The Rogue Prince of Persia Preview: A Strong Foundation

If you had told me a year ago that Ubisoft would end up releasing two different Prince of Persia games in 2024 that were less than six months apart, I would have thought you were crazy. Prior to this year's launch of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, a new entry in Ubisoft's beloved franchise hadn't come about until back in 2010 with Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. Now, a new installment is set to initially roll out this coming month with The Rogue Prince of Persia, and after having gone hands-on with the title, I'm quite keen on how it may turn out. 

Coming from developer Evil Empire, the studio in part behind Dead Cells, The Rogue Prince of Persia is a new roguelike take on the long-running series. After having played roughly 30 minutes of the game, it feels very much like a perfect mesh of both franchises. Iconic gameplay elements from most Prince of Persia titles have been incorporated here in a format that is very reminiscent of Dead Cells. 

Combat is the one element of The Rogue Prince of Persia that I was able to experience the most during my brief demo. Generally speaking, the combat mechanics are rather straightforward and place an emphasis on melee. Outside of chaining together attacks with swords, the Prince can also use ranged weapons like a bow and can also kick foes into one another. This latter mechanic is perhaps the most interesting as the kick can be used not only to stun enemies but also can send them plunging to their death in environmental hazards. Dodging is also an integral part of the core combat for RPOP and seems to encourage players to constantly be moving in some capacity. 

Platforming is the one aspect of The Rogue Prince of Persia that I still don't feel like I have a good grasp on. At times during my demo, acts such as wall-running felt a bit stilted and didn't flow as well as I would have liked. Then again, my preview session took place virtually, which meant that there was a bit of input latency to account for. My hope is that my complaints on this front won't be as prominent when playing locally, but I think there's still room to improve the cohesiveness between combat and platforming. 

Outside of wrapping my mind around these core mechanics, I also was able to see how The Rogue Prince of Persia is going to approach doling out upgrades and modifiers for various runs. Some of the mods I used in my run would light enemies on fire, bog them down in sludge, or even heal my character after being activated in certain ways. The most interesting thing about this system, though, comes with how you slot the upgrades in your inventory. Modifiers have the ability to upgrade one another depending on how they are aligned within your inventory. This brings an added layer of strategy when it comes to choosing which upgrades you want to bring with you on a run as you might have to fine-tune your layout in order to get the most out of your modifiers.  

Likely the best thing I can say about my short time with The Rogue Prince of Persia is that I didn't want to put it down by the time my demo had wrapped. The more I played, the more I found myself really getting into the game's flow and started to feel like I had assembled a strong character build that could take me further than I had made it previously. This is perhaps the most important element of any roguelike as you always want to believe that you have "one more run" in you that will lead you to victory. For me to have already felt this way so early is a positive sign and makes me believe that Evil Empire has a great foundation in place already. 

Despite having not played much, The Rogue Prince of Persia makes a strong first impression. This is a game that I can see only getting better over time and should scratch the same itch that Dead Cells fans have been looking for. More than anything, though, The Rogue Prince of Persia's mere existence perhaps indicates that Ubisoft is looking to expand and diversify its offerings with some of its largest franchises. This makes me quite excited and gives me hope that we'll see more unique collaborations like this from the publisher in the years to come. 

The Rogue Prince of Persia will release next month on May 14, exclusively on Steam in early access. The game is planned to come to other platforms in the future, although specifics on this front haven't been provided just yet.