Prince of Persia you may ask? Why yes, I will answer, but presented in a totally different and unique way! Rather than it being a 3D adventure title where you use your environment and bend time to defeat your enemies, it comes to us in a charming 2D rogue lite platforming game, where you use a vast selection of weapons and the ability of undying to slice, hack, stab and beat down your barbaric enemies in this beautiful take on a much beloved series. Evil Empire really outdid themselves here as they joined Ubisoft to create a genuinely awesome game where they twist the original formula for Prince of Persia into a sleek rogue-like title.
As I once again stepped into the sandals of one of our favorite gaming protagonists, the Prince, I sought to unravel the mystery of his Bola or, as he names it, his pendant, and stop the Hun invasion of his homeland Persia, aptly named I must say.
However, inside what I found was a 2D, charming, platforming adventure where the comic book inspired art style highlighting even the smallest details like the prince’s iconic red scarf cascading in the wind, and when I was introduced to the game, it even showcased brilliant comic book/Anime-style cutscenes which added to the unique style this title was destined for.
The charm doesn’t stop with the story and design though, as the characters are also equally unique and radiating individualistic charisma while playing key roles in the intriguing narrative. One of the Prince’s closest friends Paachi, who helps pry our once defeated hero from the hands of death, brings him to the safe oasis that shields his essence. Of course we can’t forget the main dastardly villain, King Nogai, who leads the Huns’ charge into Persia with an other-worldly force guiding him alongside his brutal generals.
The aid of the Prince doesn’t stop with Paachi though, as we also met Sukhra, a faithful forge master willing to offer his crucial blacksmithing skills to keep his friend on track throughout the Hun King’s forces. With a plethora of helpful characters and tricky little friends within the levels, I was sure to make use of all their hidden skills! Speaking of skills, this is what the game did especially well in being a rogue-like. Medallions granted me passive abilities to improve my survivability as well as some active abilities to use against the hordes of Huns and beyond, while the skill trees served to provide a great deal of replay-ability and juncture to jump back in and rid of the enemies from Persia!
Now let’s take a stride into the gameplay. When I say the devs did their own thing and cooked, they really cooked, and I ATE! Of course, it pays homage to the Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown with its 2D/2.5D style and platforming. However, where this game truly shines and becomes its own beast is the rogue-like paths and choices that aided in both player agency, and again with replay-ability.
Each run will always be different in terms of how you can approach them and which way you want to go, and with every direction you take this game opens up into either a war-torn village or a gorgeous, water-laden aqueduct filled with foes to slay. This branching decision making was something fresh and exciting for the series.
The environments are so sleek and well-designed I almost forget about the combat, until an enemy slyly swung at me, dragging me back into the action once more. With that in mind, the combat in this game is very rewarding but not without its punishments. Dodge at the wrong time? Wall run into the wrong part of the level?
Enemies didn’t wait to jump on me if I wasn’t too careful, ranging from basic sword bearers to burly brutes who almost took me for a ride, and even down to the pesky hanging enemies who hung off the wall poles, ready to take a swipe at me when I least expected it. The reward to punishment aspect of the title really gripped me and I loved dying, strangely to say, as I got to test new methods and new weapons that worked better for me on subsequent attempts.
Remember how I mentioned earlier that the game is beautiful and did a good job of charming me? Yeah, let’s talk about that because, honestly, as much as I’ve played games such as Dead Cells and even Blasphemous, which are very much like this one in how they play and present. This Prince of Persia take on the side-scrolling, platforming, rogue-like adventure really captured me in its own unique way. From the wide range of environments to the little bursts of contrasting colour ways, I was mesmerized by its aesthetic.
As much as the game is visually pleasing, it definitely draws from the roots of the franchise in an interesting way, as it uses similar shades and textures that feel familiar to us OG fans, but in a way that breathed fresh new life into the storied series. The graphics were fantastic, but the performance of this pleasant game surprised me as well. The gameplay was smooth and effortless; hacking away at foes and bouncing from wall running to pole climbing genuinely felt cut from the same cloth as the original games’ formulas but just presented in a phenomenal 2D style.
If you guys are religious readers of my reviews in particular, you’d know that I am a big lover of kick-ass soundtracks, and good music is one major thing that Rogue Prince of Persia does really well. The soundtrack to this godly title is awesome yet oddly calming, from flawless fluty notes to a bass-driven techno-hip hop backing track is where it really got me.
As someone who listens to almost anything, I never expected to hear a sitar mixed with some flute and then having a boost of bass all thrown at me at once… but I realize I’ve been missing out. Overall, the music and tracks produced in this game are top tier for me. When it needs to be calming, it’s subdued and thematic, and when I was fighting bosses and needed a motivational charge of energy, I got just that, so ‘A’ bloody grade overall!
So, after I played some, died some, and played some more of this bewitching title brought to us by Evil Empire and Ubisoft, I thought to myself, what would I rate this game? After all, this game has given me one of the most fun experiences I have had in quite a while, whilst offering me something new and refreshing at the same time.
As a longtime fan of the 3D Prince of Persia games I was very impressed with the direction Ubisoft went with this title, hearkening back to the very first games in the series from the late ’80s and early ’90s, but with a gorgeous modernization that incorporated what made the later 3D games so great. Honestly, I’m here for it, and wouldn’t mind one bit if this was the new face of the franchise. Some grumpy commenters will complain that Ubisoft has recently lacked new ideas and originality, but now they’ve done something refreshing, intriguing, and downright fun, that has broken the mold for the beloved series. As a fan, I say bring us more of these ideas because Rogue Prince of Persia is fantastic!
Overall Review score – 10/10, a big score for a big idea. Bravo Ubisoft! And Bravo Evil Empire!
The Rogue Prince of Persia is available now on Xbox Series X/S and Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, Ubisoft Connect, Steam and the Epic Games Store, and PlayStation 5, for the more-than reasonable price of $29.99!
