In between the fight sequences though, you are treated to jumping puzzles where you are forced to climb “Prince of Persia” style across tall structures and crumbling ruins. These puzzles are never overly difficult and provide nice breaks from the hectic action with the pirates. This can feel like the least realistic element of the game though, as the average person doesn’t seem capable of such acrobatic feats of strength and poise.

The flow of the game is probably what is most impressive. The story progresses in a fairly linear fashion, but you are not subjected to a cutscene in between every segment. At the start, once you finish leaping from three broken cliffs into a new clearing you are treated to an onslaught of pirates within just a few steps. From there chapters will progress without much fanfare and will merely crawl on screen as you move through the game, letting you know what dangers may lay ahead. The story segments all fit in nicely and don’t seem tacked on. If the character has something important to say they will generally say it during the gameplay, which makes any load times non-existent. Some of the textures do take a while to load as you are running along, but this only happened on occasion and was not very noticeable unless you are actively looking for a flaw.

The major hiccup in this game lies within its length. The game only takes about 7-8 hours to get through, which can be accomplished in two days or so since the story is so gripping that it will make you never want to put down your controller. But while it is short, it doesn’t leave you unsatisfied. If any more had been put into the story it may have felt tacked on, which could have ruined the whole experience. While it may be hard to justify investing $60 in a game that won’t last you a few weeks, this is definitely one that everyone should check out.

While this game is not perfect, it comes close to touching it on several points, and absolutely nails it on the story. This tale is gripping the whole way through, and has the value to be revisited over and over again, just like any DVD movie on your shelf. I urge any PS3 owner out there to go pick this one up -- you’re not going to regret it.