The Prince has come a long way since the Jordan Mechner original 16-bit game. After a disastrous foray into 3D six years ago it seemed that he was destined for the dustbin of gaming, of course until Ubisoft Montreal resurrected him through the power of The Sands of Time. But the Prince (will we ever learn his name?) encountered poor sales amid the Christmas rush and was repackaged as a foul-mouthed warrior with a taste for nu-metal. If Ubisoft had been trying to polarise opinion among fans then they did a tremendous job: some enjoyed the new “dark” tone, others lamented the humourless approach and jarring atmosphere.

With Prince of Persia: Kindred Blades, Ubisoft is out to please fans of both The Sands of Time and Warrior Within. The new game has the Prince returning to Babylon after his excursion on the Island of Time, only to find that his country is in turmoil and that the “Dark Prince” is gradually possessing him.

Such an elegant Prince he is. Teaching manors, thats all he's doing here. Really.

Graphically, Kindred Blades is outstanding with all the level of detail we've come to expect from Ubisoft. The dark nature of the last game has been toned down somewhat; thankfully, we appear to be back in something resembling ancient Persia, rather than a non-descript castle. However, the new Prince appears to be as relentlessly violent as before, and it seems Ubisoft are trying to have it both ways. Yet the contentious nu-metal score has not yet been heard, and the music is being revised.

The gameplay also picks up where Warrior Within left off, dispensing with the linearity of The Sands of Time in favour of more backtracking and exploration. The past/present mechanic of the previous game is gone, but more objectives are promised. One of two major additions this time around is the ability to play as two different characters, and the Dark Prince has a versatile chain-whip weapon. The other addition to the series is stealth; it may sound tedious initially, but Kindred Blades actually offers the player the opportunity to dispense with enemies by creeping up on them and delivering a lethal blow, which has the potential to reduce the tiresome nature of Warrior Within's lengthy battles.

More wall jumping and this time there's more stealth thrown into the mix.

The most impressive aspect of the new trailers has been vehicles; yes, even the Prince gets to do a Grand Theft Auto, in a sense! The player can race through the streets of Babylon in a chariot as enemies attempt to ram him and dislodge him from his chariot. This set piece looked very interesting, although how large a role chariot-racing plays in the finished game remains to be seen.

Ubisoft is in quite a difficult position, left with the choice of returning to the linear, character-driven, platform and puzzle gameplay of The Sands of Time or sticking with the blood-soaked fighting-fest of Warrior Within. It appears that they have opted for both, attempting to combine the “best bits” of both games. Kindred Blades certainly looks the part, and seeks to restore the balanced design of the original game, with a (slightly) reduced emphasis on battles. Yet the non-linearity and dark tone remains, and ultimately only time (and the fans) will determine the fate of the Prince.