The game begins with the prince on his vessel, which is attacked by a ship of sand creatures, similar to the ones we met in the last game. As the game starts, we're put directly into the heat of battle, and a helpful tutorial to help you get back into the swing of things, so long as you don't get frustrated by the first boss (which is a few minutes into the game). She can be a bit tough as you're still getting used to the game, but once you get used to the controls again she's not that hard.

The tutorial is extremely thorough, extending itself over the first few areas. It explains the camera angles, several different fighting styles, both single handed and the newly added dual handed fighting. It shows how to work through several pages of these new moves, from the Orontes' Grudge (X+Y) to the Tormenting Typhoon (Y+Y+X+X+Y+Y). These aren't all available to you in the beginning, but become unlocked through different areas, and different weapons.

The weapons themselves are much more diverse. You're now allowed to dual wield different weapons, instead of using with a dagger all the time. Your main weapon upgrades over time, from a stick, to the Spyder Sword, and so on, while your second weapon is completely variable. Most of the creatures in the game will drop weapons, which is extremely handy since you can also now throw them, and trust me, you'll want to.

Another way to get the new weapons is through random scenery in the game. If you look around, you'll notice weapon racks lying around. Simply smash them to tiny splinters, and you have a new weapon, such as a dagger, an axe, a mace, all the way to what looks suspiciously like Xena's chakrum. But that's not all you can smash. Aside from the weapon racks, you also have chests, which allow you to unlock artwork, and various pots that tend to have more of that precious sand in them.

The sand itself works basically the same way it did in the previous game. This time, though, there are added attacks though and more abilities. The one major qualm I had is that you can't use the sand until well into the tutorial, after the third save point. If you've played Sands of Time you're going to find yourself mashing buttons after falling down a ravine by accident or being pecked to death by crows. In addition to reversing time, you can also slow down time with the 'Eye of the Storm'. There are also four attacks which basically work the same, by pulling and holding the sand button (L in this case) for longer and longer periods of time, and tapping block. You'll have to play through the game, and these are unlocked normally after boss fights. The sand slots themselves, of which you start out with only three, are obtained while traveling through the past and the present.

The graphics, while having a lot to live up to with the previous game, are a nice improvement. The animation is smoother, the atmosphere is softer, and the cut scenes are beautiful. One of the main things you'll notice is the immense amount of contrast put into the past versus the present. The whole feel of the game changes, as you go from brightly lit rooms with beautiful architecture to broken down, dank rooms overgrown with weeds and underbrush. The advantage to this is you'll know a lot of the areas that you're going through, having just traversed them to get to the portal between times. The downfall is exactly the same, as it does tend to get monotonous after a while. The other main thing you'll notice is the blood, and hooah, there's a lot of it. There's definitely something to be said for slo-mo decapitations, though I don't think it contributed enough to the game. They should have nixed the blood, and with it the M rating.

Aside from the gore (or perhaps because of it), the battles are much more engaging this time around. With an increased variety in attack moves; thrown weapons, two hand fighting, and even more interaction with the environment around you, the fights provide much more fun. The only downside I saw was that occasionally the game wouldn't quite do what it was supposed to, sometimes jumping off and away from a character when the control was clearly being pressed to jump over. This wouldn't be such a problem if it wasn't for the fact this could happen in tight spots where jumping the wrong direction causes you to leap to your death. There's nothing quite like launching off a wall, away from your enemy, and into a pit. For a lot of the fights, though, you can simply run past them. A large amount of the combat isn't forced in the game, and that's a welcome relief when you simply want to stick with the puzzles for a while. This combined with the frequent save spots before most major battles leads to a system that most veteran gamers will appreciate.

The map, which you are introduced to in the second area, does not seem to be as good as it could be. Aside from some vague semblance of the area that you're in, and another of the area you just left, you don't get much information from it.

In the end when all is said and done I have to say that the game is sadly unremarkable when it comes to uniqueness, though as a sequel it definitely does a good job. The fighting system has definitely been improved, and the graphics have been polished up, but the puzzles are largely the same. More time should have been put into the strategy portion instead of the action. This is what set the Sands of Time apart from the rest of the genre back when it was released.

Graphics: Better than the first, but slightly cartoonish in that 'sierra-esque' sort of way.

Sound: There definitely could have been a bit more time spent in the studio. The cut scenes are unique, but after fighting the first boss, Shahdee, for more than five seconds, you'll want to bludgeon her and her recycled scream.

Game play: The game play was great, with the new fighting system and the puzzles (though similar to the last one) were still a lot of fun.

Control: Aside from a few problems of the game sending us in the wrong direction, control was overall simple and accurate.

Story: The story wasn't too solid, and at times it seemed to interrupt the game play. But, then again, I'm not too big on plot. For the most part though, the cut scenes were impressive, and held my attention longer than normal.

Re-playability: The re-playability I would say is fair, but high if you have X-Box Live.

Multiplayer: X-Box Live gives you Time-attack options, and arena survival modes coupled with Content Download.