Prince of Persia®: The Sands of Time

"A Timeless Classic of Action and Adventure"
Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time isn’t just a great game, it’s one of the finest action-adventure titles ever made.
Released in 2003, this masterpiece revived the classic Prince of Persia series with fluid parkour, exhilarating combat, and a story filled with mystery, romance, and redemption.
Even after all these years, it remains a shining example of how to blend gameplay and storytelling seamlessly.
The game follows the Prince, an arrogant yet likable warrior who inadvertently unleashes the destructive Sands of Time, turning an entire kingdom into sand-covered horrors.
Alongside the clever and resourceful Princess Farah, he must fight to undo his mistake.
The narrative is engaging, thanks in large part to the Prince’s inner monologue and his evolving relationship with Farah, which adds heart to the adventure.
The real star of the show, however, is the gameplay.
The platforming is smooth, acrobatic, and immensely satisfying!
Wall-running, vaulting over obstacles, and performing gravity-defying leaps make every moment feel like a cinematic spectacle.
The combat, while simple compared to modern action games, is still enjoyable, allowing players to take down enemies with stylish swordplay and clever use of time manipulation.
Speaking of which, the ability to rewind time after a mistimed jump or fatal mistake is nothing short of brilliant!
It keeps the flow of the game uninterrupted and encourages experimentation.
Visually, The Sands of Time was stunning for its time, and even today, its dreamy, Arabian Nights-inspired aesthetic still holds up.
The hauntingly beautiful soundtrack complements the atmosphere perfectly, adding to the sense of wonder and adventure.
While the camera can be a little finicky, and the combat may feel repetitive after a while, these minor flaws do little to diminish the overall experience.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a near-perfect blend of storytelling, platforming, and innovation.
It’s a must-play for fans of action-adventure games and remains a true classic that stands the test of time.
Final thoughts: A legendary adventure that still holds its magic!

9/10 - Amazing game, one of my all time favorites. This version is a bit buggy but its not that hard to find the community fixes that will make it a good experience. Widescreen fix for modern resolutions, fog fix and it will mostly work fine. I didn't even use 60 fps lock, just played 99.9% of it on 160 fps, I got stuck one time, put a 60fps lock in rivatuner, unstuck myself, back to 160 right after.

Just replayed this for the first time in ~20 years and wow, it's a masterpiece.
Great story, game play, and music.
They definitely do not make games like this anymore.

Please remaster this game because while the game itself is fantastic, the PC port is broken with controller settings, music, and camera.

I remember that in PS2 was good but this port for PC is a S**t !!!

Not only me but everybody is talking about all Bugs. I needed a lot of patience and that's why I managed to get to 81% of the story... But I got to a part where it's impossible to continue because of another ridiculous bug.
Basically I had to move a box but when I did, the box flew to the top of a ladder, as if the character had super strength and threw it. Improve it!!!

It's remarkable how many AAA parkour-action games owe so much to this classic. Within the first 5 minutes of playing I could feel the familiar traversal and combat mechanics that would go on to be gradually refined (with quite a few missteps along the way) into series like Assassin's Creed, Crackdown, and InFamous. The parkour segments are better than those in games from a full decade later, and the rewind mechanic is a godsend, but the combat encounters all have about 2-3 times too many enemy respawns to be anything but a chore. Despite this, it is still a joy to push through and witness the story and the interplay between the Prince and Farah. It's rare to see prince/princess interactions that don't end in romance, and it was almost unheard-of at the time!

great parkour, fun story but bad combat with to many enemies.

just bad port
fucking camera
fucking too enemies
bullshit bug
hero radom flying everwhere fucking if want enjoy this game play ps2 version!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

good game, sometimes boss battles annoying and controls inconsitent

If anyone has any tips on getting this broken port to function, that would be awesome. It runs at around 5 FPS, on my PC which runs other games and 3D rendering software just fine. Unfortunately, I bought this game on sale and didn't get around to playing until months later, so Steam won't refund it. I remember this game being quite good on PS2.

I’m torn on whether or not to recommend.

I’m completely new to this series and never grew up on it, yes shocking I know.

I played more the likes of the early Lara Croft titles and the old Rayman games which both did have elements of exploration, puzzles and platforming within them and this feels rather similar.

The game is very much a product of the time and does take a bit to get running on modern systems at a native resolution but my fu**ing god what is this absolute pile of junk camera!?!?

The camera movement when traversing with the prince feels very sluggish, cumbersome and all together unresponsive.

I hope this was corrected in later entries because no one wants to be fighting a camera while platforming.

I can really see how this series laid the foundation for the AC series with all the parkour and both games being rather alike in terms of gameplay.

I love the aesthetic and feel of the game itself and it really does honestly feel like a classic all time gem but the experience becomes really quite jarring due to this nauseatingly bad camera but what do I expect it’s just a product of the time as I stated earlier.

I hope that I can see past this however and continue playing but we shall see.

Camera and resolution issues aside I would still recommend if you’re willing to withstand the jank whilst also taking into account how old this game is.

I know this review is rather long but if you stayed to read, thank you.

Best Notstalgia game ever i have played in school time after that now only i am playing this game best game in Ubisoft Franchise.

do not buy this fucking game. full of fucking bugs, i mean if you are selling the game then just make sure that it does not have major bugs. you character can get stuck at any moment in any place of the game. they had 23 fucking years to make the game bug free and they had shit the bed in that department.

i played this game on the first pc i've ever had which was in 2009 when i was only 6. decided to buy it again to feel the nostalgia but holy shit the game is hot garbage. do not waste even a dollar on this game. if you really wanna play it then beware you going to encounter bugs everywhere.

Essentially a 3D platformer with time reversal mechanics. A better game from a better Ubisoft.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time – A Nostalgic Classic That Still Holds Up

Overview:

Originally released in 2003, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remains one of the most beloved action-adventure games of all time. Returning to it in 2025 is a nostalgic journey that proves the game’s enduring charm. While some aspects feel outdated, the game still offers an enjoyable experience with its platforming, time-manipulation mechanics, and engaging story.

Story:

The game follows the Prince, who, after acquiring the mystical Dagger of Time, unintentionally unleashes the Sands of Time, turning nearly everyone into monstrous creatures. Teaming up with the enigmatic Farah, he must navigate the treacherous palace, fight off sand creatures, and undo his mistake. The narrative is simple yet captivating, with a strong sense of adventure and a protagonist who grows throughout the story.

Gameplay and Mechanics:

The core gameplay revolves around fluid platforming, acrobatic parkour, and time-rewinding mechanics. Even today, the parkour feels smooth, and the puzzles remain satisfying to solve. The ability to rewind time after making a mistake keeps frustration levels low and encourages experimentation.

However, the combat system, while enjoyable for its time, feels repetitive and dated by today’s standards. Battles often devolve into the same sequences of attacks, parries, and counters, lacking depth and variety. It’s clear that the game’s primary focus was on traversal rather than combat.

Camera and Controls:

One of the most frustrating aspects of the game is the camera. The fixed and awkward angles can make platforming and combat unnecessarily difficult, leading to deaths that feel unfair. The controls, while mostly responsive, suffer from occasional imprecision, particularly during more complex platforming sections.

Graphics and Visuals:

Despite being over two decades old, The Sands of Time still looks visually appealing. The soft, dreamlike lighting and artistic design give it a timeless aesthetic. While the textures and character models show their age, the overall presentation remains charming and effective.

Sound Design:

The game’s soundtrack and voice acting are excellent, adding to the immersive Arabian Nights atmosphere. However, the sound effects occasionally bug out, with some audio cues not triggering correctly or looping awkwardly. Despite these minor issues, the overall sound design enhances the experience.

Conclusion:

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is still a fantastic game in 2025, thanks to its engaging story, smooth platforming, and timeless aesthetic. However, its clunky camera, repetitive combat, and occasional sound bugs prevent it from feeling completely modern. If you can overlook these flaws, it remains a rewarding adventure worth revisiting.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐☆☆ (8/10) - Great 🤩🔥

Truly a timeless classic, the level design, combat and puzzles still hold up as well and were just as enjoyable as when I played this game on my Ps2 as a kid. Truly a testament to why this was the franchise (starting from the 1989 game on Apple II) that popularised gaming along side Mario, pac man etc. The game is a tale of a naive and careless prince who would later go on to face the consequences of his actions and realise that, No Man Can Change His Fate.

an Influential Action-Adventure game from 2003, but not all the mechanics are timeless.

Certainly a Classic in Ubisoft's library, The Sands of Time has a simple but effective story, a great soundtrack, creative level design, fluid platforming and a time rewind mechanic that lets you quickly retry when you find death.

However, the camera will constantly be your enemy in combat and platforming, limiting your vision and will cause some distress. There are some remedies to try to fix this with an alternate camera mode, but it still is something players will deal with often.

Very fun, classic PS2 game. The climbing is and puzzles are the best part to me. The combat is fine but a little clunky. Later fight turn into "jump of wall and attack." Farah's ai is awful, but that's just indicative of the era in which the game was released. The hardest part of the later game will be keeping her alive. However, the checkpoints are incredibly forgiving. Overall it is still a fun time.

Also if the game looks completely fogged over, turn off the fog in the settings.

Absolutely horrendous controls. The camera keeps moving making movement and jumps very hard. There is no indication of how many time I need to kill the same enemy over and over and over and over again before they respawn. the dodge works about 20% of the time, the parry time window is so ridiculouys you can never counter attack.

I have played this game on XBox and it was great game, but this port has some serious problems with the controls and camera. It was so bad I couldn't get past the first level. I tried to mess with the settings in the options; nothing worked.

I'm on a mission to play and review the over 700 games in my Steam Library. The nostalgia of this made me feel like I was playing the original Prince of Persia back in the day as a kid.

I was born too late to experience the Ps2 era, but i was born in the right time to make it a big chunk of my personality and here i am playing my childhood favorite game that i never truly understood well. Back when Ubisoft made quality games with rich stories. Everything is perfect, the combat, the movement, and the love story.. Yes the love story. To the people WHO still didnt try this game to this day, I highly recommend it to you. The ending made me cry. To save Farrah, the Prince had to lose the Farrah he had come to know and love, and the affection and respect she had for him. Anyways, magnificent game from Ubisoft Montreal

very easy, bad resolution and awful controls.

Loved this game as a kid, thought it was a masterpiece. Upon replaying it now, I realise that Ninja Gaiden 2004 did everything this game does but much better.

It's way too easy, way too short and there's no replayability. The combat is awful, you just jump on an enemy's head and instantly kill him with the dagger. It doesn't work on a few types of enemies, so just use a wall jump attack instead. Puzzles don't even count as puzzles because they're impossible to fail, it forces you into the solution every time. This game has so many tutorials and handholds you so hard. Such a huge contrast to the first two Prince of Persia games.

The only redeeming things are the story, atmosphere and the music.

Also the Steam version is nearly unplayable. I shouldn't need to use fan made patches to get it to work.

I played this game to relive my childhood gaming experiences. 20 years later and I am happy to have revisited this classic Ubisoft title. The controls for the fighting and platforming definitely showed there age. Also, the camera angles are just flat out bizzare at times. This game does have it problems but the parkour, combat, story, and atmosphere made for a good ride down memory lane.

i kinda speed ran this game

The game that rebooted the franchise. The puzzles and iconic traversal and time mechanics hold up well to this day. On the other hand, the combat, writing and cutscenes have this game screaming for a remake. Some wildly inconsistent audio made it hard for me to enjoy what is otherwise a cool story.

Love this game. It seems easier now that I'm 32 compared to when I was 11... How weird!
Good story, OK voice acting, nice puzzles and mobility - this game started the 'parcour' era of videogames!
2 downsides: it's a console game in the first place and yet the controllers are not supported by default(?!) also the camera can be annoying, which is bad for a game that relies on you making quick decisions and inputs to avoid death.
PRO TIP: This game is sold for about 10 bucks but you can regularly get it for 2. Buy it anyway, it's great. Also disable the fog entierly, apparently it's buggy with some graphics cards.


---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☐ Good
☑ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☑ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☑ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☐ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Game Size }---
☐ Floppy Disk
☑ Old Fashioned
☐ Workable
☐ Big
☐ Will eat 10% of your 1TB hard drive
☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it
☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data

---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☑ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
☑ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding

---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☑ Good
☐ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☑ Average
☐ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☑ Never heard of
☐ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☑ 9
☐ 10

Still holds up in 2025 - fun game experience from the times the studio was making games for the gamers and not for the shareholders or mysterious "modern audiences".

The game is very well done plot-wise, but I don't recommend the Steam version because it contains a lot of bugs and glitches. in 90% of the game's progression, it is impossible to continue the game without glitching the game by spamming controls and trying to attack midair to pass a door that has some sort of collision bug. Not to mention many other bugs like problems with visuals, video/audio sync and PhysX, and other collision bugs that require creative thinking to bypass. Overall the game is possible to play to the end but it takes off all immersion in it.

Update (Bug fix for impassable door): If you set your monitor refresh rate to 60Hz and force VSync in your graphics control panel, you get rid of the bugs!! Still, I have to turn off the fog in settings. I guess, the game doesn't like high FPS. It messes up collisions and video/audio sync.

Just beat it. Fun game. Good not great. Janky camera and combat made it harder and more tedious than it needed to be, but it was still a good time. Plenty of checkpoints and save points so you're never redoing to much stuff. Worth picking up on sale.

Unfortunately, there is no gamepad support, and 1920x1080 resolution is not available.
The camera work tends to be more disruptive than helpful, which can hinder the overall experience.
The controls feel unresponsive, and character movement could be smoother and more intuitive. Additionally, enemy targeting is inconsistent, often locking onto the wrong target, and the character sometimes performs unintended actions during combat.
There are also numerous bugs, and the save system can be frustrating since it only saves at fixed points, often well before the more difficult sections. This leads to repetitive traversal before reaching the actual challenge.
At a price of 10 euros, there are other games that may offer a more enjoyable experience.

Oh how good we have it today with cloud saves!

Just like the classic platform.

Platforming and the graphics are the only redeeming qualities of this game. Combat is possible the worst I have ever seen in a game. Camera is a broken mess, and the controls are atrocious. Cannot wait for the remake of this game, because boy did it not age well at ALL.

game has deleted my save data randomly 3 times. Do not buy this game on steam, the game itself is amazing but its broken on steam

PoP lies in the sewers closing the hatch

its a cool game but this port is terrible. i couldnt finish the game due to a bug around 90% that i just couldnt solve. i also had to play m&kb which didnt help my experience. it was nostalgic though and would have gotten a thumbs up if the performance was better.

Great game and a great start to the trilogy
Definitely brings back memories

nice game for time pass

love this game

Many people say that this is their favorite out of the PoP trilogy. As much as I loved Warrior Within as a child (because of the then scary for me atmosphere and the superior combat), I must say that Sands of Time really is magical and beautiful.
The graphics aged pretty well and the story felt compelling albeit simplistic. The platforming is fun. I found it very linear and obvious where to go next.
The combat is bad and repetitive (mostly a chore) and there is unnecessary padding in some places (bats/bird fights, for example).
Would recommend for some kick of nostalgia.
Also works very well on the Steam Deck.

What a nostalgia hit... Totally worth it even 20+ years later.

I had completely forgotten the end of the story. But the beginning was so invigorating... Most likely because I had replayed it so many times. And I stayed because it was mostly great throughout.

Beautifully written story, good level design, smooth mechanics. A lot to praise.

Biggest gripe still is the end-zone Tower of Dawn. Too difficult to find the right path without using first-person view at every corner.

And man, what a soundtrack! I'll be listening to it.

Still holds up and is just as fun as it was when I played it on the ps2. some minor bugs here and there, but nothing that cant be fixed by setting the max frame rate to 60 (which fixes most of the bugs people have been running into), turning off fog, or just restarting the game. A childhood favorite of mine that I was able to replay after over 10 years. It runs surprisingly better than I remember, and still has all the charm from games of its era.

Masterpiece

This game is EXCELLENT and still holds up to this day. The gameplay loop consists of a mix of parkour and combat. Unlike a game like assassin's creed, the parkour is more about figuring out how to get from point A to point B rather than just mindlessly running towards objects and holding down a button. You have to think before you jump onto something and that makes the parkour feel incredibly rewarding. It's almost puzzle like in this respect. The parkour sections look a lot cooler than assassin's creed parkour due to various features such as wall running, as well as due to how much more agile you feel in this game compared to assassin's creed. As for the combat, some people think it hasn't aged well but I personally don't see any issue with it whatsoever. It's very punishing and difficult, but also isn't TOO punishing; and neither is the parkour. This is due to a time travel mechanic introduced in this game where you can rewind time with a resource collected from killing enemies and finding flashing bits of aura around the map. Despite the time travel mechanic, this game remains challenging and fun. Again, not too hard but not too easy. This game is also surprisingly detailed for a game of it's time. The gaming industry literally changed how they made games after this game because that's how popular it was; and it's not hard to see why. There is a move for every combat and parkour scenario in this game, meaning that there is ALWAYS a way you can make your way through difficult sections of this game.

This game is partly compatible with controller (which is quite impressive considering the game's age), and that's how I recommend playing this game. I say partly because the menus have to be navigated with the keyboard and mouse, but the game itself can take full advantage of a controller. You just have to bind the controller layout in the options, which can be a pain, but its worth it. Don't bind the special action or rewind actions to the triggers though or else you won't be able to use a special power you get later in the game.

Also this game can't run higher resolutions unfortunately without the help of mods due to it's age. If you choose to fix this issue, I recommend using this mod:
http://ps2wide.net/pc.html#popst
Just scroll down to the section that says Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, click download, extract files, then paste all of the pop.7z files into into your game directory individually, and edit the pop.ini file to have the resolution and fov of your choosing. Fog will not work properly with this mod unless you modify the hardware.ini file and make

ForceVsFog=1

and

InvertFogRange=0

This game will also have engine issues relating to game speed and cutscene audio not playing when it should unless you force the max fps of your game to be 60. Unfortunately most old games are like this, but this game especially. I would just go into your nvidia or amd control panel and limit the max fps of the Prince of Persia program to be 60. If you have trouble with that, just look it up on youtube.

As you can tell, it takes a bit of effort to get this game working on pc but I assure you, it's worth it. They just don't make games like this anymore.

This game is very special to me. I remember how my jaw dropped when I first saw a wall run as a kid and that awe is still very much there. I know a remake is in development but quite frankly I do not believe this game needs one because it is just so well crafted.

I love the story that is told here. I have always been curious as to why there is such a lack of South Asia and West Asia(Middle East) fantasy in pop culture given the deep repository of myths and stories that exist in this geopolitical/cultural sphere. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is one of the few pieces of art that fills this gap. I love the art style and atmosphere created here. From the paintings and wall reliefs steeped in South Asian and Persian paintings and art to the wonderful music, specifically the track "Time Only Knows", that makes of instruments from this region. Together they make the Palace of Azad a wonderland of South Asian & Persian art & culture. I also love how this game uses the fantasy to embrace some horror elements through the use of the life upgrades & the destiny visions.

I adore the story that has been told here. The themes of love, the cost of honor & glory, identity and destiny resonate with me dearly, however the theme that is most dominant is Redemption. I feel almost every day of my life I am chasing after Redemption as well. Forever afraid of making mistakes, never at peace. This story of the Prince making perhaps the gravest mistake of all and redeeming himself makes this story as one of my favorites. I love how destiny features in the story here. As you progress through the game, the visions the player sees at the save points turn into visions of the Prince's death. They don't guide you, they show your definite death. It seems destiny is telling us it is not our fate to save the world. Yet the Prince, the Player carries on and finishes the game.

I also bought into the love story of the game, and the apparently sudden development of this love between the Prince & Farah is actually acknowledged by the Prince himself in one of his many internal monologues that help a lot in developing his character. The main selling point of this love story though is definitely the tragedy of it all. He might have saved his loved ones, his father, his soldiers, the sultans of Azad and Farah, however none of them especially Farah will remember the ordeal he went through. It prompted me to think that is Redemption enough if those you have wronged don't remember you doing the wrong? If you do not have their forgiveness? It probably leaves a strange hole in your heart which I feel the game also acknowledges in the Prince. In a cool moment of ludo narrative consonance, after doing everything you possibly can in the game, your save file only gets a 98% completion since the last save point is before the Great Rewind, symbolizing the Prince's lived experience, like a lost ship in the chaotic ocean that is Time.

Coming to the gameplay. The Parkour and Combat mechanics are incredibly fun. The Prince if fun to control and moves well. While the combat mechanics are seemingly basic, the game adds surprising amount of variation in its enemies. While people might be inclined to use the vaults that move will not work on everyone. Many enemies cannot be vaulted over and some can only be knocked down. This prompts the use of other moves like the swords and dagger counters to efficiently dispatch enemies. However I did feel the combat to be a little bit of a nuisance or inconvenience. I was more interested in the Parkour and Puzzle Solving and the accompanying banter between the Prince & Farah. However it did not detract from my enjoyment of the game too much at all.

I absolutely adore this game and it is one of my favorites of all time.

Cant even get the controls to work on the game with the controller or the keyboard - sadly disappointing

After 300 hours of Assassin's Creed Valhalla, playing a prince of Persia game is like eating a chocolate cake on the body of a good-looking woman.

Sands of Time feels like the videogame adaptation of a lost animated Disney movie from the 90s. The story isn't deep or clever, and it doesn't have any pretensions of such, but it is pleasant and charming. I replayed this last year and still mostly loved it. It was a favorite of mine, replayed it trading off with my wife’s boyfriend.

The platforming is some of the best I’ve ever played. The animations are so smooth and I’ve always compared the controls to Tony Hawk—they’re so intuitive they become second nature almost immediately. It's not especially complex or challenging, but then it's not supposed to be. The designers want you to stop and think, but they don't want you to get stuck for a long time. There was only one puzzle where I thought the solution was unnecessarily oblique, and led to a rather tedious bout of trial and error. Usually, the game maintains an engaging pace and you always feel like you're making progress.

The story was pretty good. The prince and Farah had really great chemistry and dialogue together. The prince had a great character arc, and was humanly flawed. His monologues are pretty endearing. Farah is a great character as well.

I always loved that instead of a complex plot they put their focus on Farrah and the Prince’s relationship as they move from hostility to feuding friendship to something more, the banter was the best of the experience for me. The characters are by a wide margin the best part of the game, and I think are why it's remembered so fondly.

Sands had the best character of any game I’ve ever played. And I don’t mean character as a person, but as the personality of the game. All the well spoken dialogue, the elegant movement, the picturesque backdrops of a huge castle under a starry sky. I particularly loved the music: my current strong love for Eastern music probably has roots in how much Sands of Time musics impacted on me as a kid.

And what about combat mechanics? True, there aren't button combos, but animations were way better than the sequels. There are special animations that trigger only near enemies. This helped combat to feel like a fluid dance. Enemies are clearly distincted by strengths and weaknesses and you needed to use different approaches. You can do 2 different kinds of parry and counterattack with a super satisfying animation.

And the most important thing is that you NEEDED TO USE THE DAGGER in order to really finish an enemy. It was so perfect because you also had to think if you can open your guard for absorbing the enemy or it was better to keep fighting with the risk of reviving an already dead enemy. Also, daggers animations were incredible especially when you try to absorb an enemy positioned a couple steps of distance back from you.

I don't know. I loved all the series but this little game had some sort of magic that wasn't present in the others.

Sands of Time is in the heart of players not just for a crazy ton of new mechanics or an incredible soundtrack, but also for the little details, like the animations, or the fact that you see the prince clothes go in pieces and get ruined, one piece by one, through the entire adventure, making you really connect with the hero and the struggle he faces in order to save the world. Little touches that were completely forgotten in the sequels.

I don't think that this is really just nostalgia. What the heck are you waiting for?!

9/10

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, developed by Ubisoft, is a beloved classic that redefined action-adventure gaming in the early 2000s. Its blend of acrobatic platforming, exhilarating combat, and an enchanting tale make it a journey that stands the test of time.

The story follows the titular Prince, a cocky yet charming royal who inadvertently unleashes the Sands of Time, plunging the kingdom into chaos. With the help of the mysterious Princess Farah, he must navigate treacherous environments and undo the catastrophe he caused. The narrative, narrated by the Prince himself, is both captivating and personal, filled with moments of humor, romance, and introspection.

The standout feature of The Sands of Time is its innovative platforming. The Prince’s fluid parkour abilities allow him to run on walls, leap across vast chasms, and swing from poles with effortless grace. The level design complements these mechanics, creating puzzles and traversal sequences that challenge your reflexes and spatial awareness. Each new environment feels like a masterfully crafted playground, rewarding ingenuity and timing.

Combat, while slightly repetitive compared to modern standards, is dynamic and satisfying. Armed with a sword and the Dagger of Time, the Prince battles enemies spawned from the Sands. The real magic lies in the Dagger’s time-rewinding ability, allowing players to undo mistakes or relive moments of peril, a mechanic that was groundbreaking at the time and remains delightful to this day.

Visually, The Sands of Time was stunning for its era, with its Middle Eastern-inspired architecture, glowing sands, and ethereal lighting creating a mystical atmosphere. The soundtrack, composed by Stuart Chatwood, perfectly complements the game’s tone, blending traditional instruments with modern melodies to enhance the sense of wonder and adventure.

The relationship between the Prince and Farah is another highlight. Their banter evolves into a genuine bond, adding emotional depth to the story. Their interplay feels natural, and it humanizes the Prince, making his growth from arrogance to humility all the more impactful.

While the game’s linear structure and limited combat variety might feel dated to some players, its core mechanics and storytelling remain as engaging as ever. The tight pacing ensures that there’s never a dull moment, with each area introducing new challenges or narrative twists.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is more than just a game, it’s an enduring masterpiece that paved the way for modern action-adventure titles. Its combination of fluid gameplay, memorable storytelling, and innovative mechanics has cemented its place in gaming history.

Whether you’re revisiting the past or experiencing it for the first time, The Sands of Time offers an unforgettable adventure that deserves to be cherished. Prepare to defy gravity, bend time, and lose yourself in a tale as timeless as the sands themselves.

Okay puzzles, but the game hasn't aged well. Combat is horrible, camera/controls are also janky AF. Also the difficulty spikes of combat, jeez. But still fun environment and nostalgia

Absolute hood classic. The combat is somehow better than AC Mirage.