Prince of Persia has been ducking in and out of the public eye for years. Although the first game was released in 1989, the franchise's real heyday was in the early 2000s, and this was when some of the most important and influential games in the franchise's history came out, including Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. After the franchise struggled to gain a lasting foothold in the market, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was what really drew players to the franchise. Its popularity petered out again, but now Ubisoft is giving Prince of Persia a second chance. There's a remake of The Sands of Time scheduled to release in March.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and many other games in the series define themselves by their platforming. The player is tasked with using the Prince's acrobatic skills to sneak through important places and move from fight to fight. Although Prince of Persia went dormant, it had a huge impact on games like Assassin's Creed that also demanded parkour skills of the player. Now, however, both Prince of Persia and Assassin's Creed seem to be in times of change. Although Assassin's Creed took Prince of Persia's mantle as a parkour-focused game, there's a chance that they're about to trade again.
A Leap Forward
Prince of Persia was defined by its vertical platforming from the very beginning. In the sidescrolling adventure game that birthed the franchise, there was still a lot of climbing to do. As the games became three-dimensional, they introduced many more complicated mechanics. Players would have to wall jump, swing from poles, time jumps on temporary platforms, and even use the Sands of Time to rewind when they made a mistake in platforming. Lots of these mechanics eventually showed up in games like Assassin's Creed. In many of the original games, Assassin's Creed demanded that players climb up to hard-to-reach places.
However, Assassin's Creed seems to be less and less focused on the assassin aspect of the games. Some fans have complained lately that the games are becoming less interested in stealth and subterfuge and turning into standard action RPGs. While one can still play recent Assassin's Creed games from a subtle angle, players are frequently encourage to fight their enemies head on. Exploration outside cities in entries like Odyssey and Valhalla also means platforming is much less important. There's not much use for wallrunning or diving into haybales if a player is busy navigating rolling hills on foot or sailing the open seas.
Reclaiming the Throne
If Ubisoft doesn't want Assassin's Creed to be platforming heavy anymore, then so be it. The upside of that is that Prince of Persia can one-up Assassin's Creed by returning with even smoother and more satisfying platforming mechanics than ever. Technology has come a long way since the original version of The Sands of Time came out. The developers of the reboot could render a whole city for players to parkour through with ease, channeling the spirit of the franchise and building on everything it was known for.
That means Assassin's Creed veterans should keep their eye on Prince of Persia's return. Anyone who's been missing the acrobatic aspects of Assassin's Creed will probably want to give the reboot a chance when it comes out. It remains to be seen just how innovative Ubisoft's new attempt at the franchise is, and just how much the platforming could have changed over the years. The trailer proves that using the Prince's skills and the Sands in platforming will still be crucial to the gameplay. Assassin's Creed may have largely left its parkour days behind, but Prince of Persia looks like it still knows where its roots lie.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time releases PC, PS4, and Xbox One on March 18th, 2021.