Prince of Persia is again in 2D – however this time he wants rescuing

Some 34 years after the discharge of the primary recreation within the sequence, Prince of Persia goes again to its 2D roots. Jordan Mechner’s 1989 Apple II unique was a side-on platformer that dazzled with its fluid, rotoscoped animation, however the sequence might be now higher identified for its groundbreaking 3D entries, specifically The Sands of Time from 2003, which gave the Prince the facility to gradual, freeze and even rewind time. That recreation was the work of Ubisoft Montreal, however The Misplaced Crown is being created by a distinct Ubisoft studio with a powerful 2D heritage.

“Ubisoft Montpellier has actual experience in 2D platform video games, and a few 20 members of the staff labored straight on Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends in key positions,” says recreation director Mounir Radi, who thinks it’s a pure evolution for the studio to strive its hand at a extra open, much less linear recreation construction. Accordingly, The Misplaced Crown is a “Metroidvania”, a method of motion recreation that encourages backtracking throughout a step by step unfurling world the place new skills unlock new areas to discover. And it introduces a neat new trick: reminiscence shards.

By urgent down on the D-pad at any level, a screenshot of your location – a reminiscence shard – is routinely pinned on to the map. “This function was born out of our expertise with different Metroidvania video games,” says Radi. “It’s a style that depends closely on memorisation. In some, you should use colored pins which you could connect to the map that can assist you keep in mind the presence of a closed passage, a chest or some other merchandise of curiosity. However with the passage of time, it’s straightforward to neglect what was behind the aspect within the first place.” Not so with reminiscence shards, which report an ideal image of no matter you needed to earmark for later exploration.

Radi says the studio aimed to retain what individuals keep in mind about Prince of Persia – the setting, the time powers – whereas twisting them to shock gamers. So the prince is again, however this time he’s the one who wants rescuing. As a substitute, you play as Sargon, considered one of a bunch of elite warriors referred to as the Immortals who got down to rescue the kidnapped Prince Ghassan. This time round, it’s the villain, Anahita, who has time powers. In contrast, Sargon has powers that management area: one is teleportation, “which lets you create an afterimage and transfer round in it to scout places, create combos from scratch or bypass bodily obstacles,” Radi says; one other is the “dimensional claw”, which helps you to lure enemies or objects and transport them elsewhere.

Fight is quick and livid. Sargon’s preventing fashion was impressed by tricking, an acrobatic sport combining martial arts, dance and free working. Different influences embrace the Avenue Fighter video games, of which Radi says he’s an enormous fan. Simply as in Avenue Fighter 6, notably spectacular strikes immediate the digital camera to zoom in and swoop across the character. For the visuals, senior inventive director Jean-Christophe Alessandri has drawn inspiration not solely from Persian mythology and tradition, but additionally from a variety of comedian books and anime; Sargon’s haircut specifically might properly be lifted from the pages of Shōnen Bounce. “I dare you to seek out all of the references we’ve hidden within the recreation!” says Radi.

Work on The Misplaced Crown started in late 2019, however Radi says Ubisoft Montpellier had “already thought of and even prototyped a 2D Prince of Persia prior to now” – so the sequence’ return to 2D has been a very long time within the making. “We need to consider that we’ve succeeded in our intention,” says Radi, “to create a real Prince of Persia that may be loved instantly.”

• Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown can be out 15 January 2024, on Xbox, PlayStation 4/5, PC and Nintendo Swap