The Rogue Prince of Persia Review - A Rogue-like Expedition Worth Taking
Ubisoft are in an odd place at the moment. There is a lot of confusion as to what direction they are taking, especially with some of their key franchises. There are some odd calls, questions from fans, and, to be quite honest, worrying noise from the management suite. In among that chaos, someone made one of the best calls in the history of Ubisoft. This genius let a bunch of former Dead Cells developers take hold of the Prince of Persia IP and do something new with it. This move was inspired because not only is it right up there with the best Prince games ever, but it is possibly even better than Dead Cells itself.
Playing The Rogue Prince of Persia, it is impossible not to feel the Dead Cells DNA. From the setup, to the level design, to the action. In fact, I would go so far as to say that without the Prince IP, this could have easily been retooled as a sequel. But that shouldn’t put you off at all for two reasons. The first is that Dead Cells is one of the best rogue-likes ever, so if you are going to copy something, it may as well be the best, right? The second is that there are numerous Prince of Persia touches that distinguish the two games, and in some areas even elevate the Prince to a superior position.
First, for those who haven’t played Dead Cells, the setup works like this. Players take the Prince through a series of themed, but randomly generated levels, trying to reach the end without dying. If they die, they are brought back to the start, keeping resources they gathered along the way so they can purchase upgrades and new abilities that will make their next journey easier. As the player completes more runs, new branches open up, fresh abilities appear, and exciting challenges come along to test your abilities. The random nature of the levels means replayability isn’t a problem, and the satisfying loop of getting a bit better each time and unlocking new gear is addictive in a way that many games can only dream of.
Where things diverge from Dead Cells are in both obvious and not-so-obvious areas. The setting is, of course, quite different. Gone are the creepy monsters, haunted halls and spooky swamps and in their place are castle ruins, desert villages and forboding dungeons. The enemy design is also different, but no less impressive. A range of vicious-looking creatures and warriors take on the Prince in his journey, and each presents their own unique challenges. This leads me to the combat, which is sublime. Being a Prince of Persia game comes with the expectation of mobility, and The Rogue Prince delivers. Dodging over enemies, kicking baddies into others, nimble dash attacks, and strategic enemy isolation make up the combat, and it is a joy to partake in, regardless of which of the many different weapons you are using.
Speaking of mobility. Yes, there is wall-running in this Prince game, and it has been implemented beautifully. Players simply hold the left trigger, and the prince can run along any wall, even vertically, for a short distance. Combining this with wall jumping and dashes allows players to scale the levels in a way I have never seen in a platformer before. It is so satisfying to get through some of the tough platforming puzzles that present themselves, and it really encourages exploration. I also found it forced me to pay attention to the background more than I was used to; after all, you can’t wall run if there is no wall to run on.
Where The Rogue Prince of Persia really takes a huge leap over Dead Cells is the story. Let’s face it, the story was hardly the reason to play Dead Cells, but here it is, a fantastic addition. It tells the tale of The Prince, who is in possession of an amulet that allows him to die, then simply wake up at the last location he slept at. This concept is used to tell the tale of how he reacts to the invasion of his home, along with the capture of his brothers and parents and how he plans to fix it. The story is told through a mindmap, which expands as the Prince discovers new pieces of the story each run, often leading to in-depth conversations with other characters back at his home base. It is a truly ingenious style of storytelling and works beautifully in this type of game. It helps that the writing is fantastic, and I was fully committed to discovering the full story of the Prince and his family.
If I have one slight issue with the game, it is that its added complexity in both movement and combat adds a bit of a learning curve that Dead Cells didn’t have. It also makes it a game that takes a little bit to get back into if you put it down for a while. I have been playing this all through its early access period, and every time I came back to it after a break, it took me a few runs to feel comfortable with the many controls and concepts the game uses. As far as issues go, it is a small one, but it is certainly worth mentioning because often these sorts of games are the type that are put on the shelf and then returned to when time permits and if getting back into the game is a barrier, that might hold people back a little.
The Rogue Prince of Persia is an absolute success in both doing justice to the well-loved property and in taking the foundation of Dead Cells and moulding it into something new and just as exciting. The movement, combat and story are all fantastic, and the specific Prince of Persia additions are all incorporated beautifully. A slightly higher-than-normal learning curve is perhaps the only minor issue in an otherwise world-class rogue-like. Quite frankly, this is one of the best games that Ubisoft has published in recent memory, and I sincerely hope they use this idea of letting talented Indie developers loose with their IP again in the future. Simply put, The Rogue Prince of Persia is a must-play title, and I implore you all to seek it out as soon as you can.
The Rogue Prince of Persia was reviewed on PC with code kindly supplied by the publisher.
