Wed, Feb 24, 2010 | 22:26 GMT
Ubisoft says previous PoP game was not a failure
Level design director for PoP: The Forgotten Sands, Michael McIntyre, has said that just because the new title is going back to basics for the Prince as far as looks and gameplay go - doesn’t mean the cell-shaded Prince is a thing of the past.
Speaking with Kotaku, McIntyre believes that there is room for all sorts of different imaginings thanks to the game’s environment, and just because the development team is not making a sequel to the Prince’s 2008 release – doesn’t mean that game was a failure.
“We firmly believe that Prince of Persia is a brand that can have multiple environments,” he said. “It makes a lot of sense for us.”
“We are happy with what we achieved with that title, and I think games like that can still exist. For me the difference in the 2008 game is that it had less player participation. The player didn’t decide when they wanted to be saved and when they wanted to wall run.
“In 2008 the experience was far more Zen. You keep playing, keep moving forward no matter what. You got in a rhythm and kept moving forward.”
As much as McIntyre liked the last entry in the series, he revealed that the decision made for that title came about as a desire to experiment with the franchise. Forgotten Sands, however, returns to the same basic formula as other games in the series.
“I grew up with the original Prince of Persia and with Sands of Time, [well] I like tough games,” he said, revealing that the “spike death” from the first game comes back in Forgotten Sands, along with the tradition view of death from the series.
The Forgotten Sands fills in the seven-year gap between The Sands of Time and the Warrior Within, and is slated for release in May.
It was revealed today during the Nintendo Media Summit, that the classic PoP game from 1992 would be included with the Wii version of Forgotten Sands.
More through the lovely links.
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Posted in: Action, Adventure, DS, Hot, PC, PS3, Ubisoft, Wii, Xbox 360
Tags: Michael McIntyre, PoP: The Forgotten Sands, prince of persia, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, The Forgotten Sands
19 comments
#1
onlineatron
24/02/10, 10:28 pm
It wasn’t, it was just misguided in certain areas.
It was beautiful and fun to play… but it needed more combat and less formula.
#2
AHA-Lambda
24/02/10, 10:36 pm
yea i liked it; flawed but good
#3
Dr.Ghettoblaster
24/02/10, 10:37 pm
Cell shaded POP was excellent.
#4
joshua nash
24/02/10, 10:51 pm
its a good game to intro people who’ve never played a POP game before into the series and if they like it but want alittle more challenge then they can good and play the sands of time games, but just hope they return to it and finish out the story cause a got find out how the story ends
#5
Bleak Harvest
24/02/10, 10:55 pm
I liked it a lot. I understand why people were miffed, but I had a good time of it — typecast Nolan North and everything.
#6
absolutezero
24/02/10, 11:07 pm
So much so you Platinum’d it.
You massive nerd.
#7
Peetry
24/02/10, 11:11 pm
Personally I really enjoyed and would likely buy a sequel.
#8
Eregol
25/02/10, 4:43 am
There was nothing wrong with the platform mechanics and acrobatics of the game.
But the over use of Elika and the fighting marred the game.
Otherwise very enjoyable.
I still haven’t traded it in as I feel I could quite easily platinum it.
#9
endgame
25/02/10, 7:18 am
8/8 positive comments about the last pop. and i would like to add the 9th because i also enjoyed it. i also loved the end, although it was a bit sad for me.
#10
Blerk
25/02/10, 9:04 am
It was beautiful to look at and quite fun to play at times. But it felt too ‘on rails’ for me, I never really felt like I was exploring or solving any puzzles, just that I was following a route that had been predefined for me. At its worst it felt completely on-rails, which wasn’t really what I wanted.
I’d like to see them go back to it and have another go, I’m sure they could do a better job next time around. And the story needs finishing off, of course.
#11
absolutezero
25/02/10, 10:37 am
Go get the DLC.
It finishes the story. No really it does.
#12
Blerk
25/02/10, 10:40 am
No it doesn’t!
/has played the DLC
#13
absolutezero
25/02/10, 11:06 am
It kinda does.
Kinda.
#14
Gheritt White
25/02/10, 12:00 pm
PoP ’08′s setting and art style was excellent, but it was mechanically very flawed – Blerk’s right, the game felt like it was on rails most of the time. The platforming required no precision and the combat was very weak.
#15
The Hindle
25/02/10, 12:06 pm
Pop 08 felt like they made the same mistakes they did with Ac 1, they had the ideas just didnt implement them right.
#16
satsugai
25/02/10, 1:23 pm
Ugh the game was beautiful but I didn’t like the look of the new prince. Somebody smushed in some anime into him. *shudder*
#17
Gekidami
25/02/10, 1:36 pm
I’m not sure about the older PoP games but in the last one the Prince was voiced by Nolan North, its probably one of the worst miscasts i’ve heard this gen. The guy is just to American sounding to be playing a Persian.
#18
abbe
25/02/10, 1:41 pm
Loved the last PoP and enjoyed thoroughly that there was so little combat, PoP have never been about the combat for me (PoP:SoT was great, but WW and TTT were garbage).
Sure it was pretty automatic but that just made me get into a sort of flow and moving from place to place were great.
#19
Bleak Harvest
25/02/10, 1:53 pm
@Roy — Mate, that platinum practically falls into your lap.