, and Stone Armor.

Learning when to use the right combos, magic and timing the evasions right will be useful because the Prince cannot block. He is forced to fight a lot of enemies, a crowd of sand creatures, in this game than in previous installments. Does that make combat more difficult? Not really. The sand creatures move slow and their attacks are easy to evade. If you've also played the other Prince of Persia games, combat won't be a problem if you can maximize the Prince's athleticism. There are still some quick time events but these usually show up with the bigger bosses. The tricky parts of the game are the environment obstacles and the puzzles.

Ratash

Overall, The Forgotten Sands is a great experience. The combat is not as impressive as I expected but the new abilities are interesting.

Rating: 8 out of 10