Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Hands-On Preview

ign.com:

It’s been 13 years since we last had a brand new Prince of Persia game, and during that long, long wait you may have wished that you could turn back the sands of time and return to an era when the series was in full swing. That’s sort of what Ubisoft has done with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, but rather than revisiting the early 2000s 3D action-platforming it has rewound the clock over three decades, back to the series’ 2D roots.

Much like the original Prince of Persia from 1989, The Lost Crown is a side-scrolling adventure in which you must avoid deadly platforming traps as you journey through ninth-century Persia in the hunt for missing royalty. Spikes line corridor floors, murderous pendulums swing across your path, platforms break beneath you, and – for fans of really deep cuts – you’ll even have to contend with your own doppelganger. Thankfully your protagonist, a warrior named Sargon who exudes more cool than a refrigerator, has taken a few hints from The Sands of Time and packed some temporal-bending powers for his mission.

For the most part, though, The Lost Crown is something new. This interpretation is a full-blown Metroidvania, and Rayman Legends studio Ubisoft Montpellier has crafted a sprawling, interconnected map that takes you from haunted dungeons to the heights of Mount Qaf, the mythical mountain from Arabic folklore. That classic level design is blended with elements you’ll recognise from the Metroidvania greats, including precise swordplay that makes extensive use of parries, nail-biting bosses, and a variety of amulets that augment your abilities in substantial, meaningful ways. And, from what I could tell from about two hours of hands-on time, it’s shaping up to be pretty good.

My demo began