PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE LOST CROWN

A right royal renaissance

RELEASED OUT NOW! Reviewed on PS5

Also on Xbox Series X|S, PS4,

Xbox One, PC, Switch Publisher Ubisoft

Your relationship with the Prince Of Persia series will likely reflect your age. For many, Ubisoft’s 2003 reinvention of the franchise was the definitive crypt-crawling, spike trap-dodging experience.

But the 3D action-adventure trilogy doesn’t paint the full picture. For players of a certain vintage, Prince Of Persia is all about two-dimensional platforming. It’s about crumbling concrete walkways, death-defying leaps of faith and remarkable-fortheir-time visuals, powered by the MS-DOS machines of the late ’80s.

The Lost Crown strives to combine the two, with deft Metroidvania mechanics (where incrementally acquired abilities allow access to new areas in turn), larger than life boss battles, and more level-based hazards than you can shake your twin blades at.

Filling the shoes of nomad warrior Sargon, you’re tasked with saving the prince across an ever-changing world that’s as gorgeous as it is grandiose, chockfull of perfectly-balanced, brainbreaking puzzles that are often abstract but never unfair, with a library of powers and abilities that regularly bend time and space around you, and an array of ancient god antagonists that become increasingly vicious as you wade deeper into the game’s circa 20 hours runtime.

For the most part it’s brilliant, but The Lost Crown’s masterful level design and brilliant environmental conundrums are ultimately let down by a needlessly convoluted and forgettable overarching narrative. Still, when everything else is executed so well, that’s easier to overlook.

Joe Donnelly

At one point you meet a girl called Fariba. A tune she hums should sound familiar: it’s the theme from the 2008 reboot.