The Forgotten Sands

Lore & Background

Chronologically, all versions of the game are set between The Sands of Time and Warrior Within (2004). The stories follow an unnamed Prince on adventures through the lands of ancient Persia, dealing with magical threats with the aid of different djinn. In the console and Windows version, the Prince is sent by his father Sharaman to learn leadership from his brother Malik at the ancient city of Rekem, finding the city under siege: the invaders seek Solomon's Army, a powerful supernatural force imprisoned with Rekem's palace.

Malik releases Solomon's Army in the hopes of destroying the enemy army despite the Prince's warning, with the army turning on everyone. The brothers end up with half of the seal that kept the army at bay. Separated from Malik, Prince is drawn into a spiritual haven by Razia, queen of the Marid djinn: the army is led by Ratash, an Ifrit djinni who despised the alliance between humans and Djinn organized by Solomon and Razia to create Rekem. The two halves of the seal must be reunited for Ratash and the army to be stopped.

Despite attempting to reunite with Malik, they are continually separated by circumstance, and Malik begins falling under the army's influence as he absorbs the power of defeated enemies through his half of the seal; the Prince is shielded from the sands' corruption by Razia's powers. When they face Ratash, Malik seemingly kills Ratash only to be possessed by him, which destroys his half of the seal. Despite the Prince's wish to save Malik, Razia tells him that Malik can only be freed by killing him and Ratash.

Razia is forced to transfer herself into a magical sword which can kill Ratash, as destroying one djinni requires another's power. The Prince succeeds in killing Ratash, fatally wounding his brother who dies in his arms. The Prince leaves the now-sleeping Razia in Rekem and goes to tell Sharaman of Malik's death.

Reader's Guide

In the main versions for PlayStation 3 (PS3), Xbox 360 (360) and Windows, the gameplay is equivalent to earlier entries in the Sands of Time continuity, with the Prince navigating 3D environments using a combination of standard acrobatics and magical abilities. Threats include enemies in arena-style encounters, and traps which must be navigated. The Prince's move set outside basic movement include climbing, a wall run to traverse gaps, wall jumping, balancing on beams, swinging from horizontal and climbing vertical poles.

The game is set around a large palace complex, with a magical safe zone available at points through the story. After a point in the game, the Prince gains access to different magical powers, the most basic of which is a limited-use 'rewind' function which resets time if the player makes a mistake or the Prince takes damage. The powers are themed around the elements; the 'Water' powers allow the freezing of water flows to make walls and poles for navigation, the 'Earth' power restores destroyed elements of the environment, while Wind and Fire powers are used in combat as offensive spells.

Combat has the Prince fighting groups of enemies, relying on dodging and rolling to avoid hits. Killing enemies grants a form of experience points, which can be used to upgrade existing abilities and statistics such as health, and unlock new powers. This version featured rewards unlocked with points through UPlay; these rewards included an experience point boosts and additional costumes based on both Prince of Persia characters and Ezio from the Assassin's Creed series.

UPlay support ended for 360 and PS3 in 2017, and for Windows in 2021, locking off UPlay content. The other versions have their own gameplay styles and settings.

Did You Know?

• The game was originally conceived as a tie-in to the movie adaptation of The Sands of Time, but was reworked after the film was delayed.
• The main version for PS3, Xbox 360, and Windows features elemental powers including Water, Earth, Wind, and Fire.
• The Nintendo DS version is controlled exclusively through the touch screen using the DS stylus.
• After the release of Forgotten Sands, the series went on hiatus until the release of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown in early 2024.