Prince of Persia (2008 video game)
A reboot of the Prince of Persia series with a new continuity.
Prince of Persia is a 2008 action-adventure game from Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft. As the seventh main series entry and second reboot, it starts a fresh storyline separate from earlier games. It launched in the US on December 2, 2008, for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, with later Windows and Mac OS X releases.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Ubisoft Montreal
- Publisher
- Ubisoft
- Director
- Jean-Christophe Guyot
- Producer
- Bertrand Helias, Ben Mattes
- Designer
- Thomas Delbuguet, Kevin Guillemette
- Programmer
- Charles Jacob
- Artist
- Mickael Labat
- Writer
- Andrew Walsh
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Prince of Persia centers on gameplay mechanics described by producer Ben Mattes as pillars of the series: acrobatic exploration of a Persian environment with a mix of acrobatics, combat, and puzzle-solving. The player travels the game world to heal specially designated spots of land, controlling an acrobatic character accompanied by the AI-controlled companion Elika. The Prince uses acrobatic prowess, a sword, and a gauntlet, while Elika provides magic for combat and acrobatic feats. The game features open world exploration, allowing the player to travel to any spot at any time and experience the plot in any order. Previously visited areas become more challenging upon return, and healing a spot of land removes traps, which appear as black Corruption blobs from Ahriman that can swallow the player. Acrobatic maneuvers help avoid these traps and are also used in combat to vault over enemies or hit them into the air. Elika assists with acrobatics, and magical plates enable more complex feats; failing to signal her magic causes the Prince to fall, sometimes to his death. The player cannot conventionally die; when an enemy would land a finishing blow or the Prince would fall, Elika saves him with no limit on rescues, though an achievement rewards fewer than 100 saves. The Epilogue DLC added a magic plate allowing Elika to recreate destroyed objects and a new combat maneuver.
Synopsis
Prince of Persia is set in an undefined ancient Persian city-state heavily based on Zoroastrianism. A thousand years before the game, a struggle between the gods Ahriman and Ormazd ended with Ormazd and his Ahura people imprisoning Ahriman and his Corrupted minions in a tree. Ormazd left the world, and the Ahura guarded the prison for a thousand years until they began losing their powers and departed. Shortly before the game, Ahriman is about to be freed. The protagonist is a nameless adventurer seeking fortune, accompanied by an Ahura named Elika. Her race has abandoned their duty to Ormazd and intends to free Ahriman, the god of darkness, who plans to conquer the universe upon liberation. The Mourning King appears as an antagonist, seeking to fulfill a deal with Ahriman in exchange for resurrecting his daughter Elika. The Corrupted, four rulers chosen by Ahriman to aid him, also appear as antagonists, having been imprisoned with him for a thousand years. The Hunter was a prince who enjoyed hunting and traded his soul to Ahriman for a more satisfying prey. The Alchemist was an Ahura scientist who sought immortality and exchanged his soul for it after Ormazd refused him. The Concubine, skilled in politics, traded her soul for the power of illusion after being scarred and stripped of beauty. The Warrior, a king who accepted power from Ahriman to defend his country, was later rejected by his peace-loving citizens.
Development
Proof of conception for Prince of Persia appeared in September 2006 when leaked concept art was found online, though Ubisoft did not announce the game until May 2008. They expected a fourth-quarter 2008 release and provided details on plot and gameplay. The general staples of platforming, combat, and puzzle-solving remained but were altered drastically. Combat became one-on-one fights, similar to the original Prince of Persia trilogy, rather than fighting hordes of enemies as in the Sands of Time series. Producer Ben Mattes stated the intent was to give each enemy a unique, dramatic feel. The game uses a heavily modified version of the Scimitar engine, also used in Assassin's Creed, chosen to allow more expansive worlds and less linearity. In May 2008, Ubisoft released videos of a concept artist designing the Prince and Elika, and in July, concept art of the Hunter antagonist emerged. Unlike previous Ubisoft games such as Assassin's Creed, the PC version contains no digital rights protection. Mattes said cooperative gameplay with an AI-controlled partner was the core idea from the start, intended to replace the Sands of Time hook. The team explored various partner concepts, including a child, father figure, or brother, before settling on Elika. The idea of AI-controlled functions came from Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, as the team felt the relationship between Farah and the Prince worked well from a storytelling perspective and decided to expand on it.
Reception
Prince of Persia received generally positive reviews, with Metacritic scores of 81% for Xbox 360, 85% for PlayStation 3, and 82% for PC. IGN's Hilary Goldstein praised the simple but visually spectacular acrobatics and combat, noting that embracing the change to the series was necessary to enjoy it, and commended Elika as a useful sidekick with a great relationship with the Prince. GameSpot's Kevin VanOrd shared similar views and praised the artistic design. Critics criticized the game for being too easy or consumer-friendly, with simple platforming and combat. Eurogamer described it as a poor game with excessive repetition but fantastic technology and interesting mechanics. 1UP.com criticized the trial-and-error nature of platforming. Comparisons were drawn to Mirror's Edge, Assassin's Creed, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, and Ōkami. By January 2009, the game sold over 2.2 million copies worldwide, reaching over 2.5 million by November. At the 12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, it won Outstanding Achievement in Animation and received nominations for Adventure Game of the Year, Art Direction, and Sound Design.
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