Exclusive Prince of Persia video

By Rich Dotor

For some, Prince of Persia will conjure up fond memories of its first incarnation back in 1989. In 2003 the Prince returned with the classic Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time for the Xbox and Playstation 2. Two sequels and a forthcoming Hollywood movie later and Prince of Persia is coming to the new generation of consoles. Closing the book on the previous trilogy, 2008’ s Prince of Persia is a whole new franchise, with a new Prince and a new story where the player must fight against the corrupting force of “Ahriman”. But the story is not the only thing that has changed in the world of Prince of Persia: Ubisoft Montreal has made a series of bold and potentially revolutionary decisions with how they approach the look of the game, the way you fight and even the way you die.

First is the art style. Pictures can’t do justice to just how gorgeous Prince of Persia looks on a hi-def television. The “illustrative” style as it's called adds character and vibrancy to every frame of animation clearly setting PoP apart from this year's other games. Just as bold though is the Studio's decision to move away from the traditional you fall off a ledge, you die mechanic. PoP employs what is known as the “save me” mechanic, where new character and companion for the game Elika will not only fling you through the air should you need a helping hand when leaping from pillar to pillar, but will reach out and save you from certain death, quickly returning you to the nearest safe ground. Elika also plays an important part in a new combat system where rather than fighting hordes of easily dispatched minions, your Prince will face off in epic one on one duels with an enemy who will stalk you throughout each level.

With these ingredients it’s impossible for Prince of Persia not to be one of the most highly anticipated titles this year. Just our luck then that we had the opportunity to sit down at Ubisoft Montreal with Producer of Prince of Persia, Ben Mattes, to discuss it. 

ShortList.com: Tell us about your companion in the game, Elika.

Ben Mattes: She’s got a compass power that will always help me navigate my way through the world. When I’m jumping and I want to reach a far platform that I can’t do normally I’m going to fall to my death. But I could also jump and when I’m in mid air press the Elika button and she jumps in, we do this cooperative jump, and we reach a further destination we couldn’t normally. There is another whole layer to her in combat. When I want to swing my sword I press X, when I want to jump over the enemy’s head I press A and when I want Elika to jump in and do any of that cool stuff I press Y. How I combine all of those buttons together create the combos that make up all of the spectacular combat sequences you will see

S: With the fight style there seems to be real opportunity for players to create their own individual style that they can choreograph.

BM: Collaboration, choreography, flow have defined this project and the decisions we have made with it. Acrobatics start to take a lot from rhythm games like Guitar Hero where you get into that rhythm, get lost and enter into a flow where that sense of immersion is going to be so much stronger than if you constantly have to look at your controller. The magic of this game really comes thorough at its best when you are no longer thinking about the buttons and you are just lost in that sense of choreographed flow. That’s where this game shines.

S: A huge aspect of the game is the use of only one major enemy in each level of the game. How did you reach a decision like that?

BM: We started listing all of the games that had already come out where you fight multiple enemies with a hack and slash sword mechanic and thought, you know what, there's a lot of competition there. So the first intention was to do something different and that’s what kick started the idea of a duel. Another benefit is that you can bring the camera in really close and because you are fighting one enemy we can literally show you the enemy’s facial expression. There are generic enemies that you fight but the guardian of a region is the guy you will fight most often in an area. 

S: The “save me” system is another really bold decision, why go with something like that?

BM: It keeps that flow going that is super critical to the overall experience. It never pulls me out of the immersion, it never pulls me out of the game or breaks that sensation with the game over, you suck screen. 

S: What kinds of puzzles can we expect from this edition of the franchise?

BM: Every region has one major area which is an entire puzzle map. That map involves solving a puzzle that spans the entire length of it. 
 
S: Another key element is how the game is less linear than the previous titles and that the paths you take will have varying effects on the rest of the game, depending on what order you take them. 

BM: In the open world I set an area as my destination. As I look around there is no challenge other than the acrobatic one. There are no bosses, creatures or traps. (Ben proceeds to jump, volt, swing and fight his way across a large area finally ending in the defeat of the areas' Hunter and the blossoming of grass and flowers into the world that drives the corruption out with an almighty tremor). If I go back the way I came and get out of the healed area, you will see that the tremors that were released will now infect areas the were previously uninfected, where the only challenge was the acrobatic one. 

Prince of Persia will be available for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC in December.

Exclusive Gameplay Footage (please note this may take some time to load)

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