There are lots of things that we associate with
Christmas – snow, tinsel, mulled wine and, of
course, Prince of Persia. Despite its hot and dusty setting,
the tales of a dapper prince from ancient times, battling
demons, gods and time itself traditionally gets its release
in the holiday season. And yet again, it's looking like we’ll be spending
Boxing Day holed up with The Artist Still Very Much Known As Prince as we leap, slide
and battle our way across Persia.
There’s no questioning the immediate impact of
the art style of this new iteration of the series; the
watercolour cel-shading is spectacular. Every Prince of
Persia game going back 20 years has been a visual feast
of its time and this, like the Christmas release date, is a
tradition Ubisoft is keeping. It’s not just the look of the
game, though, that has its roots in tradition. Many of
the gameplay mechanics promised are rather familiar.
Using the Assassin’s Creed Scimitar engine will give the
prince’s movement and camera a flow and pace that has
become a benchmark for the platforming genre.
The Prince will be accompanied by Elika, guardian of
the land. She’s on a quest to destroy ‘The Corruption’,
an evil darkness being spread by Ahriman, the god of
evil. Well, we say the prince accompanies her; she’s actually
accompanied by what we can only describe as a bum
who will one day become a prince.
Elika’s relationship
with the prince is a mutually beneficial one. Whilst
helping her get where she needs to go, Elika can in
turn activate launch pads. These boost the prince in his
death-defying leaps, which are, with this protagonist,
far more improbable than any previous version of his
majesty. Elika can also help out in battles, fighting your
enemies when they are in certain modes that make them
unbeatable using normal attacks.
There is some similarity
with this symbiotic relationship to Yorda and the
protagonist in the critically-acclaimed masterpiece, Ico.
But Elika’s ability to restore light to an area once the enemy
is vanquished also bares a resemblance to another
watercolour, cel-shaded game – the much-loved Okami.
Prince of Persia promises to take these mechanics
and styles to the next level with a high performing,
high definition, current-gen prince whose similarity
to his predecessor in the Sands of Time trilogy stops at
broad shoulders and the need for a haircut. PoP will be
breaking out all new moves, both in combat and travel.
As he leaps from cliff to cliff, the prince will be able to
traverse greater distance at faster speeds, and sports a
grip fall move thanks to his sharp gauntlet glove (picked
up from a previous adventure). The grip fall will allow
him to sink his gauntlet into a surface as he falls down,
saving him as he scrapes his hand into a cliff-side and
makes his way back up. If he doesn’t make it, Elika will
respawn him nearby. In battle, the prince faces boss
type enemies mano-y-mano without the hordes of
low level beasts of the past games to get in your way.
These boss fights will see you in cinematic strategic
movements, changing tactics as the boss learns your
style and your moves.
The most exciting news about the game, though,
is the open, explorable environments. Persia has
always been beautifully realised by Ubisoft, but
this version will see exquisite vistas you can visit as
and when you please, taking the game off rails and
allowing you the freedom to choose your own path
of adventure. Although the whole country isn’t open
to you all at once, when you choose a path areas
known as bubbles will be open – with each one being
absolutely enormous – and you’ll be free to find your
way as you please, with Elika on hand to supply you
with compass markers if and when you need them.
If it’s as big as Ubisoft claims (big enough to rival
an Assassin’s Creed level of huge-osity), has a pared
down battling system, truly flowing character control
and can match the drama of the original Sands of Time
story then this truly will be a Merry Christmas. God
bless us, every one!
