Chris Easton on Prince of Persia

The visuals, Elika, structure, plot et al

There are in-game cut-scenes. Will the story be told in other ways, too?

Yes, it does come through in other ways. As you play through the game the Prince and Elika work with each other and talk. As you move through the world they talk, and you're actions effect what will happen. I'm trying to think of examples without giving you spoilers! But, like, for example the world is a mesh - so your decisions and actions have a direct impact on how the story unfolds. The plot is set but how you unlock it is open to you. There are in-game cut-scenes that tell parts of the story and show the Prince and Elika talking. You can have them explain stuff in more detail and this adds to the story.

Elika is of course a very attractive young lady. Is she a part of the Prince's future, now?

Well, she's certainly a big part of this game. She's one of the most important things in this game. I mean, the game isn't so much about the Prince as it is about Elika, it's about her story as you progress through. You play the Prince as you work with Elika to remove the corruption from the world. So, she's a vital part of the game. Without her you cannot remove the corruption, she's essential, they have to work together as a pair... and if they don't work together the world will be corrupted.

So what's the best use of Elika in the game - from a combat or movement perspective?

Well, the best use is getting rid of the corruption!

What's the coolest feature?

Well, in combat when you use the gauntlet you can attack repeatedly and use Elika to play keepy-uppy with bad guys. That's really fun.

Is the game more focussed on one-to-one combat, would you say? Is there a beat 'em up element to it compared to past games?

Definitely, when you play a one-on-one battle like in Tekken or Soul Calibur it's all about epic battles. When you fight hordes of generic enemies you're just mashing 'X', there's not interaction, you're hitting three baddies at once, etc. In the concept we're using this is more of a dual between two foes, you can have interactions that are quick - blocking fast attacks. Every fight is a huge one-on-one, or two-on-one, its a real tussle - you need to work out how to beat each enemy. It's more of a challenge.

Have you completed the game?

I actually haven't, but I just don't have time to play the game, I'm so lazy! I only get to play it when I'm demoing it which sucks!

Any idea how long the full singleplayer game is?

I would say its around 15 hours... but if you want to collect everything it will take much much longer.

Do you have any DLC plans for the game?

There aren't any right now... but if its one of those things where people want it, then we will definitely look at it, but if they don't then that's cool.

When we were speaking earlier you mentioned co-op was considered but then cut out. Can you speak about this a little more?

Well, we looked at co-op because when you look at a pair like that (Elika and the Prince), the most obvious thing is co-op. But Elika is all about the flow of platforming, and to achieve that when Elika is being controlled by another player destroys the timing. It's very hard. You'd need to have linked brains, twins or something. It becomes frustrating and doesn't work very well. You can't achieve the rhythm because of the nature of co-op. It sucks but its true, unfortunately.

Do you think the Sands of Time will be missed at all?

Oh, I'm sure they'll be missed. I'm a fan... I'd love to see more Sands of Time games, but that trilogy is finished so we're not looking to do any more Sands games... I'm sure people will miss the gameplay mechanic, but the story is over... but we've so many new things that we think people won't miss it too much. We have things that equal and better the Sands of Time.

Elika?

Yes. She saves you when you'd normally die.

Do you think avoiding repetition; the grind, is very important for modern games?

That's very frustrating... it's not in there. The game isn't super easy, you get taken back to your last stable situation, so you won't have to go back 20 minutes... we want to avoid that, and keep you immersed and enjoying the world.

How does the structure of Prince of Persia differ from past games?

Well, the previous games were very linear. Now... another analogy! Imagine UK cities like London, Birmingham, Manchester, etc. When you want to go between cities you can go direct, or you can go via another city en route. Prince of Persia is like this. You can take detours on the way to other places. There is an open element to the world. This impacts the difficulty of the game as well. Everything is interlinked in a mesh. You can choose your path, healing the world through this approach. The game does start and end in the same place.

Do you think your changes will attract new fans to the series?

I think so, yes, a lot of people look at GTA IV - an open-world game - we have an element of that. We think people will appreciate the new structural approach, that's for sure.

No multiplayer?

None. At all. Prince of Persia is a singleplayer game and there's just no room for it... what could you do?

Thanks for your time, Chris!

Thank you!

By Luke Guttridge