There’s a great gameplay (in-engine) trailer available online and on Live. I recommend checking it out.
Also, they just released this 5 minutes of gameplay footage that looks great. The Banter could use a little work, and I was more off put by the Prince’s Voice acting until I learned it’s the same actor as Nathan Drake (Uncharted for PS3). And he did an excellent job there.
It runs on the Assassin’s Creed engine. Instead of going for realistic, they went with a specific style of cell shading that looks “illustrated” or like the concept art.
It’s a visual storybook style.
Also, there is an AI companion who can’t be lost or killed. No more baby sitting. She can also be called upon via a button press to help in combat or exploration. Gameplay vid doesn’t explain how she can do all the moves you can (since you have the claw gauntlet and she doesn’t), but since she’s magical you could just sell it with a few more particle effects. She also is apparently tied to the “rewind” feature, which can’t be rewind since this isn’t the Sands of Time triology. I’ll be most interested in how they deal with that. Both Prince of Persia and Assassin’s Creed are big on incorporating gameplay elements (Continue Screen, Life Bar) into Game Story Concepts (retelling tale, sync meter, water). I expect this to be no different.
Combat has been reduced to One-on-one affairs. I’ll miss the quick kill system of PoP: Two Thrones, but this sounds nearly as good: going back to the original PoP for inspiration. If you don’t know what I mean, go get the PoP remake on XBLA and try a sword fight. They are tense, difficult, and fun.
Overall, I’m hyped as hell for this game. And you should be, too. This is one of the heavy hitters this holiday season, and it’s *not* an FPS.
Oh, and remember, Two Thrones was a good game, too. Yahtzee says so.
Well, He actually says the trilogy on a whole is the best of last generation, and then had this video to explain why he had said that. And to clarify ahead of time, good does not equal the best game ever made. It just means it’s probably better than most other games you could play. Two Thrones had flaws, but I still beat it in under 3 days. Yup. I actually got it, played it, and beat it, without being distracted away.