One of my favorite games so far this year is a new Prince of Persia. Well, now I’m already looking forward to another new Prince of Persia.
Specifically, I’m talking about The Rogue Prince of Persia, a new game from publisher Ubisoft and Dead Cells developer Evil Empire. Just with Dead Cells, this is a 2D action platformer with rogue-like elements. It will release in Steam Early Access on May 11.
I had a chance to play a bit of an early build of The Rogue Prince of Persia. I played for just less than hour, getting a taste of mechanics and a boss fight, but I’m already impressed.
Roguish combat
So, what does this have to do with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown? Not too much … kind of. This is a different story with a different set of characters. And while Rogue’s 2D action and platforming are inherently similar to The Lost Crown, Rogue is definitely doing its own things.
Just from being a rogue-like instead of a Metroidvania, there are inherent differences. While the prince in The Lost Crown kept to his trusty daggers, here you can come across different a bunch of different weapons, including axes and sabers, each with their own feel.
You then augment your character further by finding upgrades during each run. You know, typical rogue-like stuff. You can find enhancements that can deal and strengthen poison damage, for example.
I think that The Lost Crown has the best 2D combat that I’ve ever seen in any game, so I was a bit worried about how Rogue would stack up. But this game’s action also feels great. I mean, duh, the combat was a highlight of Dead Cells, so I shouldn’t be surprised that it also feels good here. You’re not just spamming attacks, but dodging enemies or even kicking them into each other or walls to stun them. Even in my little time, I was discovering a good amount of nuance.
Run that wall
The Lost Crown also had incredible platforming. Again, Rogue also feels great while doing its own thing. The prince’s iconic wall run is the main platforming mechanic. You know, the one made famous in Sands of Time. We had a version of it The Lost Crown, but it was mostly an air dash ability with a fancy animation.
Here, you are actually running against a wall … as long as one is behind you. This makes you pay attention to your environment, as you can’t always count on this ability to get you where you want to go. Don’t worry though, far more places than not feature a background for you latch onto.
What’s great is that you can run any direction along the wall that you want. So it can help you cross gaps or ascend greater heights. Pair this with some double jumps and other abilities, and you can accomplish some pretty fancy platforming.
Striking
Rogue is also a visually striking game. It features a hand-drawn, unshaded look that actually reminds me a bit of the rotoscoped style of the original Prince of Persia. No, not Sands of Time, the one from 1989.
In fact, this really does feel like a culmination for the entire series, borrowing ideas from across the franchise. Of course, that does mean time-rewinding, which was used as a justification for how the prince escapes death.
The Rogue Prince of Persia already has all of the important ingredients to become another rogue-like hit. The Lost Crown came out of almost nowhere to become one of the best Metroidvanias ever, and The Rogue Prince of Persia has a good shot at doing the same with its genre.