Prince of Persia's mythology

"The story is also loosely based on Persian mythology and the twin gods Ormazd (read: good) and Ahriman (read: bad). It seems that something's amiss with the Tree of Life--which holds the power of life and death--and an evil corruption is spreading across the land. Throughout your quest you'll need to heal the world one area at a time by destroying enemies that serve as a manifestation of that corruption, thereby ridding the land of it. The enemies you'll encounter in Prince of Persia represent physical manifestations of the corruption. They're neither human nor mechanical but instead are a result of the gooey, organic corruption coagulating into adversaries, which, unlike in previous games where you fought multiple enemies at once, now have to be taken out one at a time. The series has always had elements of acrobatics, puzzle-solving, and combat. However, on this outing the prince will have to rely more heavily on acrobatics to advance through the game. That isn't to say there won't be any adversaries or any puzzles to solve, but the emphasis will be more on exploration and using the prince's abilities to reach new areas. Standard Prince of Persia moves are back, but the prince also now sports a glowing, metallic glove that will allow you to perform an array of new moves, including the Grip Fall--a move that gives you a second chance in instances where you might otherwise have plunged to an untimely death.

The game has a partly open-ended structure, in that the order in which you explore each area is completely up to you. However, the path to each objective will still be linear. The developers didn't elaborate, but we were told that the order in which you complete the objectives will also have an effect on gameplay.

The game's world is divided into dark and light areas, which represent the two states of cursed land and healed land. One of the major objectives in one of the regions we saw was represented by a beam of light that extended high into the sky. When we came close to reaching the healing ground from which it emitted, we were confronted by a huge beastly creature called a hunter. After a short fight he was disposed of, and we were then ready to step into the light, presumably to vanquish corruption from the region, yet unfortunately for us, it was at this point that the demonstration drew to a close.

Prince of Persia will be making its way to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, and DS later this year. Source: www.gamespot.com
"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. Ubisoft's description of this progression sounds almost Okami-like, with 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.

The new game's plot has zero connection with the events of the previous Prince of Persia games, making us wonder whether or not we're even going to be talking about the same type of princely archetype at all. 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.
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 who (we're guessing) correspond roughly to the kind of theatrical foe more commonly seen in a game like Metal Gear Solid". Source: www.1up.com

Join "The Prince of Persia" group in Facebook

The Prince of Persia E3 Trailer: