Ubisoft surprised a lot of gamers during the Summer Game Fest when it announced a new Prince of Persia game. The bad news is that it isn't the remake of The Sands of Time. But, the good news is that it might turn out for the better.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown brings the series back to its roots as an action platformer. The upcoming Metroidvania-style 2.5D game was the first title announced during the Summer Game Fest.
"Dash into a stylish and thrilling action-adventure platformer game set in a mythological Persian world where the boundaries of time and space are yours to manipulate," the game's official website says. "Use your Time Powers, combat and platforming skills to perform deadly combos and defeat time-corrupted enemies and mythological creatures. Acquire and equip new Amulets at shopkeepers to play as you see fit."
The game will introduce a new protagonist named Sargon which is a big change as previous games did not give a name for the main character. It will also be the first time in the series that the unnamed Prince will not be the protagonist.
The game will follow Sargon’s adventures through a new location called Mount Oaf. The Persian-inspired world will contain a variety of new biomes. Players will have to solve puzzles, discover hidden treasures, and complete quests in the upcoming platformer. The game has an original story and will introduce more characters.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has a fast-paced and fluid Metroidvania-style gameplay. Based on the trailer, players will be taking using the environment to traverse through an area, and solving puzzles along the way. Gamers will also be taking on large mythological beasts which we assume are boss enemies.
The return to the action-platform genre is something that will excite players who were lucky (and old enough) to play the first two games in the franchise. Prince of Persia was created by Jordan Mechner and was originally released on the Apple II in 1989 with the DOS (not Windows) version of the game coming a year later.
The success of the original Prince of Persia gave rise to a video game franchise spanning eight mainline titles. Ubisoft bought the rights to the popular platformer in 2001 and released Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. The Ubisoft series added three more games with the last being Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands which was released in 2010.
Ubisoft still has plans for a Sands of Time remake. The game was announced at Ubisoft Forward 2020 and was expected to release this year. The development was moved to Ubisoft Montreal and the release schedule has been pushed back.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch on January 18, 2024.
