Love may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you consider Prince of Persia, but this is a series that constantly reinvents the main character, in homage to his original roots in the 1,001 Arabian Nights stories. (To learn more about this idea, which runs through all of the Prince of Persia games, see “A Tale of Many Princes”.)

Get a Grip. Elika saves the Prince from a nasty fall.

The latest Prince emerges from a sandstorm — as if he’s stepping out of a mysterious, windswept past — in his search for Farah, a donkey laden with gold from his latest plunder. Rather than her, he literally runs into Elika — or, we should say, she falls on him as she flees from three dangerous-looking men and jumps off a rock face. Despite Elika’s attempts to dissuade him, the Prince can’t help but get caught up in a new adventure with her, forgetting for a little while the riches he left behind.

“We wanted to tell a brand new story,” explains Emery. “We wanted to make it clear to the player that they are playing a brand new Prince, with a brand new feeling in terms of gameplay and story.”

“[Elika] is the reason everything happens and the whole story is built around her.”

- Francois Emery, creative director

Down But Not Out. Don’t worry: the Prince can roll away from the attack or summon Elika’s magic.

Mysterious Pasts

He continues: “A hero must be consistent in his reactions when something happens to him. If you change the hero, you can change his mentality and thus change his reaction to a given event. It’s a huge advantage in terms of narrative and gameplay.”

The first major clue that you’re in control of a new Prince comes from his appearance: not only is he — as well as everyone and everything else in the game — rendered in a way that evokes charcoal illustration, but his outfit gives subtle hints of his mysterious background. “The blue and red scarves give a regal touch, as those colors typically symbolize royalty,” Emery says. “His roguish clothes suggest he has been wandering the desert for a long time. His sword is special: large and ornate, perhaps with an enticing back story of its own.”

He adds: “The clothes reflect the Prince: an ambiguous guy with two sides: one side is the rogue but the other suggests he is much more than a simple thief.”

On the Offensive. The Prince backs an opponent toward a wall, where he can do some serious damage.

The same can be said of Elika, who more than just a princess. Emery explains: “She is the reason everything happens and the whole story is built around her. The game tells the story of the Prince’s reaction to Elika and her plight, so we focused on her when we were designing the maps. We toyed with such concepts as ‘loneliness: fear to lose her’ and ‘collaborate with her.’”

Everything Ties Together

The relationship between the Prince and Elika ties into the concept we originally told you about: “Can you erase love with a single foolish act?” Emery recalls: “We started by creating the bond between the Prince and Elika; the physical interaction between them gives consistency to Elika.”

The action takes place in a mysterious city state awash with references to the ancient Persian religion Zoroastrianism (see the sidebar “In the Beginning…” to learn more). You soon learn that Corruption at the hands of Ahriman, God of Darkness, has engulfed Elika’s homeland.

“We wanted to make it clear to the player that they are playing a brand new Prince, with a brand new feeling in terms of gameplay and story.”

- Francois Emery, creative director

She and the Prince must defeat Ahriman’s forces and heal the lands — success will restore the Tree of Life, which Elika’s father destroyed to free Ahriman, for reasons you’ll eventually learn. You decide the order in which you heal the lands, creating an open-ended storyline.

“As we thought about the healing the land concept,” Emery says, “we realized we had to give value to this action as it’s a consistent objective throughout the game. Because you heal the land, you want to play for it; it becomes valuable to you.”

The King’s the Thing. The Prince and Elika battle her father, who still manages to slash open the Tree of Life and free Ahriman.

He adds: “We also wanted to build the story around the father’s actions, which must echo the Prince’s actions by the end of the game. Everything is tied together by the game’s final act.”

A More Action-Oriented Experience

To reach that final act, you’ll find yourself jumping, swinging, running, and fighting your way through the lands overwhelmed by Corruption. Some of the Prince’s physical abilities are new to this game, including sliding down slopes, using his gauntlet as a grip while quickly descending walls, and roof- and wall-running. “We wanted to offer a more action-oriented experience that’s focused on the impressive acrobatics you must perform to reach your goal,” Emery explains.

Elika’s skills are comparable to the Prince’s, but she brings with her several magical abilities, including extending the Prince’s jumps, teleporting the pair between healed lands, and saving the Prince any time he’s about to fall to his doom or lose a fight. That last ability means it’s impossible to die in the game, but rescuing the Prince from a fall means he must start the current series of obstacles from the beginning, while protecting him during a fight gives the enemy a chance to regain some of its lost health.

Bogged Down. The Alchemist snares the Prince in some Corruption; repeatedly tap the attack button to get free.

Read “The Powers of Ormazd” on page two to learn about the additional powers bestowed on both characters as they heal the lands.

“We wanted to enhance Ahriman’s presence with strong enemies, rather than multiple ones,” Emery relates. “You’re not overwhelmed but rather must go head-to-head with the evil source of power in the world. Those duels also serve as a direct link to the original Prince of Persia, in which you were fighting guards one at a time.”

More Adventures in Store

Not only did Jordan Mechner’s 1989 classic influence the development of the latest Prince of Persia, but Emery says many other games did too: “There were also tributes to old games, very hidden to the player, that were used to build some maps. For example, Nebulus, Donkey Kong, and Bubble Bobble were among the games that inspired us, even if you can’t recognize it in the end.”

What you will recognize, however, is an adventure that pays homage to Mechner’s original game while blazing a new trail for future Prince of Persia titles to follow. Emery can’t confirm plans for sequels, but he notes: “The team feels they have more to express with the Prince and Elika.”

If you liked this game, check out:

• Fable
• Jade Empire: Special Edition
• Neverwinter Nights 2
• Pirates of the Caribbean Online
• Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
• World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King