Play.com synopsis - The Prince of Persia makes his way home to Babylon, along with Kaileena, the enigmatic Empress of Time, and unspeakable scars from the Island of Time. But instead of the peace he longs for, he finds his kingdom ravaged by war and Kaileena the target of a brutal plot. When she is kidnapped, the Prince tracks her to the Palace - only to see her murdered by a powerful enemy. Her death unleashes the Sands of Time, which strike the Prince and threaten to destroy everything he holds dear. Cast to the streets, hunted as a fugitive, the Prince soon discovers that the Sands have tainted him, too. They have given rise to a deadly Dark Prince, whose spirit gradually possesses him...

Review - The Prince is back, running across walls and leaping huge gaps. But this time he’s not alone…. A short way into the game, the Prince becomes affected by the sands he fought to destroy. He now has two parts, one side good one side bad. The prince will transform from one to the other at various parts of the game. Each side having different skills. Which brings me to the introduction of some new moves/weapons etc.

The Prince still makes the same gravity defying acrobatic moves he always did. Running across walls, sliding down canopies and vaulting from pole to pole. However, as the dark Prince a new weapon appears. Similar to Kratos’ chain sword, or even Ivy from Soul Calibur, the Prince has an extend – o – sword. Using this the Prince can swing across gaps, he can pull blocks towards him and activate switches. This provides a new level of combat for the game.

The Prince has also returned to the lush, Ico reminiscent graphics that were so wonderful to look at in the Sands of Time. Rather than the dark, gloomy almost gothic look of Warrior Within, it’s a return to the lush, beautiful scenery that made the first game such a joy to play. And the Prince himself has returned to the light hearted nature that made the first game so much fun. In Sands of Time the Prince would often talk out loud about his problems, or make sarcastic comments. The Prince has the same voice actor from the Sands of Time, rather than the gravely grumpy voice from Warrior Within. He also has another voice which speaks to him during the game, this being the other side of his personality. The voice will mock him on a regular basis, make comments as to the way you;’re fighting and generally provides a bit of humour to the game.

The combat feels a lot less like the button mashing that was involved in Warrior Within. There seems slightly more structure to it now. Though you still can mash if you like! The Prince still has the secondary weapon option. Also introduced are stealth kills. Sneak up on the enemy and when the screen blurs, press square to begin. The square button then needs to be pressed when the Prince’s dagger glows. This can be attempted from ledges above bad guys, even on ropes above them. The Prince will elegantly swing down and begin. The dark Prince can also do these, his involves rapid pressing on the triangle button.

Sand is still a big feature, the rewind feature appearing early on in the game. Sand credits are also obtained which can be used at the end of the game. The dark Prince also relies on sand to keep him alive. Your strength slowly goes down as the dark Prince, and needs to be topped up with sand to keep you alive. The dark Prince sections often involve sections that need to be done in one ‘go’, i.e. running along a wall then jumping then dodging blades….

This game is a true return to form for the Prince. Rather than the dark, and generally devilishly difficult, Warrior within, this is as light hearted as Sands of Time. Not as quick to finish either, easily twice as much game time this time round. The chariot races sections adds a new level to the game, but thankfully these don’t appear for too long. They don’t seem to fit in with the rest of the game. If you want combat and tricky levels with long sections between save points but Warrior Within. If you want a fun game, that involves a balance of puzzles and combat, but this. It’s awesome to look at, provides great enjoyment and is a genuine return to form. In my opinion, this should have been the sequel! Nowhere near as frustrating, wonderful smooth animation and enough humour to keep your attention.