GC 2008: Prince of Persia Updated Impressions

By Luke Anderson, GameSpot UKPosted Aug 20, 2008 5:20 pm PT

The prince makes an appearance in Leipzig, and we check out how the game is shaping up.

There were some promising builds of Ubisoft's reinvented prince at Ubidays and E3 earlier this year, and here at the Leipzig Games Convention he was back for another appearance. We saw the same level that was on show at E3 2008, but rather than take the same route as before, our presenter chose to take us through a different area and used it to show off a new ability.

The prince now has the ability to run on roofs.

We'd seen the prince pull off wall runs and gap jumps and use his hand to slide down walls, but we were shown a new move at Leipzig that allows him to run upside down along roofs for short distances. The section we saw had a series of pillars hanging from the ceiling, interspersed with conveniently located iron rings. By running between them the prince and Elika were able to leapfrog across a divide and move to a new area of the game.

Ubisoft also highlighted the compass ability Elika has--she'll show you which direction you need to go if you're unsure what to do next. Hitting the appropriate button will make her point in a specific direction, allowing you to continue your journey, which in this case was to a nearby platform. We then encountered the hunter, a formidable beast made from the corruption of evil that the prince needs to purge from the world around him. In addition to the prince's own impressive skills, Elika is a helpful companion who assists you in pulling off a variety of moves on the hunter. Once the hunter has been dealt enough punishment, he will retreat to the healing well, which becomes the next objective to reach.

While exploring the stage, we encountered several pools of the liquidlike corruption, which will suffocate you immediately if you get too close. Thankfully Elika can come to your rescue as a sort of "rolling savepoint" that will restore you to the last safe point. Arriving at the healing ground, the hunter turned into a corrupted mode, which made it impervious to attack. Elika was directed to perform some sort of magic on it, which broke the corruption barrier, making the hunter vulnerable again. Defeating our foe, Elika activated the well in a cinematic that restored colour and life to the region, with butterflies aflutter and grass springing up to represent the healed state.

This bad boy wants to make mincemeat out of you. Show him who's boss.

Prince of Persia will be available on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC--in addition to a separate DS version--in time for the holiday season. For more on the prince's new adventure, see our previous coverage.

111 Comments

  • igor_kool

    Posted Oct 29, 2008 7:16 am PT

    Looks good, only now Prince is not human sadly, more Spider-man like. He jumps like spider man or something, which now doesnt give as much challenge

  • gokazz

    Posted Oct 26, 2008 2:11 am PT

    hope it wont require a super PC like assasins creed...

  • Ghostly_Knight

    Posted Oct 23, 2008 10:58 pm PT

    The art direction that Ubisoft took in this game is enthralling. I can't look away from any of the graphics because they look amazing and beautiful.

  • Shiver007

    Posted Oct 21, 2008 7:34 am PT

    People need to have more faith in Ubisoft, they rule!

  • katjajett

    Posted Oct 8, 2008 6:32 pm PT

    Looks good so far. I liked the last two Prince of Persia so I'll be expecting the same quality.

  • ddso01

    Posted Oct 8, 2008 1:36 pm PT

    It just hit me: this is a "Ctrl-C Ctrl-V" of Okami. The land is cursed all over and you have to bring life back to flowers and trees. Dont get me wrong: it looks awesome, but I got the "been there, done that" feeling

  • Ryusennin

    Posted Oct 8, 2008 4:54 am PT

    There's one serious problem with this game: it seems you can't die.

    Elika is like your personal Microsoft Office assistant, always pointing to the right direction and saving your butt when you're about to die/fall. It needs to be confirmed, and I truly hope there is a twist to this, but right now this is clearly targeted at #@$! casual gamers.

  • Momota77

    Posted Sep 23, 2008 7:42 pm PT

    Hopefully this will prove that It doesn't take ridiculously demanding graphics to pull off a great game, with a possible 10 in its future... not that it can't have it.... nor that those graphics are a bad thing.

  • hotbodyboy_2006

    Posted Sep 21, 2008 2:35 am PT

    I don't know anything but i surely know one thing, that this game will be FAR SUPERIOR TO ASSASSIN'S CREED!!

  • Testify_exe

    Posted Sep 18, 2008 2:33 pm PT

    game looks great. People who say the graphics suck and stuff... them being to cartoonish. It looks like Okami, meaning hand drawn and awesomely fantasy.

  • needs-a-life

    Posted Sep 14, 2008 10:35 am PT

    "i still say it's too cartoonish and doesn't hold to the tradition and standards of graphics as it's predecessors. i may try it but buying it is doubtfull unless they change the graphics to true 3d not this cartoon stuf."

    blondie298 first of all this game is way more detailed than the old pop games(which rock) and secondly who are u to say if this game is going to be good or not have u seen the gameplay it is phenominal it looks better runs smoother and i have to admit it looks great so if u have a bit of a problim with the way this game looks keep it to your self i mean cmon we dont want to here how this game is going to suck if u ask me i think this game is going to rock this is all my personal opinion i respect yours but please dont critisize a game that isnt even out yet

  • EnaVRi

    Posted Sep 8, 2008 5:51 am PT

    work of art... can't wait to have it...

  • Gamezster

    Posted Sep 6, 2008 9:08 pm PT

    I can't believe my friends hated the Sands of Time. I mean, they barely got passed King Shauraman. And they only think this is good because it uses the Assassin's Creed engine (can somebody please tell me if the Unreal 3 engine is like, the open world gameplay engine)! I mean, how can they not like this game! Amazing graphics, awesome fights, insane platformimg... what's to hate?

    This could be Ubisoft's 10. Although it seems only 3rd person shooters are getting 10s on the PS3 these days...

    9.0 at the least.

  • PSFreak1

    Posted Sep 2, 2008 6:16 pm PT

    Looks Amazing, in my opinion it looks better than Assassin's Creed... Plot is better, Graphics are unique bt Amazing, Combat looks really fun to me.. im sure it will get 9.0/10... All the Prviews say it looks Beautiful, Amazing, Spectacular, Nothing that we've ever seen before!

  • Claverleykid

    Posted Sep 1, 2008 12:47 am PT

    This game can not be a flop. The lowest it can get is an 8!!

  • RonTorque

    Posted Aug 29, 2008 12:29 pm PT

    I love this game a lot.Loved the last ones and this one looks awesome everything for me just looks great.The art,The Prince,Elika,The environment everything.Can't wait for it.

  • Doolum

    Posted Aug 29, 2008 10:09 am PT

    cell shaded you say?...hmmm.

  • PerZiaNPriNce

    Posted Aug 27, 2008 8:38 pm PT

    by the path this game has gone too, i will only get it if it scores +8.5

  • PerZiaNPriNce

    Posted Aug 27, 2008 8:38 pm PT

    by the path this game has gone too, i will only get it if it scores +8.5

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