THE NEW PRINCE OF PERSIA

Uploaded on May 23, 2008

Details for Prince of Persia

The plagued prince returns in his first next-gen adventure. Ubisoft has planned a number of adjustments to the series, with a new design for the prince, a new armored gauntlet with incredible powers, and a renewed focus on platforming and physical challenges rather than fighting.

Prince of Persia: Never Fight Alone

The Prince's new companion, Elika, will be by your side at all times helping in combat, solving puzzles, and performing her own daring acrobatic feats.

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In the Prince of Persia trilogy that thrived in the last generation of consoles, the Prince's story intertwined with that of Princess Farah. Though she was woven into the story, Farah had no real effect on gameplay. For the new POP, Ubisoft Montreal wanted to create a secondary character far more integral -- one who not only had importance to the story, but also was a major gameplay element. From those desires rose Elika, the Prince's female cohort.

As we revealed in our first look at Prince of Persia, the Prince gets lost in a sandstorm and finds himself in a beautiful oasis. That beauty is short-lived as an evil spirit, Ahriman, breaks free from his prison and begins infecting the outside world with his "corruption." It is in this garden oasis where the Prince meets Elika, one of the last remaining Ahuras -- the guardians of Ahriman's prison. It is Elika's duty to return Ahriman to his prison inside the Tree of Life. She's not about to let the Prince fight this evil alone.

Elika is by your side for the majority of the new Prince of Persia. She is primarily controlled by the AI, but is meant to be an assistant, never an annoyance. Elika isn't going to get in your way like so many other AI partners in other games. You just need to watch her in action for five minutes to see how gracefully she avoids hindering the Prince in any way.

A perfect example of this is when the Prince is shimmying along a ledge. Typically, Elika is pulling up the rear. She's a support character after all and isn't going to be leading the charge -- that's your job as a gamer. But if the Prince suddenly changes direction and begins backtracking on the ledge, well, he's going to run right into Elika right? Not at all. The moment the Prince changes directions, Elika lets go of the ledge. The Prince reaches down to grab hold of her with one arm and casually slings her behind him. His momentum never stops and she never gets in the way.

In the short demo we received, we witnessed such acts numerous times. The Prince would climb up a wall and Elika would leap on his back and then hop off as soon as they were clear. Or the Prince would make some acrobatic leap that perhaps Elika could not match, but she'd find her own way to return to his side. Though we didn't witness any tandem acrobatics, you will team with Elika from time-to-time to perform some amazing feats.

Elika is a smart AI character -- smart enough to know that the Prince is the leader. She won't take any direct actions unless you tell her to. Though controlled by the AI, there is a specific "Elika button" that when pressed calls her into action. This is most noticeable in combat.

During a battle, Elika roams the perimeter. She has some minor combat skills, but her specialty is magic. She won't take a negative initiative. She will never sully the Prince's combo or turn a fight into an episode of the Three Stooges. As we told you previously, the four face buttons act as attacks and that any one button can be used in combination with another. Elika is one of these buttons. So you can triple-tap the Elika button and she will jump in and hit the enemy quickly three times, then jump back to her support position. Or you can mix in the Elika button as you are creating combos on the fly. Some of the collaborative moves that come from this are truly inspiring.

Today, Ubisoft released a CG trailer showing Elika and the Prince teaming up in combat. Though the video is a cinematic creation, the moves are in the game -- we've seen the aerial somersault throw in action! On top of being a tool in physical combat, Elika's magic can also has a role, but Ubisoft isn't giving any hints on how that might play out. However, we do know that Elika may come in to block a killing blow and spare the Prince.

Just to reiterate, Elika's not going to cramp your style. She will never die and (assuming Ubisoft can pull it off) won't bog down the fast-paced combat. From what we've seen, we have little reason for doubt.

Elika will follow the Prince anywhere.

Aside from acrobatics and combat, Elika also assists with puzzles. How this works remains to be seen, though we assume there will be some puzzles that require carefully timed activations from two different people. Elika is also your compass. If you were wondering how you would find your objectives in the new open world of Prince of Persia, look no further than your AI sidekick. If you want to see where the next objective is located, Elika can use her magic to shine a beacon on where you need to go, keeping you from getting lost.

While there's still a lot to see with Elika, she shows tremendous promise. It seems Ubisoft has learned from the AI mistakes many other developers have made in the past. If they pull this off, Prince of Persia should be one of the most talked about games of the holiday season.