Prince of Persia 2 (working title) E3 2004 Preshow Impressions

Game designer Jordan Mechner created the original Prince of Persia many years ago, and this remarkably influential game paved the way for many classic "platformer" elements to appear in countless subsequent games. Last year, Ubisoft released a new game with Mechner's input and blessing--Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time. And Ubisoft will have the next game, tentatively titled Prince of Persia 2, on the show floor at this year's E3. We took a look at the PS2 version of the sequel.

In the sequel, you'll still play as the prince from the original game, though the new game takes place some years later. The prince has grown from an arrogant, dashing youth to a much-darker, more-serious warrior who has completed his training as a soldier, and he now wields two swords (rather than the sword and dagger he used previously). The prince may also be able to use weapons other than swords. Unlike in the previous game, Prince of Persia 2's platforming and fighting areas will not be separate--they'll all be included within the same levels, and the game itself will have no load times as the prince moves from one section of a level to the next. The game's combat system will also be enhanced with a new "free form" control scheme that does not require you to target an individual enemy. Instead, you'll be able to attack multiple enemies at once while also seamlessly making use of the prince's new attacks (like the ability to seize an opponent from behind by the throat and use the enemy as a shield), using his acrobatic abilities, like leaping from wall to wall, and using his improved ability to manipulate the flow of time.

The entire game will have a decidedly darker look to it than the first game--several of the levels we saw were darker and more foreboding, like a gigantic, burning pirate ship on which the prince fought back a crew of grinning skeletons, and a stone chamber housing a huge metallic automaton, which the prince was only able to attack by clambering up onto the back of its head. Prince of Persia 2 is scheduled for release later this year on the PS2, the Xbox, the GameCube, and the PC.