Prince sequel offers a royal rumble

By Daniel Etherington
BBC Collective

When Ubisoft's Montreal studio created Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time last year, they not only succeeded in reinvigorating a classic franchise, they also produced one of the best action adventure games of late.

Stealth does it in Prince of Persia 2

With Prince Of Persia 2 (POP2), the development team was determined to improve on the first game, even using the same engine.

"We're pretty harsh about ourselves and our games," says Ubisoft producer Yannis Mallat. "The fighting system was close to boring, repetitive, redundant."

He felt there was "no variety". You just pushed the buttons and watched the Prince do his fancy thing, something Mr Mallat criticises as being "more voyeurism or spectating" than playing.

Regal moves

POP2, due at the end of year, features combos but Mr Mallat is keen to point out it will retain the intuitive control system which he considers a trademark of the licence.

His adventures also involve moving across time, and one fascinating element of the new game is how the Prince's actions in the past result in a "new present" Discuss this story on BBC Collective

Other areas the Ubisoft developer thinks were weak were the difficulty and replay value.

"POP2 brings opportunities for hardcore gamers to play hardcore, but also offers the same accessibility for casual gamers," he says.

The game will have four difficulty levels and will also feature bosses. Plus, there are huge new foes, including a beast somewhat reminiscent of the Lord of the Rings trolls.

And the ever agile Prince has an idiosyncratic way of dealing with them.

As for the story, POP2 takes place some 5-8 years after than the Sands of Time.

As he screwed up the timeline, it is a foregone conclusion that the Prince will die, says Mr Mallat, because of Dahaka.

This is a "creature that cannot be killed" that's closely linked to the Sands and the flow of time.

Knowing he is fated to die, the Prince sets out to try and reach the Sands themselves. If he can destroy them, maybe he can live.

Time present

His adventures also involve moving across time, and one fascinating element of the new game is how the Prince's actions in the past result in a "new present".

Sands Of Time rejuvenated an old favourite

What this means in practice, says Mr Mallat, is that the Prince is altering level design.

It also adds to the game length.

"In terms of pure original gameplay, we expect it to be as long as Sands of Time," he says. "But because he's altering play and level design, that will add at least another 3-4 hours."

Then there is the challenge of higher difficulty settings.

Of course, The Sands Of Time was perhaps most defined by the Prince's smooth moves which have been enhanced and elaborated upon.

What Mr Mallat calls the "Prince's signature movement", where he could run up onto an enemy's shoulders, can now be exploited to bring about decapitation.

The Prince now has a strangulation move, a shockwave and he can now fight with two swords.

His ability to slow down time has been improved markedly by the implementation of "asynchronous functions" in the PlayStation 2.

Now the Prince remains in ordinary motion, giving him an edge over his slowed-down opponents. The result is a very lively "freeform fighting system".

What is more, the scripted events have become what Mr Mallat calls "interactive cinematics", where you remain an active participant.

"We strongly think videogames are to be played, not watched," says the Ubisoft developer succinctly.

"I used to say Sands Of Time was 50% fighting and 50% exploring and puzzles," says Mr Mallat. "In this game it's 100% both."