Review by gulliver49


I loved the Sands of the Time Trilogy and I expected great things from this new game. How could it possibly fail? I knew that they were making a few new gameplay changes but that's okay, right? It's still Ubisoft so they will make sure that it's a quality game in the end!

No, I was wrong, horribly wrong. The game is not even worth the value of the disc it's recorded on, it's not even worth using as a frisbee, it's not worth existing at all.

Okay, these are harsh words I know so I'll explain why I hate this game so much.


The prince is a bumbling buffoon. I don't know how else to categorize him. He makes the Warrior Within prince actually look decent and that's scary.

The princess is a lot better and you really feel sorry for her, not because of what is happening in the story, but because of how she has to put up with that pathetic excuse of a prince throughout the whole game.

Overall the story is alright, but do not watch the epilogue! Supposedly the epilogue is the "True Ending," but unless you like games where the ending basically resets things to the way they were the minute you picked up the game, then I suggest you not watch it. I don't know about you dear reader, but I like knowing that my work actually accomplished something.


Oh look it's shiny! Let's give the game a 10/10 because it's so shiny! No no NO! I don't care about graphics, I care about environments. Diverse, memorable, beautiful environments. Here there are a handful of those but the majority of it looks like a bunch of rocks and sand with some nice stuff thrown between. I prefer the Sands of Time's environments to anything here. Of course it's up to you to decide anyway. Graphics do not make the game anyway, it's gameplay that does that.


It doesn't exist. I'm serious, there is not combat. Nope, none. Okay let's move on...

Okay okay there is some "combat" but it's so disgusting that it should have never been included in the game. What makes the gameplay so bad is that there are only 4 main enemies who are also the bosses and you fight them all like 6 or 7 times. I don't remember the exact number but you fight them a lot and they play out the exact same way. I hate games where there are repeated boss fights. Even repeating the same boss once is bad enough, but 6 or more times!? That's insane. Why even have fights if they will just be repeats? Did I also mention that you have to use QTEs in the fights? Yeah that was the last straw for me. The fights themselves are boring. You use the same moves to kill the bosses and there isn't enough depth to make them unique or difficult or memorable. Even if they were somehow fun, fighting them 6 or more times would kill any enjoyment you could possibly have.

There are some random encounters but you can skip them if you get to the platform where the enemy is going to spawn before he spawns. You'll want to do this because fighting is so boring in the game that skipping the fights will save you from the torture.

There are not enough puzzles in the game. And whatever is there feels like the same type of puzzle. They aren't unique or memorable. Remember the puzzles in Sands of Time? Now those were some cool puzzles, but don't expect anything like that here.

Platforming is okay I guess. It all feels like more of a chore in this game as opposed to being actually fun.

You get some powerups for the princess and they are all the same: press the designated button where you come near a powerplate. Yeah that's what they are. That's it. I can't believe they dumped the Sands of Time powers for this.

You have probably heard of how you can't die in the game. Falling off a cliff means that the princess will just magically save you. Dying in battle means that the princess will save you but the enemy gets some health back as well. This really isn't an issue for me. Yes I bet you're shocked to know that I'm not going to complain about this aspect of the game. But really, I don't think it's a problem. So what if you can't die? As long as the combat and platforming are fun it shouldn't matter. Too bad the combat and platforming aren't fun.

I thought that Ubisoft would make something equally, if not more fun than what was introduced in Warrior Within and perfected in The Two Thrones. What I got was just an unfinished mess. I feel like I should recommend renting the game but I can't even say that. Don't rent it, don't think about getting it, don't waste your time with this game. If you liked the Sands of Time Trilogy and expect this to be in any way as good, you'll be disappointed.

Reviewer's Score: 1/10 | Originally Posted: 03/15/10



Got Your Own Opinion?
