Ubisoft
The Rogue Prince of Persia, first impressions of a new rogue prince
Evil Empire takes advantage of its knowledge of Dead Cells to bring a new version of Prince of Persia, bringing a prince ready to return to action.
It is impressive that in less than a year we have two titles with the Prince of Persia name. The recent The Lost Crown was a surprise that successfully translated to the Metroidvania genre and was very well received by the critics. Now, and as a surprise, the Bordeaux studio, Evil Empire, comes with its interpretation of this franchise, under the magnifying glass of a rogue lite. We had the opportunity to play a bit of this new installment in the franchise, which goes by the name of The Rogue Prince of Persia.
How did The Rogue Prince of Persia come about?
It is important to note that Evil Empire, a studio that is not part of the many Ubisoft studios and subsidiaries, has the opportunity to make this title, or in the words of Matthew Houghton, marketing manager of the studio, “what we do with our dirty hands” in this Ubisoft franchise. After the success of Dead Cells, their roguevania game with Motion Twins, and in a meeting after a conference, someone at Evil Empire asked, “How cool would it be if we could take what we learned from Dead Cells and make a Prince of Persia roguelike?” This idea was the catalyst for the studio to think about what could be done and that’s how the project behind The Rogue Prince of Persia was born.
A new Prince of Persia arrives to save his people
The Rogue Prince of Persia promises to be a 2D roguelike platformer that takes advantage of many of the mechanics we’ve come to know over the past 20 years, such as jumping, swinging, and running up walls, as well as carrying various weapons, and performing acrobatic moves to outrun your enemies. Add to that the roguelike elements that Evil Empire has done so well with Dead Cells.
In this new installment, our new Prince of Persia must acquire these abilities to stop the terrible invasion of the Huns, led by King Ogai, who uses a kind of magic that corrupts everything it touches. The Prince, for his part, has some magic on his side, as he carries an amulet that allows him to resurrect in the last truly safe place he was before he died, which in the game translates to an oasis hidden on the outskirts of the city.
And this oasis is our hub for any run of this roguelite. During our play session, we could play the first two levels for 30 minutes and face the first boss (spoiler alert, we did not manage to defeat him). This hub allows us to change our weapons between swords, twin daggers and a large axe, as well as other secondary weapons. Here we move on to the first level, which serves as a brief tutorial on how to move around the city, some of the traps you may encounter, and the first enemies you will face.
Within the known mechanics of Prince of Persia, we have a lot of movement of jumping, wall jumping and attacking, but more importantly, running along walls. While in previous games we could do it to the left or to the right, now we can do it with a certain inclination upwards, which allows the map to have a greater verticality and the player to reach points that might be unreachable. And of course, if you have played any of the Prince of Persia titles, it will also help to avoid the many traps, spikes, and other elements that you have to avoid.
Borrowing heavily from Prince of Persia, the combat is fast-paced and very chaotic. Using swords for melee combat is only part of it, as you can also throw kicks to destabilize enemies, or even drop from above to make a big impact on an area. The Prince’s agility also allows him to quickly sneak between enemies, jump, and always look for a way to attack without being attacked (something fundamental in a title of this nature).
Another detail is the different medallions we find along the way. These give us certain bonuses in our attacks and work like the bonuses that create permutations in each run of a roguelike. We can only carry 4 of these medallions per run, but the interesting thing is that where you place them in that row of spaces determines how effective they will be. Some will ask for two medallions to the right, or to the left, or to be surrounded, so we will also have to be strategic in how we place them to make the best use of them. These medallions allow us to not only give more power to our attack, but in some cases when we kick an enemy or shoot an arrow, we can surround them or leave some substance to boost them.
The art has a very specific look. I wasn’t a big fan of the look of the characters, but within the game, it’s something that takes a back seat. The movement of the characters is quite fluid and you could say that the prince himself has a good distance.
How will The Rogue Prince of Persia arrive?
One of the surprising details is that Evil Empire plans to release The Rogue Prince of Persia as an Early Access title on Steam. Although the combat and movement base is quite strong, the studio believes that they can make a better version of the game with the support of the community. The title will add new levels, bosses, weapons, and enemies, as well as elements considered by the community. The Rogue Prince of Persia will be available from May 14th and can be added to the Steam wishlist.
The Rogue Prince of Persia presents a title with pretty solid gameplay and a great tribute to the franchise. The gameplay is intuitive if you’ve played anything Prince of Persia-related in the last 21 years, and the Rogue Lite mechanics fit in quite well. Half an hour is barely enough to get a good grasp on the basic mechanics of the game, but it gives us an idea of where they want to go.