Sadly, the last two years saw the release of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, and Max Payne 2 (Cryo’s The Devil Inside thought of that last bit in 2000). Which leaves Shade appearing, perhaps unfairly, like a feeble attempt to cash in on the success of at least the first two.

However, Shade is not blameless in such assumptions. Your character is given a magical blade, recharged by plunging it into the ground wherever you spot a small patch of misty white wisps... Even his pose matches that of PoP, leaving little room for doubt that the idea was nicked wholesale. (Even if it weren’t, it should have been removed quickly to avoid embarrassment). Sadly, what hasn’t been pinched is a liquid-smooth fighting system or the joyous controls. What exists instead is a clunky mess that doesn’t even include side-step or walking backwards.

The agonizing frequency of cut-scenes, and load points between every other room (even worse: load points midway through incredibly long cut-scenes), leads one to assume that this must be a lazy console conversion. But astonishingly, this is a PC developed title. Quite how it’s in such a state is bemusing.