| PAX
East 2010 Game Preview:
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
It’s
been over two decades, and that Prince of Persia is still
leaping, climbing, hacking and slashing his way across the
deserts of the Middle East.
Since
its debut in 1989, the Prince of Persia franchise
has undergone several reboots, retools, and a jump from
2D to 3D, the most recent being the beautiful, yet ultimately
disappointing, cell-shaded Prince of Persia released
in 2008.
While
some people were satisfied to ogle the cell-shaded desert
vistas (and the Prince’s fetching sidekick Elika),
many gamers longed for the challenge, the puzzles, and the
well-balanced combat of the most well-received 3D Prince
of Persia game, The Sands of Time - and Ubisoft
is looking to fulfill those wishes with Prince of Persia:
The Forgotten Sands for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
| |
| Let's
just pause a moment and gaze at Gemma Arterton... |
With a
May 18th release date conveniently timed to cash in on the
Jake Gyllenhaal movie hype, Level Design Director Michael
McIntyre and Animation Director Jan-Erik Sjovall brought an
exclusive preview of the latest game to PAX East.
The
Forgotten Sands (TFS) takes players back to the Sands
of Time universe, shortly after the events of the first
game. It’s clear from the preview that the game is
trying to mimic the style of the original, with a similar
art style, and a prince that’s more grounded and real
than the tough-talking rogue of the last re-boot. Have they
succeeded? Well, sorta...
After
a standard “introduce the bad guys” cutscene,
the developers quickly took us for a guided tour of one
of the game’s main locations, the castle of the Prince’s
brother. The castle and surrounding areas looked vast and
incredibly detailed, thanks in part to TFS’ use of
the same engine that powered the Assassin’s Creed
games.
The
tech was impressive, but the gameplay wasn’t all that
striking. The Prince still has the power to stop time, as
well as new elemental powers. While watching him leap from
ledge to pillar to wall, taking time to swing around time-stopped
columns of water, I couldn’t help but feel that it
was all going a bit...slow. The levels in Sands of Time
were constructed so that carefully practiced hands could
make a dash from point A to point B that was simultaneously
frantic and graceful.
| |
| Attendees
making the Prince stand around... |
Next we
got a taste of the combat, with the Prince taking on hordes
of his latest foe, an army of warriors made of magical sand.
While the combat was fluid, and the Prince showcased some
flashy sword moves, all of the enemies shown were of the lumber-toward-you-and-take-a-deliberate-swing-at-you
variety.
The
developers seemed to compensate for poor enemy intelligence
with numbers, and while watching the Prince tear though
crowds of hapless sand zombies was fun at first, I think
combat versus a few skilled combatants would have been more
fun to watch and ultimately, more fun to play.
And
as soon as it began, the preview was over. While I wasn’t
wowed by the demo, I bet that a lot of gamers are willing
to give the game a chance based on the pedigree of the franchise.
Ubisoft has more than a month to improve the game - will
they squander the Prince’s goodwill with fans, or
will this throwback win back the hearts and minds of the
gaming public? We’ll
find out on May 18th.
|
