Publisher: Ubisoft

Platform: PS2, PC, Xbox, GameCube
Number of players: 1
Grade: 9/10

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time has been one of the most eagerly awaited games of the hour. The initial images and promising playability were in evidence at the E3 trade show last May, where the game won the title of best action/adventure game. Producing a new, enhanced version of the old Prince of Persia game was something of a calculated risk. Old hands might well have retained bad memories of the previous game, published in 1999 and newcomers would probably not be aware of original author Mechner's work.

I happen to be naturally wary of games that are "too beautiful to be good," so I approached the test version of the new Prince of Persia on PlayStation 2 with a certain amount of suspicion. Several hours of playing, and it was time for my verdict. Would "The Sands of Time" be good enough for players initially attracted by the game's excellent visuals? Is the script worthy of adoption by one of the big-name videogame publishers?