It's only fair to start this review by saying that I really wanted this game to be good. I hadn't read any reviews before heading on up to Gamestop and lovingly finding this game, what I thought would be a pre-owned "gem", and taking it home with me. Unforunately, this Prince of Persia title takes the Prince of Persia namesake and throws it years behind its predecessors.

The game starts with you as "The Prince". I use quotations here because at the start of the game you're nothing more than a thief, who's just managed to get away with a "King's ransom" in gold. You somehow lost your pack donkey, and are casually strolling through the crevaces of an Arabian environment calling out the animal's name.

Not long before that, you're pummeled by a mysterious woman who's being followed by armed guards. After dispatching a few, you decide it's better to follow this stranger and end up finding out she's a Princess [insert video game cliche here]. She takes you to a Temple, where an apparent evil is being held, before her father, who was the one ordering the guards to follow and capture her, releases this evil.

It's your goal, along with the Princess, to prevent the evil from soiling the world. So, how do you accomplish this monumental task? You do so by restoring the "fertile grounds", thereby preventing the evil one from turning the land into a decrepit nightmare.

That's the entire story, in a nutshell.

The first thing you'll take note of, aside from this horribly inane plot, is the lack of a well-developed character. Both Prince and Princess' dialogues seem very forced, mechanical, and not fluid as conversation should be. And the things that come out of their mouths...lets just say you're better off watching a Soap Opera if you care that much about dialogue and character development.