Nintendo Okie

Prince of Persia has been a flagship title in the platforming genre for a number of years now, going all the way back to the days of the Commodore 64. He’s seen a number of different titles and looks throughout the years. Wii missed out on the reboot of the franchise in 2008, but Ubisoft has gone back to the system in a big way with Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. This game takes things back to the previous Sands of Time trilogy and falls in the timeline between The Sands of Time and Warrior Within. Ubisoft also took the time to build the game from the ground up for Wii making this game a completely different experience from the HD versions of the game. A choice that was, ultimately, a very wise decision for the developer.

Visually Breathtaking

There is no denying that Ubisoft Quebec took the time to really use the Wii’s hardware to full advantage. Everything about the game screams attention to detail. Aside from a few extreme close-ups of things everything in the world of the Prince has amazingly crafted details. Bushes and trees feel like they’re real objects that you can see through. Canyon walls are filled with crevices, nooks and crannies for the Prince to grab a hold of and crawl around on. Even the enemies, while few in type are presented as beings made of the earth filled with dust and vines. There is no doubt about anything that you can use as a platform. Areas that you can crawl on have scratches that look like people have been there before. Light is reflected from enemies and objects in ways you might not have seen out of games on the Wii before now.

Perfect Platforming

One of the issues that many people had with the franchise reboot in 2008 and that I had with the handheld version of The Forgotten Sands is that you didn’t feel like mistakes cost you anything. That sense of danger is very present in The Forgotten Sands. Thanks to the dagger of time you do have limited ability to take back your mistakes and try again, but those chances have to be earned by picking up glowing golden orbs and it’s not always easy to get these. Many times they will be tucked away in far corners of the levels that you might not immediately go to and you’ll have to balance the risk of dying with the chance to recover them. For newcomers to the game Ubisoft has included a bit of a help feature with a beam of light that if you are properly lined up will show you the path to the next platform. It gives these new fans the ability to learn the levels while old veterans will be able to fly through the levels when they see the path before the light shows the way. Hitting these platforming areas in quick succession without stopping has always and continues to be one of the most fulfilling moments in my gaming history.

Fans of the series know it’s not just about jumping from one platform to another. You have to solve puzzles while moving along. This can come in a number of forms and they’re used quite well in this new game. You’ll have to create handholds on spinning platforms, create plumes of sand to get over spiked logs and jump through spinning blades. The game does such a good job with showing you the path that many of these actions will become second nature.

Also present is a hint system that if you spend too long in a given area will give you the option of having the game tell you where you need to go. It won’t tell you how to get there, but it will show you where you need to go to get out of the area that you’re stuck in.

This Game Was Built For Wii

That’s been something that I’ve praised any developer for. It’s been seemingly very easy for developers to build a game for the 360 or the PS3, port it to Wii and when the game doesn’t sell well they complain. Some developers have learned that if you take the time to build the game for Wii you will often be rewarded with success. The Forgotten Sands on Wii is built perfectly for the system. The Wii Remote pointer is used in conjunction with new Sand Powers that will let you adapt a level to get to unreachable areas. Simply point the Wii Remote at a wall, press the B button and you now have a hook that you can hold on to. Point at the ground and you can create a plume of sand that you can ride to higher areas. The Wii Remote is used as your sword in combat and this is the one area that suffers a little bit. There is no real differentiation between swings of the Wii Remote. You just swing to attack anyone in the area. You can alternatively swing the Nunchuk to punch and this is used as well to soften up some enemies before you can use your sword on them. Your Sand Powers can also be used in combat to stun or damage enemies from a distance giving you some control over how you fight groups of enemies.

Loads of Extras

Creating reasons to go back to a game has been something developers struggle with. Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands includes tons of things that keep you playing the game and wanting to come back for more. In addition to having these new sand powers you also have the ability to level them up by performing challenges in the game. You won’t necessarily know what these challenges are, but I was constantly completing heroic challenges that gave me new abilities or extras that I unlocked. There is even an unlockable version of the original Prince of Persia game from 1989. The unlockable game I enjoyed most was a much better looking version of a 2D platformer. It’s independent of the main game and quite a lot of fun to play around in when you’re done with the main adventure. It uses the same engine of The Forgotten Sands, but puts everything in a side scrolling platformer. If nothing else, having this makes finding all the hidden stuff worth it.

It’s Not Always Your Fault When You Die

One of the problems with building sprawling areas in a three dimensional world is that it’s not always easy to tell where you’re pointing. Even with this built in light beam guide it’s sometimes easy to be going too fast and not have a jump or wall run lined up properly. Because of this you’ll occasionally run off a cliff when you intended to run up a wall to a hook. It’s not necessarily the fault of the game, but of 3D worlds in general, but it’s frustrating, no matter, when this happens. The help feature alleviates some of this frustration though if you have the opportunity to take your time through levels.

Combat Is at Times Repetitive

This comes in because of the fact there are only half a dozen or so different types of enemies that you’ll face throughout the game. These fights boil down to realizing you’ve faced this enemy before and remembering the proper technique to defeat them. Sometimes it may take a couple deaths to figure them out, but checkpoints are scattered often enough that this is usually not a problem. Despite that it does get tiring fighting the same enemies over and over again. The only thing that makes these fights different is that you’ll face different combinations of the same enemies meaning you just need to decide who is the most dangerous to you at any given point and take them out first. Even with the Sand Powers it becomes a bit of a chore to waggle the Wii Remote before being able to move on.

Conclusion:

It would have been very easy for Ubisoft to create a watered down, graphically inferior port of the 360/PS3 game. They chose, instead, to devote a separate team to creating this game and it paid off. It’s not perfect. There are times when the difficulty can be a bit much. The features that are unique to Wii make this game appealing and the inclusion of the original game means that veterans of the series have something to look for. They also have the chance to tie two stories from the Sands of Time trilogy together. The new light beam and hint systems also mean that newcomers will find the game enjoyable and they have a perfect platforming complement to Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Final Score: 4/5 Above Average

Played through the game in its entirety. Unlocked new maps, the original 1989 version of the game.
Total Play Time:15+ hours
Review copy of the game provided by Ubisoft.