Prince of Persia 4 is cel-shaded, storyline and new fighting system revealed

3 May 2008

26 Comments

Posted by:Ferry

The new Prince of Persia 4 game for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC will feature cel-shaded graphics! The new iteration in the Prince of Persia (PoP) series is aiming for an artistic and “more poetic” vision in its overall presentation. The 140-headed development team is hard at work on finishing the game by the end of 2008.

Ubisoft describes the storyline: “The new game’s plot will return to the Arabian Nights and Persian mythology, specifically retelling the legend of twin good and evil deity brothers Ohrmazd and Ahriman. According to myth, Evil Brother (Ahriman) was once imprisoned within a magic box after a battle between the twins turned ugly, but he is accidentally unleashed upon the world when the box is opened by an unsuspecting desert bandit. As Ahriman ravages the world, the thief (i.e. the Prince) must rise to his destiny as a true hero by correcting his mistake and setting things right in the world. Progress is shown by trees growing, life flourishing, and the land returning to health in real-time as Ahriman’s evil is re-sealed by the Prince in mystical wells.”

Creative director Jean-Christophe Guyot describes the game as “Zelda-esque” with “old school, very contrasting levels” leading ultimately to more open and organic gameplay than in previous PoP games. The new PoP game’s plot won’t be connected to the old PoP games either, this also means the Dagger of Time and any time-altering powers have been removed and replaced by “something else”.

Combat has been given a similar overhaul, with a focus self-described by the development team as “less God of War and more Soul Calibur.” Ubisoft says that the emphasis this time around is on strong one-on-one duels with villains. Platforming elements will of course remain, although the Prince will now make use of a special spiked glove when scrambling around on those smooth surfaces. The worlds themselves are described as a combination of linear and sandbox style environments, with plenty of free-range exploration mixed up with special “assault courses” designed for those moments when the player’s skills must be challenged in a specific way.

PS: Should we be calling this kind of art style transformation from realistic graphics to cel-shaded artistic visuals “pulling a Celda” now?

Translation from the French magazine Joypad by 1UP. You can view more scans at Actiontrip.