Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

One of the early heroes of the games is back in Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands to show us what happened to him during the seven years separating the first two games of the sands trilogy. Ubisoft decided to leave behind the model used in the gorgeous Prince of Persia in 2008 and build on the trilogy of the past generation, adding unpublished game mechanics. So forget everything you know about the thief who lost his donkey and met Elika. The aim of this new title is to take the player back to what we know in 2003. If you became a fan of the franchise at the time, you can now celebrate because the material we have in Forgotten Sands honor its name. This story begins when the prince travels to the kingdom of his brother Malik to help win the war against the invaders. His brother, obsessed, for a solution to combat the enemies, decides to unleash the army of King Solomon sealed centuries ago. Although the prince states that story is too old to be taken seriously, Malik unleashes the army and learns the worst.

It turns out that those skeleton soldiers did not serve Solomon, but were sent to destroy his kingdom. After freeing the greatest evil that has ravaged their lands, each brother takes half of the seal that held the ancient creatures and break apart. Soon the prince realizes that all the townspeople were frozen and he discovers through mystical aid that only by restoring the seal will be able to save the world. The problem is that his brother did not want to give up the object that prevents it from being dominated by the forces of evil and a battle between them is inevitable. It is from here that he starts to learn about leadership and how to use his powers.

We've already lost count of how many times this prince has saved the world alone, so it's really a shame he isn't one of the most charismatic characters. Most times he speaks with an irony tone about his lack of luck, but when the situation demands it can get serious. You'll recognize the voice if played the trilogy in the past generation, because it's the same voice of Yuri Lowenthal. The rest of the small cast can fulfill its role, especially the guardian of water Razia, who helps the prince on his journey by sharing wisdom and mystical powers.

At the beginning of the adventure the combat is pretty simplistic, With only three hits the soldiers are dead, the initial impression is not great, but hopefully things will improve to which you get new attacks. Sometimes a destroyed enemy leaves a present that can be red orbs, which recover your life, or blue, to regain magic. These same orbs can be obtained when you break pots scattered across the landscape. This form of recovery is different from that used in the classic trilogy. Previously you would have to come to a sacred spring to reclaim his life and save your progress. The reason for the retrieval system has been changed because now the battles are much more commonplace than before. Instead of facing an enemy at a time in dramatic battles, here you face real bloodthirsty hordes of skeletons and other creatures.

Although the quantity, in terms of variety the enemies is fairly poor, but satisfactory when compared to the game from 2008. There were soldiers with shields, bombers, armored giants, huge beetles, but none of it requires a change in the combat strategy. That goes for the bosses too. This time you also earn experience points by defeating enemies. There is an unprecedented upgrades system which you can convert the experience gained in combat on new powers and upgrades. Choose wisely how best to spend your points because even at the end of the adventure you will not have completed all the skills. The fastest way to evolve is finding coffins hidden along the way.

Perhaps the most positive highlight of Prince of Persia: The Sands Forgotten are the creative magic powers that almost reinvent the well-known game mechanics. Besides the classic power to go back and correct the mistakes, we have many other resources to prevent death. Although again it's possible to die in the franchise, this is an easy game for those who are accustomed to do well over time. Certainly the traps give more work than the fighting here. As an example of what we have in the platform sequences, you can now fly up to enemies like a rocket, causing massive damage to whoever is on the road or nearby, if you have the skills improved. This also means that you can reach remote areas. Using this power in birds, you can jump to other birds or higher platforms. Another unique feature is the ability to rematerialize buildings.

Water has a key role in The Forgotten Sands. At some point, you gain the ability to solidify the water to use it as a wall, pilaster or cable. Using and abusing this wonder is possible to reach  previously inaccessible areas. What excites this appeal is the fact that it can be activated and deactivated at any time, even in midair. That is, consider the following action: you go through a waterfall with a leap, jump from one wall to the same waterfall on the opposite side, which only activates its power to turn the waterfall on one wall, then you climb it and jump to the running other side. All in a split second. This is just one example of the various maneuvers you can do with water while the spell lasts.

Unfortunately, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands does not take the franchise to the next level, but does everything well enough to entertain from start. The longtime fans have no way to be disappointed, but those who prefer the art style taken in 2008 will have to wait for another sequel.

Marco Cecilio, NoobFeed