Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is a third-person action-adventure puzzle-platforming video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal, Quebec, Singapore and Casablanca. It was released in North America May 2010 across most major platforms and published by Ubisoft in western territories. The console and PC version of Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is, chronologically the fifth game in The Sands of Time Trilogy. Canonically, The Forgotten Sands continues the story of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and occurs during the seven year gap between the The Sands of Time and Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, and before Battles of Prince of Persia. The Prince is sent to the former territory of King Solomon to study under his elder brother, Malik. When he arrives he discovers the palace is under siege, and in a desperate gamble, Malik releases "King Solomon's Army" only discover he has freed a evil Djinn named Ratash, who is determined to destroy humankind for imprisoning him. With the help of a water Djinn named Razia, the Prince embarks on an epic adventure in which he will learn to bear the mantle of true leadership, and discover that great power often comes with a great cost.

Announced in Winter of 2009^[1][2], The Forgotten Sands was released across PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows, May 18, 2010. That same month three different versions of The Forgotten Sands were released for Nintendo Wii (developed by Ubisoft Quebec), Nintendo DS (developed by Ubisoft Casablanca) and PlayStation Portable (developed by Ubisoft Quebec and Montreal) in North America. Each version contains a different story from the primary console and PC version. They are largely considered alternate stories over direct follow-ups after the events of the primary The Forgotten Sands game. The primary console and PC version of The Forgotten Sands received mixed reviews; it was praised for its crowd physics and implementation of game play elements, but was largely criticized for its story, middling combat and the redesign of the Prince.

The Forgotten Sands was released during the promotion of the film adaptation of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, released May 28, 2010 in the United States. It was later released on the Valve Corporation platform, Steam, June 8, 2010. The game is available on PlayStation Network and was later made available for free on the PlayStation Plus platform September 6, 2016.^[3][4]

Following release of The Forgotten Sands games, the Prince of Persia series was officially put on hold in early 2013.^[5][6] While there were rumors of a new game during the summer of that year^[7] Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot stated it would be "some time" before any news regarding a new game for the IP would surface.^[8]

Story 

Visiting his brother's kingdom following his adventure in Azad, the Prince finds the royal palace under siege from a mighty army bent on its destruction. When the decision is made to use the ancient power of the Sand in a desperate gamble to save the kingdom from total annihilation, the Prince will embark on an epic adventure in which he will learn to bear the mantle of true leadership, and discover that great power often comes with a great cost."

—Official Description^[9]

Characters

• Prince - The protagonist of The Sands of Time Trilogy. Fresh from his adventures in Azad, the Prince travels to Malik's kingdom to tutor under him when his brother releases the Sand Army. He works with the Marid, Razia, to recapture the Sand Army and Ratash when the seal that kept them trapped is broken and his brother is possessed by Ratash.
• Razia - The Queen of the Marid, Razia rests within her realm when the Prince and Mailk release the Sand Army and Ratash. Working with the Prince to undo their mistakes, Razia guides the Prince through the old kingdom of Solomon and endows the Prince with the Powers of the Djinn.
• Malik - The oldest son of King Sharaman, Mailk was protector of the kingdom that was once Solomon's and the keeper of the seal meant to keep Ratash and Sand Army from escaping. Misunderstanding what King Solomon's Treasure Vault kept inside, he released them both on the kingdom. When his half of the seal protecting him and the Prince is shattered, he is possessed by Ratash.
• Ratash - The antagonist of The Forgotten Sands. Ratash is an Ifrit who was trapped within King Solomon's treasure vault centuries ago to protect the world from his desire to destroy mankind and the Djinn who allied with Solomon. When Malik frees him, he attacks Malik's kingdom. When he possesses Malik, he attempts to escape the kingdom to destroy the world.
• King Solomon The late and former of ruler of the Kingdom that Malik now protects, Solomon was a great ruler and ally to the Djinn. He fought alongside the Djinn to defeat Ratash and sealed the army away. He allied himself with the family of Sharaman and saw to it that they continued to prevent the release of Ratash.