Where last year previously boasted the impressive Assassin’s Creed this year at eGames ’08 Ubisoft presented Prince Of Persia on the main screen to a receptive and always numerous group of onlookers.

Ubisoft presents Prince Of Persia – eGames ’08 Preview

Official Site

Release Date - Early December 2008

Platform - XBOX 360, PS3, PC

Being featured both at Ubisoft’s booth and at Sony’s, much play time was had by all including yours truly who was sure to return to get a good feel at how the new Prince and his sexy sidekick Elika pair up.

First point of notice for anyone familiar with the last Prince Of Persia trilogy, the new cel shaded universe is quite different especially compared to the darker, later titles baring a stark contrast to the new more colourful Prince. The graphical re-design adds some flair to the impressive scenery and large outdoor areas that can look truly impressive, despite character models now packing all the downsides to cel shading with excessive jagged edges and clipping issues. There’s certainly a more unique styling to the artwork and costuming thanks to the graphical overhaul, Prince Of Persia despite using the original name of the series also has many drastic differences to the previous games extending further than visual design alone.

The story is set to start anew with a whole new hero again titled ‘The Prince’ introduced as he walks his donkey home through the desert, raising questions as to whether he’s actually a Prince of anything at all. He’s not alone long, as the plot begins with the meeting of a flustered lady Elika as she runs from the attack of a few motivated guards. Some heroism and a bout of acrobats later and the most useful addition to the series is introduced in the form of the supporting magic user Elika and her continual relentless support.

Elika is far more appealing than the new Prince, who seems to think anytime is appropriate for smart ass quips that mash together terrible attitudinal dialogue that has no place in the time or location of Prince Of Persia. I’m hoping for some real character evolution in The Prince as every time his mouth opened in the first segments the result was cringe worthy. Looking past poor dialogue on the one character and a lot of neat story telling can be found within Prince Of Persia, just ignoring the main character is a little tough at times.

With huge alterations from every angle for the most part of Prince Of Persia, the core gameplay mechanics are what hold most resemblance to the last trilogy while still being a whole new mixed bag especially where combat is concerned. Acrobats are akin to before, with the new Prince being as agile as the last leaping from poles and ledges to wall running and climbing. Navigating the environment is true to the series and the most familiar aspect apart from the new method of survival which is just one of the ways that Elika seems to continually assist the Prince throughout the game, by launching him back up to his last stable position should he plummet to peril. It removes a lot of the risk factor for most of the survival gymnastics while saving a lot of death and reloading screens and making The Prince invulnerable outside of combat.

While mortality is always a grim factor of the new combat system, Elika will also do her best to help in action by adding magical attacks to combo against a foe. There’s a big focus on combos in the combat considering that most battles will only ever be 2v1 fights (Prince and Elika Vs. Enemy), with timing essential to juggling the various attack, grapple and magical combo potentials of the dynamic duo. A lot more focus is required to take out enemies and attention must be paid to their advances so the appropriate defense and counter can be reciprocated. It’s a refreshing change to Prince Of Persia that saves us from a potentially fourth case of now repetitive hack ‘n’ slash fighting.

Outside of the battles and outside of the dank ruins filled with bottomless cliffs, the outdoor scenery is a true sight to be seen and capably so with the new free roaming aspect of Prince Of Persia. Each area can be accessed via The Prince’s map, and once unlocked can be automatically traveled to for easy access from place to place. Elika is keen to help you about here as well as at anytime she’s available for a bit of a chat about some in-game advice or to send out a beacon pointing the necessary direction for your marked goal.

With such drastic changes on all the key elements of Prince Of Persia it is hard to see much resemblance to any of the past games in a way that makes it a true sequel of any sort. Personally it’s a welcome change, since the last trilogy completed it’s time to start a new direction for the series but some may be very confronted by the new Prince and his wily ways. The inability to die outside of combat is a big turn-off for many, but deeper combat and a much deeper overall sense of personality definitely gives Prince Of Persia a solid chance of continuing the success of the franchise. A few nagging annoyances stick in at first but overall Prince Of Persia is a very seductive story driven experience.

Altaïr Appears -

Ubisoft have announced a downloadable skin for Prince Of Persia; of Altair from Assassin’s Creed. Just link your XBL / PSN account to Ubisoft.com and you’ll be able to access the skin and play through the entire game as the historic assassin.