Prince of Persia: The Fallen King is one of those games that is very difficult to rate. On one hand it’s a fun, well-designed platformer, and on the other, the purely stylus controls can be frustrating. On one hand it has some cool teamwork-based puzzle solving, and on the other, the combat is tedious and overly simple. Every time you start to think The Fallen King is starting to build momentum, it infuriates with a poorly executed bit.

The game begins with the Prince hunting down the evil Ahriman, whose corruption has spread across an entire kingdom. He soon teams up with a mysterious Magus named Zal, who provides you with special abilities that will be required to progress through the various levels. This team-based gameplay is probably the highlight of The Fallen King, as it serves to break up the platforming segments with some genuinely well designed puzzle-solving. These can be as simple as using one of Zal’s powers to reach a new platform. There are a few areas where the two characters must split up and work together from different areas in order to advance. It’s these types of puzzles that really make the design come together as more than just a standard platformer.

But The Fallen King is a platformer at heart. And for the most part it is well-designed as such. The Prince’s trademarked acrobatics are back and well-utilized. Unfortunately, the developers have seen fit to only include one control scheme, and it’s controlled purely via stylus. This is one of those instances where the team wanted to do something new without really considering if it was going to be better. Even if the controls are mostly functional, they just aren’t as precise as the standard control pad would be. Where some games have utilized this sort of setup very well (Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, being one), it simply does not provide the reliability and accuracy required for platforming. This is obviously why Nintendo went with a standard control scheme on New Super Mario Bros. In that game, when you press the button, Mario jumps, and he jumps every time. Here, we must tap the platform to which the Prince must jump to. You can’t hold the stylus to the screen; otherwise the game will read it as simply a run command. You can’t tap too far; otherwise the Prince will continue to run after making jump. Even simple commands such as detaching from a ledge can take multiple tries.

And as frustrating as the controls are sometimes, I suppose it’s a testament to the programmers that the game is at least playable. It’s not that the work here is shoddy; it’s that the concept just doesn’t hold up.

Another disappointment is the combat system. In fact, it’s hard to really call it a system at all. Every encounter basically boils down blocking, doing a light slash and repeating. The more powerful attack takes far too long to pull of to be useful in a fight. There are no real combos or anything, and as a result, the swordplay becomes very tedious, especially when you are frequently blocked from advancing until you take down multiple enemies.

Boss fights are a bit more interesting, but are awkward to play. They involve a bit more thought than the standard encounters. The problem is that they are presented from a static camera angle, which would be fine, except that the stylus movement control detects the difference between run and walk by how far from the Prince you are touching. The farther away, the fast he runs. But if you are near one side of the screen, the Prince will slow down because there simply isn’t any more screen space to that side. Imagine trying to dodge an attack to left. If you are already near the far left the Prince will not run. As with the platforming controls, it still works, but it degrades what could have been a much better experience.

Graphically, The Fallen King is adequate, but nothing special. Character models are very simple and the art direction doesn’t make much of an impact. The most impressive aspect is easily the animations. The Prince’s acrobatics all look great. There is some occasional slowdown, but it’s barely noteworthy. Sound effects are generally good, but the music loops endlessly and it can get downright irritating.

The overall presentation is also disappointing. The story is about as standard as they come and half-heartedly presented through very brief text passages. The characters are written to be humorous, but it’s the type of cheesy humor that really can only work with a really good voice actor. Even the very basic presentation is lacking. When you beat a level, don’t expect any sort of fanfares or celebratory moments.

Prince of Persia: The Fallen King is ultimately a disappointing experience. There was a lot of potential here, but a few key poor decisions keep the game from reaching the heights it grasps for. Despite quality level design and some nice gameplay ideas, the controls just aren’t good enough in the long run and the bland presentation certainly doesn’t help. You could do a lot worse than The Fallen King, but you could also do a lot better.

Gameplay: 6.5
The Prince’s acrobatic platforming is fast paced and fun, but is hurt by the sometimes iffy touch screen controls. Teaming up with Zal the Magus provides some nice puzzle solving, while combat is overly simplistic and tedious.

Graphics: 6.5 
A decent visual package overall. The animations are definitely the highlight, with some occasionally mild slowdown as the main detractor.

Sound: 6.0
The sound effects are decent, but the music is far too repetitive and uninspired.

Difficulty: Medium
While very simple at first, there are a few challenging segments later on.

Concept: 6.5 
The level design is solid, but the stylus controls hurt the overall experience, especially as the platforming becomes more challenging. The presentation of the story is lacking.

Overall: 6.5
Prince of Persia: The Fallen King is a game that just sort of falls into no man’s land. It’s not bad, and it’s not particularly good. While there are a lot of good ideas, the execution isn’t polished enough to realize that potential.