The most immediately obvious change is the use of pseudo-cel-shaded visuals which look as stunning in motion as they do in still images. Characters are exquisitely animated, while the environments are large and with a real sense of scale. The main aim of the game is to release the land from the grip of a dark corruption and doing this switches the environments from drab barren landscapes to bright sunshine, flowers and butterflies. It’s a lovely contrast that works well and because of the stark change in palette, revisiting areas afterwards is a much fresher experience.

Since the game wipes the slate clean and no longer features the Sands of Time story arc, it loses the time-rewinding mechanic that had become so stale. Now players must make use of their new sidekick, Elika, who is a constant companion for the Prince. PoP has a unique way of approaching the dialogue between the two of them – outside of obligatory cutscenes which are needed to move the main story along, the player can now interact with Elika to initiate conversations. If you can’t stomach the banter between the two then you can skip it completely, something of a novel approach in a time when many developers seem intent on jamming their lovingly crafted dialogue down your throat. It’s even more of a novelty that this dialogue is actually good in parts and genuinely funny at times. Although its mileage will probably vary depending on how much you like Nolan `Uncharted` North, who’s basically reprising his role of Nathan Drake in a brightly coloured head-wrap.

Unlike the last companion to grace the Prince of Persia games, Elika is also much more use than scrabbling through the odd narrow passage to pull a lever. She’s nimble enough to keep pace with The Prince and their movements are intertwined, like him catching her when dropping from height, or her helping to boost him over large jumps. It’s this constant synergy between the two that actually makes the player care about her a lot more than a character that just tags along or gets in the way. More importantly, by drawing strength from her magical powers Elika is also the Prince’s lifeline, saving him whenever he plummets to his doom or is flattened by an enemy. This means that you can never die; a bold but undeniably handy design decision because Ubisoft have tried something a little different with the controls.

Experienced gamers may initially find themselves grappling with them, not because they are badly thought out, but because this iteration streamlines the experience. Actions are designed to be as `one press` as possible so the majority of running and jumping requires minimal interaction. Complicated actions like wall running, flicking between gaps and even running across the ceiling can now be done in a truly seamless fashion. That’s providing the player can switch off any part of their brain which may still try to convince them to mash more buttons to carry out what is usually a much more complicated manoeuvre.

Once this quickly clicks into place they’ll find themselves being able to guide The Prince around with ease and at a smooth, flowing pace. Combined with the inability to die, it makes it somewhat of a relaxing experience, an approach which seems to have been lost on some. The game isn’t all about sweaty palms or having the overburdening fear of one wrong move and it’s all over. After all, that was overdone during the last generation’s games. This time it’s about giving the player the confidence to be able to fully explore the environment with the bonus of a warm glow when they do it by pulling off some pretty visually impressive moves. The placement of glowing Light Seeds throughout the levels, enhancing Elika’s powers when collected and allowing the use of various magical plates to access unreachable areas, are a good incentive with which to get the player to explore. It’s not necessary to find them all (just over half are needed to complete the game) but they still offer an appealing challenge.

While the `find the collectables` element has been done to death in games lately (with the majority making a total hash of it), though PoP comes pretty close to that Holy Grail of dealing with collectables in gaming; Crackdown. Light Seeds are very visible, with the challenge being to reach them, not find them in the first place. There’s even a tally of how many remain undiscovered in each area, a good example of how well thought out this aspect is, and with it ultimately being used to enhance the sense of relaxing exploration.

One area where the game does stay very similar to other titles is the combat. While there are a variety of combos on offer it’s often a case of just using the same moves over and over. Thankfully the main emphasis is on exploration and combat is a very small part of the game. More often than not it’s limited to the reoccurring boss fights through each area and the majority of each encounter with the four main creatures requires the same tactic each time in order to defeat them. It’s undeniable that some will find this repetitive (as others might find the exploration aspect repetitive) but it really is individual preference as to how much this will irk the player.

Prince of Persia turns out to be a worthy justification for once again restarting the franchise. It brings the series back to its essential roots, stripping away the superfluous muck that had gathered during the last few outings and at the same time having enough new appeal, charm and content to make it worth trying.