Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (Wii)

Dude never catches a break. (Note: My screenshots in this
article come from LongplayArchive's video of the
game. Go check it out!)

Jumping from a Prince of Persia game to the next, and in fact, jumping into the... uh... This is weird. The Sands of Time trilogy continues in two entries, Warrior Within released in 2004 and The Two Thrones released in 2005. However, things got meddled in this continuity with the addition of two interquels taking place between Sands of Time and Warrior Within: The first is a DS game titled Battles of Prince of Persia, while the other is today’s game, released for the Wii and other platforms on May 18th, 2010 in North America.

We know how messy Ubisoft gets with its multi-platform releases... well, The Forgotten Sands is an even stranger beast as, though it was released on many consoles and for PC, most versions follow a different story. The Wii version is no exception – so it’s possible you might have played another version and never heard this tale. Let's dig in right away and see which adventures the Prince got into before the actual sequel to his story.

A Kingdom to Call My Own

We open in the heat of action as the Prince is parkour-ing his way out of another crumbling castle. Though this time he is followed by a speaking light revealed to be a djann (a female djinn) named Zahra. Fleeing as the place falls apart, our hero must use his physical skills to make it out alive. Now that’s a great feel for a tutorial!

I swear this guy is so good at crawling up walls he
puts the Spider-Men to shame.

This is where we learn our new moves. The Prince has gotten better since his last adventure! For starters, he can climb walls from a horizontal crack (not just ledges) to another and can even climb up and down vertical cracks without any issue. Whereas back in Sand of Time when he ran up a wall he had to jump off backwards, this time he slides down the wall, preventing him jumping to his death. Not a lot of differences overall, but the additions make him even more versatile platforming-wise than he was before – no small feat. Extra abilities gained later down the line will add even more.

Flash back to the actual beginning of this story. Our protagonist has found Zahra at a mysterious market. His wish? A kingdom all to himself, to come back to his father with something to show for his efforts. It’s a commendable goal for certain. (Shouldn't he be running from time-paradox monsters according to Warrior Within, though?)

It is my personal headcanon that Zahra chose that specific
method of transfer of powers just so she could get
some free kisses.

The first stop is an oasis with a waterfall. (One cool thing with this game is that, if you check around, you can unlock some bonuses. One of them is the 1992 version of the original Prince of Persia game, found by drinking a potion found behind the waterfall. Will I have to review that one too?) Zahra absorbs herself into a statue and asks the Prince to kiss it, and when he does, he is granted a form of immortality tying him to the djann’s. (In gameplay terms, it basically just means we can’t get game overs. Dying? Oh, we’ll die a LOT.) This opens to him the path towards the mystical kingdom of Izdihar, the one she promised to him.

Some Better, Some Worse

Better collect all those orbs whenever possible.

Down the path, before we’re even explained the situation, we encounter minions of the Haoma. Plant-like creatures. Combat here uses motion controls. We use the Wiimote to swing the sword and the Nunchuk to throw a punch. These are the basics. However...

I love the little ding, this announcement of a new skill or
upgrade. Surely this will come in handy against the
plant minotaurs.

This game includes an experience system. You get experience from beating enemies and collecting light orbs known as djinn souls. During your travels, you can break jars and treasure chests to gain additional EXP, though the ones with higher worth are hidden in more dangerous places or behind puzzles. At every new “level”, the Prince gains a new attack or an improvement to a previous one. A speedy attack made from jumping off a wall? Swinging both remotes at the same time for a spin attack? Jumping above an enemy for a powerful move? Yep. Combat here feels leagues ahead from what it was like in Sands of Time, and clearly the seven years and 2-3 installments between these two helped a ton.

And as a bonus, this time around you can 
pick who to direct your attacks to!
The game doesn't choose for you!

In the game I reviewed last week, all the sand creatures used melee tactics and swarmed the player. In Forgotten Sands (Wii), we have variety that forces us to rethink our strategies. We’re facing mooks with ranged attack options like bows; giant minotaur-like monsters with shields to break before we can hurt them; horned monsters who attack rabidly; and priestesses who float, swiftly evade our attacks, and can heal other enemies. A new system has also been implemented where, in the last wave of enemies in a battle, one of them will glow with a blue light, marking it as the leader, and killing it will defeat the other remaining enemies, if any. The best part? Battles don't go on for-freaking-ever with constant respawns of 20+ enemies – aside from optional challenges, I don’t think I ever fought more than 15 enemies in a battle.

Platform upgrades gained through the story,
combat upgrades gained with EXP.
Simple concept, but it works pretty well.

The Let's Play I use for these screenshots foolishly avoids
most of the fountains. That player is brave. That's a safety
net I couldn't do without.

One major difference is the time manipulation. You can’t rewind. You have an HP bar (which can be upgraded by finding special areas) and three “charges” not unlike the dagger of Time’s (you unlock more later). You refill them by picking up djinn souls, three for a full charge. However, if your HP falls to 0... In combat, you respawn exactly where you were, at full health, good to keep fighting like nothing happened. In platforming, you reappear at the closest spawn point, of which there are a lot of. In both cases, if you run out of charges, instead of a Game Over, you’ll instead respawn at the latest save point (which are fountains) you interacted with, of which there’s also plenty, so you’re never too far back. It’s disappointing that we don’t get time rewind, but this works okay. This new setup would make the game easy if it weren’t, like its predecessors, hell-bent on killing you at every chance it gets, so it evens out the difficulty somewhat.

The Red Roots of Izdihar

Okay, that IS a pretty cool idea for a villain. It would be
like a wizard wearing a cloak of lava.

No, that's not the malformed monster. But if I
showed just screenshots of cutscenes, it'd feel
weird.

We’re once again relatively light on story here. The Prince and his djann get to the kingdom and see it overtaken by red roots, which are deadly to the touch. After discovering the kingdom’s curse, the Prince grabs at the sword in the stone, which was the seal on the corruption. When the weapon is released, so is a sorceress clad in red roots, who flies off to hide. Worse even, when the Prince is attacked by a malformed monster, he accidentally breaks the magical blade into its body. That sword is the only one that can seal the curse again, he needs to repair it – thus, we give chase.

Once again, we go through many areas in hot pursuit of the creature. There are only three boss battles in this game. The first one leaves an impression: A golem with three life bars, and when one is depleted, it picks a stone mask off the wall and gains a new one. The only downside to the battle is that the killing blow to each life bar is a QTE sequence, something that happens nowhere else. So unnecessary.

Now we're talking! Finally an interesting boss!
...with QTEs... Eh, it would have been too good without it.

Don't knock the seemingly-mundane ability to make hooks
appear on random walls; especially if it's used by someone
who is already a goddamn parkour master.

Throughout this journey, by kissing statues possessed by Zahra, the Prince gains Creation Powers, activated with the Wii remote’s B button and using the cursor. The first allows him to create magical hooks, first on specific wall symbols, later anywhere he wants. This also grants him the ability to freeze an enemy in place temporarily. The second lets him make a wind that rises upwards from the floor, taking him up to ledges that he couldn't reach otherwise. This comes with a skill to blow enemies upwards. The last skill lets the Prince create a bubble in midair, allowing him to jump again. He can only create one unless he's jumped off a different wall, hook or a different bubble. Those can also be used as shields in combat.

I kept forgetting about this Creation Power, which is kinda
dumb seeing as it's the best one to gain altitude fast.
You need it to reach ledges hooks + wall runs can't get to.

Don't let the malformations fool you; this monster can,
and will, knock you down with just a few swings of his
spiked mace. I know it alright.

After a looooooooooong pursuit, we find the malformed monster and battle it. When defeated, we get the blade back, and we learn that it was Izdihar's King, transformed by the curse. In his dying breaths, the sovereign asks the Prince to rescue his daughter. The next and final stop in this adventure is the Forge of the Gods, which will allow us to reforge the blade if we complete the four trials therein. I’ve had to go through a thousand goddamned trials in this kingdom, four more won’t hurt. You can do the four in any order, doesn’t matter; they’re all equally hard.

The bubbles also have the great effect of halting your falls
if you're about to die because of gravity.

Combat and platforming in the battle - yep, this is
the best way I could see a proper Prince of Persia
final boss to go.

With these trials complete, the forge opens and recreates the sword. A path opens towards the top of the castle where the Sorceress awaits with the heart of the Haoma. The final boss is in two phases: A combat against the Sorceress, and when her health is down, the plant opens, revealing its weak spot, which we must reach after a platforming sequence, always the same, which thankfully includes djinn souls. Three hits and the plant is destroyed, and so is the corruption and the sorceress, revealing herself to have been the princess, also mind-controlled by the plant. A vine pulls her down and the Prince, unable to pull her up, transfers her his immortal soul, the gift from Zahra at the beginning, so she'll survive the fall.

We're back to the beginning with the crumbling castle and go through that whole sequence again. Zahra opens a portal in the sands to save the Prince, taking him to the Realm of Eternal Fire, a playable epilogue. A spirit world of sorts between life and death which our hero, despite his best efforts, fails to escape from. In the end, Zahra has to sacrifice herself to propel him out and back to life. The Prince reappears in the oasis, with the last lights of the djann vanishing. He’s lost the kingdom, the princess, and the genie, but he did the right thing. So he walks away, off to his next adventures. Roll credits.

I know a big part of this series is how "even death won't
stop this guy", but this takes it to the next level. On the
other hand, without the djann, he really wouldn't have
made it out on his own...

Final thoughts

Once again, you get an amazing sense of grandeur and
immenseness to the places you visit. These games present
such incredible sights, if you can navigate them...

I enjoyed this one a lot, probably because many of the more frustrating elements of the previous Prince of Persia game I reviewed had been ironed out, seeing as this game was released seven years later and designed after a few more games were made in that continuity. The added experience can be felt, and this title improves in some major ways. Platforming is great once again. The inclusion of the Creation Powers adds an extra dimension to both the puzzle/platforming challenge of going from Point A to Point B, their upgrades obtained throughout are nice, and their extra uses in combat are welcome options.

Also the enemy types are introduced one by one and each
type brings a new variable to take into account.

Combat was improved with special moves and fights aren't drawn-out needlessly by over-spawning enemies, two sore points from Sands of Time that were corrected in the best way. What’s more, you can choose to improve your own fighting capabilities by seeking combat and going through extra puzzles to find treasure chests full of EXP. Heck, just having an EXP system with new skills unlocking over time is a good addition. Having varied enemy types, the concept of “leaders”, and three very creative boss battles... Yeah, all massive improvements. Some may say combat is still repetitive though in a different way, but I find it far more tolerable this time around.

I am a little disappointed by the removal of the time effect, understandable since the Prince doesn’t have the actual dagger with him. The replacement effect still utilises charges to revive you at the closest point you were at, with actual death taking you back to the last save point you interacted with. Considering the difficulty, the frequent save point fountains are good. Admittedly, what we lose in uniqueness with the basic system of respawn/save points is regained in practicality. Rewinding time in Sands of Time was cool but getting trapped in an inescapable cycle of death was annoying; at least you don’t get that here.

Sure, we saved the Kingdom, but the King is dead, the
Princess is likely traumatized, and it doesn't look like
anyone else lives there now. Pyrrhic vistory, isn't it?

We learn about the kingdom of Izdihar as we explore it, so the world-building is present. However, the actual story is still basic, so yet again we focus on gameplay above all else. I’m cool with it, especially when it’s as intricate as it is here. The voice acting is fine (Yuri Lowenthal as the Prince is a standout), but its volume is low so we often don’t hear the characters talking to each other, especially the frequent interactions with Zahra, drowned out by music.

Better hope the camera is merciful ansd you both
created the hook at the right place AND jump exactly
where it is. Or you'll have easily-preventable deaths.

Once again, an issue I ran into was the camera, often finicky. You can control it with the C button and the Wii remote, but it would often go back where it was, an issue considering how precise platforming frequently got. Don’t forget that you are also dealing with motion controls here; swinging the Wiimote to attack is fine, but when platforming, you point and press the button for the effect you want – meaning having to rely on the motion controls and the cursor on the screen. This can be a problem, especially when you need precision, finesse, or quick reaction. It’s not a dealbreaker for me, but there’s definitely a couple dozen deaths that happened because I couldn’t use a Creation Power at the right place quick enough.

As a final plus, the game includes the 1992 Prince of Persia game, a lengthy list of achievements for those who seek an extra challenge, and the option to add a second player with a Wii remote to use the Creation Powers and help the first player. All in all, a solid Wii game, not without its occasional flaws pertaining to the system, but a strong entry for the console and a recommendation on my part. Especially if you like this franchise, you might like this one quite a bit.

Phew! Tune in for something else soon.