Prince of Persia (2008 video game)
| Prince of Persia | |
|---|---|
| File:Pop2008cover.jpg Prince of Persia box art | |
| Developer(s) | Ubisoft Montreal |
| Publisher(s) | Ubisoft |
| Designer(s) | Jean-Christophe Guyot |
| Composer(s) | Inon Zur, Stuart Chatwood[4] |
| Series | Prince of Persia |
| Engine | Scimitar |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| Release |
Microsoft Windows |
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure, Platform |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Prince of Persia is an upcoming video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is scheduled for release in December 2008 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. It is a completely new chapter in the Prince of Persia universe and it introduces a new gameplay style, and a new graphic design to the Prince of Persia series. [6]
Gameplay
The gameplay in Prince of Persia will retain a very similar feel to the Sands of Time trilogy, in the sense that the acrobatics, puzzle solving, and combat elements will all still be intact. However, the game is non-linear, and hence, the player is given the opportunity to explore any part of the world at any time they want to.
A new supporting character, Elika, will have a large role in game play, in a sense where she saves the Prince from death while in combat or exploring the world. Ubisoft has emphasized that the Prince will not "die" in this game, as Elika will save him from any danger and bring him back to the last safe point of the game. For example, if the Prince slips and misses a jump, instead of falling to his death, Elika will grab him, and set him back on higher ground. Elika can also perform many combat moves, some in tandem with the Prince. If the Prince is downed in combat, Elika can protect him as he regains his energy. She also assists him in acrobatics. She boosts the Prince further than he can jump alone using her magical abilities. She is also very acrobatic, performing the same moves as the Prince, with ease. When solving puzzles, Elika plays a role as well. If the Prince does not know where to go next, Elika will guide him in the right direction with a magic compass.
Combat will largely differ from that in the Sands of Time trilogy, but is similar to that of the original Prince of Persia trilogy. The majority of combat is one-on-one combat, instead of fighting off hordes of enemies as in the Sands of Time trilogy. The Prince wields a sword, but he also uses his gauntlet as a secondary weapon, using it to block enemy attacks and hurl his opponents in the air by grabbing them. There are four main combat buttons: "sword button", by which the Prince uses his sword to attack enemies; "gauntlet button", by which he can lift and throw up enemies; "Elika button", by which Elika uses her magic to hit enemies; and "acrobatics button", which is useful for dodging and jumping over enemies and interacting with Elika and the environment during combat. There are three stages of the Prince's health in combat: "healthy," "weakened," and "grounded." When the Prince is in his "healthy" state, he is "swift and energetic" as he battles. When an enemy strikes the Prince, he goes into his "weakened" state. He is not as agile in his "weakened" state, and is more vulnerable to being attacked. When the enemy hits the Prince when he is "weakened," the Prince becomes "grounded." He lies on the ground, vulnerable to all enemy attacks. If an enemy attempts to attack again before the Prince recovers, however, Elika will drive back the enemy and put the Prince back to his "healthy" state, but at a cost; the enemy also returns to full health.
Acrobatics remain largely unchanged from the Sands of Time trilogy, except that Elika will now provide acrobatic support. The Prince is capable of running on walls, sliding down walls, climbing walls, and jumping from wall-to-wall. The Prince utilizes his gauntlet as a tool to break the fall as he slides down a wall. Elika also plays a large role in acrobatics. Elika boosts the Prince further than he can normally go, she saves him if he misses a jump, and she herself is very capable and agile. As the game progresses, the Prince can collect certain concentrated "light seeds" of magic and trade them to get Elika new magical powers.[7]
Plot
The adventure begins with a new Prince of Persia, a wanderer, a vagabond, returning home from an adventure on a donkey laden with treasure, which he earned on his previous venture. He desires to spend his treasure on many luxuries, including women and liquor. But suddenly, he is caught in a fierce sandstorm. When the sandstorm subsides, he finds himself in a mythical garden of beauty, dominated at its center by a massive Tree of Life. The Prince and a girl, Elika, find each other in the same predicament and decide to help each other. Together, they venture to the center of this grand oasis. When they arrive at the center, they witness the destruction of the tree, and the liberation of Ahriman, the ancient god of darkness. After being set free, Ahriman starts corrupting the lands with darkness and evil. The Prince, with the aid of Elika and her new found powers, take up arms against Ahriman's corruption, in an attempt to drive it back and cleanse the world.
Characters
Main characters
The Prince is a new character, different from the protagonist of the Sands of Time trilogy. Producer Ben Mattes explained that their goal was to create an accessible action hero. The character is a normal person, not a noble prince. The inspiration for this character has been drawn from adventurers like Sinbad in the One Thousand and One Nights, Han Solo from Star Wars, and Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings.[8][9]
He is an extremely agile and cunning warrior, proving to be an able swordsman. Ubisoft has stated that the Prince will have all his abilities in the beginning of the game. He wears clothes with a red and blue color scheme. He wields a sword in his right hand and wears a spiked gauntlet on his left hand. The gauntlet is the Prince's secondary weapon, and is also a tool that allows him to perform feats such as sliding down from high places without being harmed.[10] The Prince is voiced by Nolan North.
The game producers explained that they wanted a secondary character who would be an actual partner to the Prince in a true sense with being a helpful and a friendly asset, and "not become any kind of burden on him or his way". It is claimed that Elika is as large an innovation to this game as the time-controlling powers of the Prince were in the Sands of Time trilogy. The inspiration to create Elika was drawn from supporting characters from other media, like Elizabeth Swann from the Pirates of the Caribbean film series; Padmé Amidala from Star Wars; and Arwen from the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.[11]
Elika is described as a "deadly ally,"[12] and a strong supporting character, who will affect every aspect of the game, as she accompanies the Prince throughout the game. This includes exploration, combat and puzzle-solving. A descendant of the Ahuras, she can perform some special moves in tandem with the Prince, and use her magical abilities to aid the Prince in his quest. She is also able to guide the Prince on the right track in case he is lost in his way in the game and can assist him in solving multiple puzzles as well. Elika is voiced by Kari Wahlgren,[13] and speaks Parsi .[14]
Supporting characters and enemies
Ahriman
Ahriman is the main villain. He has infected an alternate world with a strange plague which causes people to transform into savage beasts. The Prince of Persia must unite with Elika in order to save this bizarre realm.
The Hunter
The Hunter is a dangerous foe and an energetic beast that uses agility, speed, and acrobatics to his advantage. Originally a prince, The Hunter indulged in many treasures, but became obsessed mainly with hunting. Soon, though, the prince became jaded even in the hunting aspect. Ahriman caught word of his discontent and offered him a chance to fight a foe beyond all others. The prince, unable to resist the urge to hunt, offered his soul to Ahriman, and was then transformed into a possessed beast. The word of this terrifying beast spread to the far corners of the Earth, and many people from those corners came to hunt it. The prince's wish was granted - he hunted man. One of Ahriman's most reliable fighters, The Hunter was set free once again, to hunt the Prince of Persia.[15]
The Warrior
The Warrior is described to be once a king of a land of peaceful people, who were always targeted by many enemies and hence engaged in constant wars. So, the king made himself and a small group of his people "instruments of war" in order to defend the kingdom from their overwhelming enemies. The king desperately wanted his land to be rid of these attackers, and Ahriman heard him. In the king's mind, Ahriman spoke, offering to turn the tides of the war, coupled with ultimate salvation of his people in return of his soul. The king accepted the offer, and became the corrupted beast that the Prince of Persia has to face during the game. This beast, who had become known as the Warrior, soon destroyed all of his enemy forces, but was unable to return to his kingdom as he had become everything that his people rejected. Thus, the Warrior was exiled from the land. He saw nothing else to do but to ally himself with Ahriman, and so became Ahriman's loyal servant, aiding him in his quest to corrupt the world. In the game, the Warrior is a gigantic beast, incredibly powerful but very slow. The Prince's speed and acrobatics, along with teamwork with Elika, has to be utilized to defeat the Warrior as the Prince cannot hope to overpower him alone. [16]
Development
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Windows[17] | ||
| Operating system | Windows XP or Windows Vista | |
| CPU | Intel Pentium D 2.6 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (Dual Core) processor | Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz or better / AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ |
| Memory | 1 GB (XP), 2 GB (Vista) | |
| Free space | 8 GB | |
| Graphics hardware | 256 MB DirectX 10.0 Graphics Card or DirectX 9.0–compliant card with Shader Model 3.0 or higher, PCI Express | |
| Sound hardware | DirectX Compatible | |
Prince of Persia's development team began conception right as Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones was released,[18] however, proof of conception for the game was found when, on September 21, 2006 a leaked RAR file contained concept art, although no comment was made by Ubisoft.[19] Also, on January 23, 2008 some screen shots from the game when it was in conception were leaked onto the internet, and again Ubisoft made no comments.[20]
In May 2008, Ubisoft confirmed the game a work-in-progress. They stated that they expect to release the game towards the fourth quarter of 2008, and gave details about the plot and game play. In one such interview, they stated that the general staples of the game play are to remain intact, including platforming, combat, and puzzle solving. Ubisoft has stated that an equal balance of the three elements will be featured in the game, and that the Prince has more acrobatic abilities than ever. He is able to "defy gravity", in many different ways. The game is also to focus more on one-on-one combat, similar to the original Prince of Persia trilogy, rather than fighting dozens of enemies, as in the Sands of Time trilogy. Ubisoft stated that the reason for changing the combat was that it would give players the impression that each enemy was a unique challenge in itself, instead of "just another enemy".
In May 2008, Ubisoft released two official videos of a concept artist designing the Prince and Elika.[21] One video shows a full-bodied new Prince being created with the computer program Photoshop. The other art drawing video detailed Elika.[22] Yet another fast-forward concept art emerged in July, 2008, this time depicting a prime enemy; The Hunter.
The game is to use a heavily modified version of the Scimitar engine, which was also used in Assassin's Creed. Developers chose to use a modified version of this engine because it would allow them to enhance the game by adding more open land, and less linearity. Developers also chose to implement an illustrative graphical style, similar to cel-shaded graphics, but with more detail drawn in.[23]
In an interview with Chris Easton, it was confirmed that, although the Prince will be traveling through infected lands, there will be human characters he will meet in his venture that will aid him, and have special significance on everything from the storyline to the direct game play. It was also confirmed that, although the new Prince of Persia and Assassin's Creed share game engines, Prince of Persia will not have cities filled with uninfected people, or safe areas; everything is Ahriman's domain.[24]
References
- ^ "Ubisoft Announces Release Date for Prince Of Persia" (Press release). Ubisoft. 2008-09-18. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
- ^ a b c Sinclair, Brendan (September 18, 2008). "Prince of Persia gets coronation date". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
- ^ http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=290820
- ^ "Prince of Persia Soundtrack composed by Inon Zur and Stuart Chatwood".
{{cite web}}: Text "title;1" ignored (help); Unknown parameter|Date=ignored (|date=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|Language=ignored (|language=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|Publisher=ignored (|publisher=suggested) (help) - ^ "Prince of Persia: Prodigy Page". GamePro. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
- ^ "Ubisoft Announces Prince Of Persia for Consoles and PC" (Press release). Ubisoft. 2008-04-28. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
- ^ "E3 stage interview".
- ^ "Prince of Persia Developer Blog - The Prince". 2008-07-03. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
- ^ As quoted in Gary Steinman, "Prince of Persia: Anatomy of a Prince," PlayStation: The Official Magazine 13 (December 2008): 50.
- ^ Goldstein, Harry (2008-05-23). "Prince of Persia First Look". IGN. Retrieved 2008-07-09.
- ^ Burnes, Andrew (2008-05-28). "Prince of Persia Prodigy CG Trailer & Information Overload". IGN. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Ubidays 2008:Debut Trailer".
- ^ [1]
- ^ Gary Steinman, "Prince of Persia: Anatomy of a Prince," PlayStation: The Official Magazine 13 (December 2008): 50.
- ^ "Prince of Persia Hunter Speed drawing". Retrieved 2008-07-13.
- ^ "Prince of Persia Dev. Diary Pt 2". Retrieved 2008-10-14.
- ^ Plunkett, Luke (January 22, 2008). "Assassin's Creed PC Specs: Your PC Will Weep Like A Scolded Child". Kotaku. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
- ^ "Ubidays Interview".
- ^ "Leaked Concept Art".
- ^ "Leaked Screenshots".
- ^ "Prince Speed Art".
- ^ "Elika Speed Art".
- ^ "Illustrative graphics in new Prince of Persia".
- ^ "Chris Easton on Prince of Persia".
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