Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

Whatever Ubisoft choose to tell you - Prince Of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is a movie tie-in. It's therefore refreshing to see a movie tie-in grounded in great video game mechanics - though the source material naturally helps. Prince Of Persia: The Forgotten Sands lacks ambition, in that it is more of what's come before. Alas, the game's fluid and dotted with stunning set-pieces. It's a solid platformer, and a decent entry in a revered franchise.

The prince's new abilities add unexpected wrinkles to the standard jumping and running, continually tossing in new ideas to keep you transfixed until the thrilling final sequence. Despite its slow start and shallow combat, this is another fun entry in the long-running franchise. Series veterans will once again marvel at the prince's uncanny ability to reach higher ground while newcomers will wonder why they took so long to tag along for the ride. The problems keep this from joining the ranks of the best games in the franchise, but this is still a good effort that surprises and entertains.

Unfortunately, between the camera issues, the couple of glitches found in the game, and the weaker combat style, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands fails to fully satisfy the fans. Luckily, this is not to say it isn't a very enjoyable game. There's still plenty of action and plenty of fun to be had, as long as you can overcome these flaws. Like I said before, the level design and the platforming are possibly the best ever found in a game, and the puzzles are clever and satisfying, so you have to enjoy the game for what it has to offer and look past its blunders.