One strike against the new Prince of Persia game actually should have been a positive: a talented actor providing the voice of the lead character. The latest prince is played by Nolan North, a longtime voice actor who's probably best known as Nathan Drake in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. North has such a distinctive voice and style (he does a consummate "charming rogue"), and Uncharted was so sharply written, that he sounds out of place in the dialogue for Ubisoft's cell-shaded reboot of the Prince of Persia series.

This might seem a bit like complaining that Indiana Jones can't be played by Harrison Ford because he was Han Solo. But live action actors are complete stand-ins for their roles. Harrison Ford entirely represents Indiana Jones and Han Solo. He doesn't have to be them, because they are him (you might have to wrestle with that a little to get it to make sense, but even then, I make no promises). Animation is a different kettle of fish. The Prince of Persia and Nathan Drake are half graphics, half voice. And to my ear, the voice part of the Prince of Persia belongs in Uncharted.

It doesn't help that Ubisoft is trying to recapture the same male hero/female sidekick banter that powered Uncharted so effectively, because their writers aren't up to the task. In Prince of Persia, so much of the dialogue is soggy exposition, with some downright embarrassing lines serving as character development. For instance, the Prince's various "chin up, buckaroo" pep talks (one of which includes the phrase "Cheer up, queenie"), or his anecdote about being brought home by a girl and finding pictures of her ex-boyfriend. Cute, but what century is this?

It's tough enough establishing a relationship between two videogame characters. But it's even tougher when every time one of the characters opens his mouth, you invite comparison to a game that did it far better.