Why You Should Care - Prince of Persia

I'll admit, Prince of Persia is a franchise I am finally catching onto. I am currently playing through Prince of Persia: Sands of Time for the PS2 and am enjoying it very much. The original trilogy is considered to be a classic by many due to its smooth gameplay, memorable characters, and whimsical (yet sometime violent) storytelling. However, sometimes franchises need a fresh start and that is where Ubisoft's latest PoP comes into play. Scheduled to hit stores this holiday season, Prince of Persia for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC is likely to give fans of the original trilogy a new story and a new twist on the already well polished gameplay of old.
First of all, let me say that seeing the concept for this new PoP is what inspired me to play through the Sands of Time trilogy. I have developed a lot of respect for the work of Ubisoft in the past year, especially their Montreal studio which produced Assassins Creed. The first thing that anyone will notice is the new art style of the game which is a stylish blend between the realism of Assassin's Creed and the cel shaded art of games such as Okami or Wind Waker. In the past, studios that take this more artistic approach have had much better luck when it comes to creating hit titles that eventually go on to become classics. In this case, the game really comes across as a moving water color painting. Just take a look at this video which illustrates an artist rendering of one of the games new foes, the "Hunter".

The story has also changed fairly drastically. This time around, players will play as a new character who accidentally releases an evil set of twin demons from their prison. You will team up with a beautiful new ally, named Elika and traverse a much more open world than previous titles in the series. Ubisoft is aiming to give the player many more choices in regards to how to accomplish objectives and solve puzzles. The feature that has me the most excited however is the focus on cooperating with Elika. If you watch the trailer at the bottom of this post you will see some of the possibilities in regards to combat. Ubisoft seems dedicated to ensuring players that Elika will never feel like a burden and will always be an asset both on and off the battlefield. This time around however, combat it a bit different. Rather than focusing on battles amongst many different foes, the focus will always be on one on one confrontations with agile, deadly foes. I am really hoping that this creates some dramatic and sometimes, epic fight sequences. All in all, the game looks like a much needed and much welcome reinvention of a classic franchise.


-Nick