A return to the Prince of Persia: What does a rogue like experience offer?
From one of the developing teams of the amazing Dead Cells
Ubisoft’s trajectory with the Prince of Persia franchise has been consistent since the launch of 2024’s The Lost Crown, i.e., to experiment with 2D side-scrolling formats like Metroidvania, while we all eagerly await the remake of The Sands of Time that is supposed to launch in 2026. Add The Rogue Prince of Persia to that list, a solid roguelike experience made by a very competent development team in Evil Empire, but sadly this is not the game for which the gallery is waiting.
The Rogue Prince of Persia is a roguelike game (think Rogue, Dead Cells, Hades) that tries to recreate both the magic of Hades and Dead Cells while at the same time trying to evoke dollops of nostalgia amongst its players. The game borrows significantly from the classic Prince and Prince II in terms of level design, as it implements not only a multitude of prickly spikes across its levels but also the platforms that collapse if you linger on them a bit too long. The first time I encountered them, I couldn’t help but reminisce at the sight while at the same time ensuring that I went nowhere near them for the deadly damage they can unleash. In terms of gameplay, despite the classic visual cues, the gameplay here is more on par with a modern experience like Hades.
You play as the titular Prince of Persia, whose kingdom has been attacked by the Huns and as you stand to face their leader one-on-one, you are no match for their crafty skills and their black magic. Defeated, you respawn only to find that a necklace given to you at birth allows you to keep respawning till you succeed in beating the Huns’ leader, Nogai. The power of the necklace ensures you are in a time loop like Deathloop and you keep trying till you get it right.
The combat here is fantastic and the accompanying music is quite appropriate, as the game offers you a random set of weapons each time you retry. The game also offers you medallions and weapon upgrades – dynamics very similar to Hades and for a while, the fight-die-respawn cycle works fantastically. However, this isn’t an experience on par with Hades because neither the characters nor their dialogues carry the same personality and panache. The game also offers players a variety of levels to clear, and each new level offers different kinds of terrain and playing surfaces to adapt to. I really enjoyed my time sliding in the aqueduct and dodging traps in the Tower of Oblivion.
Apart from a lack of personality for the NPCs, I also found navigating the various levels quite challenging and soon the game’s exploration aspects became cumbersome. It would have been really useful if Evil Games had deployed a similar mapping mechanism to the Lost Crown. These few qualms aside, the Rogue Prince of Persia can be quite fun if you like roguelike games. It is free on the Xbox Game Pass and the PS Plus Extra/Deluxe tiers and is worth your time and energy if you are playing it for free. A solid game to play till you wait for either Hades II or Sands of Time reboot.
Sneak Peek:
Title Rogue Prince of Persia
Developer: Evil Empire for Ubisoft
Game Type: Single Player Roguelike Action Adventure
Platforms PlayStation 5, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2
Price: INR 2,099on Steam, PSand Xbox store
Free to play day 1 on PS Plus Extra/Deluxe, and Xbox Game Pass
Verdict (all scores out of 10):
Innovative Gameplay: 7.5
Game Handling & Quality: 9
Value for Time: 8
Value for Money: 8
Overall: 8.13
What Stands Out?
The design of the various levels and the surfaces of play they offer keeps the player guessing all the time.
The combat here is simply fantastic! The various weapons and their combos ensure that no level is the same each time you return.
Fails to impress
The writing for the various characters isn’t up to the mark. The characters lack personality and there is a lack of camaraderie that prevents this from being a genuine Hades contender.
The game’s mapping system isn’t consistent with that of last year’s brilliant Lost Crown. The use of a similar system would have ensured continuity and uniformity across the franchise.
