Prince of Persia is an action-adventure video game series. Through the various titles, the series has had a variety of different developers and publishers. Although originally a side-scrolling platforming game, the series evolved into an action-adventure 3D environment. The series was rebooted with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, developed and published by Ubisoft. The game was then part of a trilogy, called The Sands of Time Trilogy, in which all games afterward have a time-traveling gameplay element.
| Title |
Developer |
Platforms |
First Released |
| Prince of Persia |
Brøderbund |
Apple II, Apple Macintosh, MS-DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, Master System, Mega Drive/Genesis, Mega-CD, Game Gear, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, NEC PC-9801, NES, SNES, Sam Coupé, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Turbo Duo, as well as Gamecube, Xbox and Sony PlayStation 2 (through an unlockable in Prince Of Persia: Sands of Time) |
1989 |
| Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame |
Brøderbund |
Apple Macintosh, MS-DOS, SNES, Mega Drive/Genesis (unreleased) |
1993 |
| Prince of Persia 3D |
Red Orb Entertainment |
Windows, Dreamcast (developed by Avalanche Software, as "Prince of Persia: 3D") |
September 25, 1999 |
| Prince of Persia: Harem Adventures |
Gameloft |
Mobile phone |
2002 |
| Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time |
Ubisoft |
Windows, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Game Boy Advance, Mobile phone (Developed by Gameloft) |
November 4, 2003 |
| Prince of Persia: Warrior Within |
Ubisoft |
Windows, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Mobile phone (Developed by Gameloft) |
December 2, 2004 |
| Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones |
Ubisoft |
Windows, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Mobile phone (Developed by Gameloft) |
December 1, 2005 |
| Prince of Persia: Revelations |
Ubisoft |
PSP |
December 6, 2005 |
| Battles of Prince of Persia |
Ubisoft |
Nintendo DS |
December 7, 2005 |
| Prince of Persia: Rival Swords |
Ubisoft |
PSP, Wii |
March 20, 2007 |
| Prince of Persia Classic |
Gameloft |
Xbox Live Arcade, Mobile phone |
June 13, 2007 |
| Prince of Persia (2008) |
Ubisoft |
PC, Xbox 360, PS3 |
Holiday 2008 |
In 1993, a level editor for the Mac called PoPMap was released, and can be found in the Info-Mac HyperArchive. In 1994, an unofficial sequel called 4D Prince Of Persia was produced by a fan of the game. In 2003, another group of fans created a level editor for this game called Princed and a graphic and sound editor called Princed Resources, opening the door to numerous homebrew level sets such as Prince of Persia: Shadow of Castle and Prince of Persia: Revolutions.
[edit] Prince of Persia: Original Trilogy
[edit] Prince of Persia (1989, Brøderbund)
-
The game is set in Ancient Persia. As a child, Jordan Mechner had enjoyed the tales from the The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, and the settings for this game are changed to Persia. The Prince is an orphan, living of the streets of Persia. One day, he scales the palace walls to catch a glimpse of the Princess, whose beauty is like "moonrise in the heavens". His feelings are reciprocated by the Princess as well, commoner though he is.
The game starts with the Sultan of Persia being called away for a war in a foreign land. Sensing opportunity, the evil Vizier Jaffar seizes the throne for himself. The Prince is imprisoned, since Jaffar has designs on the Princess. The Princess is also imprisoned and is given an hour to decide: she would have to either marry Jaffar or else, die. The Prince therefore has 60 minutes to complete the game by saving the Princess and killing Jaffar.
The twist is that the game is played in real time, so the Prince must quickly complete the quest without breaks. On some platforms it is possible to save the game at the start of each level, though the time limit still applies. The only way to lose the game is by letting the time expire. If the Prince is killed, the game will restart from the beginning of the level, or in some levels, at a mid-way checkpoint.
[edit] Prince of Persia: The Shadow and the Flame (1993, Brøderbund)
-
Although 4 years elapsed between the making of Prince of Persia and Prince of Persia: The Shadow and the Flame, the world of the Prince goes through a few days alone. During these days, the Prince has a lot going for him. At first, he is hailed as the Hero who defeated the evil Jaffar. When he spurns all riches and asks for the Princess' hand in marriage as his reward, the Sultan rants and raves, but eventually he is moved by his dear daughter’s tears and pleadings, finally giving in to her wishes. The Prince and Princess are married and live happily – for eleven days.
In The Shadow and the Flame, Jaffar is brought back into action by an evil Witch who, for reasons not mentioned, hates the Prince. As the Prince enters the Palace gates on the eleventh day, the Prince feels a strange, cold feeling seep through himself. His royal robes turn into that of the beggar he was, before he saved Persia. Even the Princess does not recognize him when he tries to speak to her – she orders her guards to treat him well, for he was "just a poor mad beggar!". And, out from the shadows, steps out the Prince – Jaffar who has taken over the Prince’s countenance as well as his role. With the Palace guards rushing him with drawn swords, the Prince has only one option – to jump through a large glass and flee the city by sea.
Unfortunately for the Prince, the ship in which he is a stowaway crashes and he finds himself on the beautiful shore of a foreign land. But not before a strange woman appears in his dreams and tells him to avenge his father. The strange woman keeps saying "Come to me!" throughout the game.
Halfway through The Shadow and the Flame, it is revealed to the Prince that he is really of Royal lineage. His father was killed and his mother had to cast him off, just before she was herself killed. The time to take revenge had come. Although not stated explicitly, the evil Witch appears to have been the one behind the Prince’s loss as well.
The rest of the game is vintage Prince of Persia: lilting background music, fluid animation, breath-taking graphics and environments, a Flying Carpet, a Flying Horse, Magic and Magic Potions.
The end of the game is when the Prince needs to shed his physical body and kill Jaffar as he plays hide-and-seek. A single bolt of the magical blue flame finishes Jaffar off, but the trick is to get it right – one has at most two attempts, before the blue flame sputters out... The Prince and Princess are once again united and the day is saved – for now.
[edit] Prince of Persia 3D (1999, Red Orb)
-
While the first two versions of the game were released quickly one after the other, the third game in the series, Prince of Persia 3D was released only in 1999, took almost 6 years to produce. This was the first 3D version of Prince of Persia, but continued in the same vein as the original two games. To illustrate, it had the same lilting Middle Eastern music, the same smooth animation (but in 3D), excellent graphics, a romantic storyline and the same action-adventure-puzzles-traps.
Prince of Persia 3D starts with a belly dance: the Prince and his father-in-law have been invited by Assan, the brother of the Sultan. The dance ends with the belly dancer killing the Prince's personal bodyguards and the Prince himself being imprisoned in Assan's dungeons. Apparently, the Princess' father had promised long ago that the Princess would be given away in marriage to Assan's son, Rugnor.
Rugnor is an interesting creature: half man and half tiger, he is ruthless, cruel to the teeth and covets the Princess. He is also very powerful and a master Swordsman as well. The Prince has to escape from the dungeons and chase Rugnor, as he carries the Princess away. The Prince has to fight his way through several levels including the unique Dirigible levels. The game is also unique in the Prince of Persia series, in that the Prince has a choice of 4 weapons: the Sword, a long Staff for long-range combat, Double Blades for close combat and the Bow and Arrow (with various magical arrows).
The Prince almost manages to outwit Rugnor a few times too. In the final level, Rugnor sets a huge piece of machinery, a mechanical Gear as big as a room, to which he ties the Princess up. The Prince has about one-and-a-half minutes to fight and defeat Rugnor. If he is successful, the two are re-united and it is a happy ending. If not, the Princess is crushed by the Gears and the Prince lets himself be killed by Rugnor.
[edit] The Sands of Time series (Ubisoft)
-
In 2003, gaming giant Ubisoft announced a new Prince of Persia, produced along with Jordan Mechner.[1] Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was released in that year for most gaming platforms, and received critical acclaim. It was voted IGN's 'Game of the Year' for 2003.
The Sands of Time introduces some interesting new moves to the Prince's repertoire, including the "wall run". Additionally, the Prince would acquire powers of controlling time, as he progressed through the levels of the game.
In 2004, a sequel, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within was released. Warrior Within expanded the The Sands of Time gameplay and had a lengthier play time. However, it ended up getting an inferior reception due to a darker theme, which included more violence and gore, a few instances of profanity, giving the Prince a "bad attitude", and exchanging most of the Middle-Eastern based soundtrack with heavy metal music. Warrior Within was later ported to the PlayStation Portable as Prince of Persia: Revelations. Although the game received lukewarm reviews by old fans and critics, it sold well, and put a spotlight on the new Prince of Persia series. Eventually it was outsold by The Sands of Time.
In 2005, the series continued with Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones. Mixing most aspects of The Sands of Time and some from Warrior Within, The Two Thrones also received good critical reception. The game was criticised for a shorter campaign and some unpolished finishing touches that had originally made The Sands of Time and Warrior Within so well received. However, it sold well, much like Warrior Within.
Ubisoft also produced a spin-off for the Nintendo DS, called Battles of Prince of Persia (2005). It takes place between The Sands of Time and Warrior Within and was different from all three games as it introduced card-based combat. It received a lukewarm reception by critics and fans. In 2007, a port of The Two Thrones entitled Prince of Persia: Rival Swords was released for Nintendo's Wii and the PSP.[2]
[edit] The Sands of Time storyline
The story begins with the Prince, his father, and the Persian army, passing through India on their way to the fictional land of Azad. They are promised by the Indian Maharaja's Vizier great treasure if they attack his kingdom. While the Persians attack the Indian kingdom, the Prince sets off on a mission to recover a suitable treasure as a souvenir from his first battle. During his trip through the Maharajah's palace, the Prince finds the legendary Dagger of Time, which allows him power over time. The Dagger, although not known to the Prince or his father, is part of the Hourglass of Time.
In Azad, the Hourglass of Time is given to the Sultan. Curious about the Sands of Time inside the Hourglass, the Prince is tricked by the Vizier into using his Dagger to open it up. Once the Sands of Time are free, they "infect" everyone except the Prince, the Vizier, and the captured daughter of the Maharajah named Farah, who were all protected by artifacts "as old as the Sands themselves:" the Dagger of Time, the Vizier's staff, and Farah is protected by her medallion, respectively.
Eventually, near the end of the game, the Prince and Farah reach the Hourglass again; he hesitates in following Farah's instructions to plunge the Dagger into the top of the Hourglass, however, and they are confronted by the Vizier, who effectively thwarts their plan. A romantic relationship develops after this happenstance, and Farah and the Prince grow fond of each other. However, Farah eventually dies trying to do what the Prince couldn't. The Vizier, promising the Prince treasures and power, is almost killed by the Prince. But the Prince eventually learns that killing did not solve all problems, and remembering Farah, plunges the Dagger into the Hourglass once more, causing all of the events to be "rewound," making it such that India is never invaded in the first place.
The Prince wakes up at the Persian Army camp, and realizes what has happened. He still has the Dagger, however, as he runs to Farah's palace to return it to her where the Vizier steps in to confront the Prince and the final battle between the two begins. At the end, the Prince wins the battle, but due to his actions in reversing the timeline, Farah has no memory of the adventure that took place in Azad, or the growing relationship the two had. He returns the Dagger of Time to Farah, asking that she guard it well.
[edit] Warrior Within storyline
In the sequel to The Sands of Time, Warrior Within, seven years have passed. During this time, the Prince has been chased by the Dahaka, the Keeper of the Timeline. The Timeline says that "whosoever shall open the Sands must die" and therefore the Prince's survival has created an anomaly in the Timeline. It is this anomaly which the Dahaka, a time-traversing entity that chases the Prince throughout the game to end his life, means to correct by eliminating the Prince from the Timeline.
The Prince, following the advice of an oracle referred to only as "the Old Man," travels to an area referred to as the "Island of Time," where he believes he can confront a character called the "Empress of Time" and prevent the Sands of Time from being created, thus "un-making" the Dahaka's existence. En route he encounters a servant of the Empress named Shahdee, who attempts to slay the Prince and his comrades. The Prince survives the encounter and discovers himself on the Island of Time.
Eventually, the Prince encounters both Shahdee and a lady named Kaileena while both of the two women are arguing. The Prince defeats Shahdee in combat and is warned by Kaileena that the Empress "has no love for the world of men." While Kaileena expresses this sentiment early, she later helps the Prince through various means to complete his task. It is later revealed that Kaileena is indeed the Empress of Time herself; the Prince subsequently kills her to preserve his existence and stop the Dahaka's pursuits.
The Prince, thinking his task complete, attempts to leave the Island of Time, but is stopped by the Dahaka, who still pursues him even after the Empress's death. The Prince is chased into an ancient room where he discovers that he "is the architect of his own destruction:" Kaileena is the Sands of Time themselves and by killing her, he in turn created them, thus starting the cycle that brought him to the Island.
While reading a wall in the tomb, he learns of the Mask of the Wraith, which is an item that essentially duplicates a person, allowing the wearer to be in two separate places in time itself; this gives the Prince another chance to save his fate. The Prince dons the mask, and promptly transforms into the black-garbed demon creature that has been following him the entirety of the game: the Sand Wraith.
The Prince reaches the Throne Room, but before he enters he notices his other self running towards the doors, followed by the Dahaka, an event that happened much earlier in the game. He lets the Dahaka kill the other Prince, thus releasing himself from the Sand Wraith's form. Instead of killing Kaileena, the Prince devises a new plan to force her into the present, thus making sure that the Sands are not created in the past. Though the game offers two alternate endings, only one is canon storywise: the Prince battles Kaileena, but before striking a deathblow on the Empress, the Dahaka shows himself; in possession of a weapon called "the Water Sword," he can actually defeat the Dahaka, which he subsequently does. The Prince and Kaileena sail back to Babylon, where the Prince has visions of a wartorn Babylon and a person who states that he shall "claim what is rightfully his." The game then ends.
[edit] The Two Thrones storyline
In The Two Thrones, the Prince returns to Babylon with the Empress of Time, Kaileena, whose fate, like the Prince, has been changed. Kaileena, the narrator of the story, informs the audience that the Prince killed the Dahaka and saved her. The Prince, thinking that his problems are over, throws the Amulet of Time away. However, once in Babylon, the Prince sees his city not at all as he remembered. It is under attack by a mysterious army. The Prince's vessel is destroyed in the harbour and he and Kaileena are washed ashore. Kaileena is unconscious and promptly captured by the enemy soldiers, and the Prince follows them.
The Prince learns that the one responsible for the attack is the Vizier from the The Sands of Time. As the Prince changed his fate in Warrior Within and the story of The Sands of Time never happened and so the Vizier still lived. He also managed to find magical items that extended his life and strength. The Vizier killed the Maharajah of India whom he was serving, took his army as his own, and came to Babylon. He also discovered the Dagger of Time along the way, which was defunct until Kaileena left the Island of Time.
The Vizier kills Kaileena with the Dagger and plunges the Dagger into himself, making himself immortal. The Prince tries to stop this but is stopped by one of the Vizier's generals using a chain whip composed of sharp blades that gets emmbeded into his arm. The Sands of Time enter the Prince's body through the chain whip wound and infect him as he retrieves the Dagger of Time and escapes via the subsequently formed chasm.
The Prince soon discovers that his contamination manifests itself in two ways: the "Dark Prince," his Sand monster "alter-ego," and the darker, malevolent side of the Prince's personality that speaks to him via disembodied voice; the Prince will transform into his Sand monster form spontaneously through the story, and the transformation is only reversed by immersion into bodies of water. The main weapon for the Dark Prince is called the Daggertail, which is formed from the chain whip remnants in his infected arm. Also, during his adventure, the Prince once again meets Princess Farah, who was brought by the Vizier from India to Babylon as a slave. She escaped and wanders Babylon on her own when the Prince crosses her path.
During their adventure, Farah is recaptured by the Vizier, who wishes to make her his immortal queen; subsequently after her capture, the Prince is thrown into a well, where he transforms into his Sand monster form. The Dark Prince's voice, frustrated with the Prince's will to do good and noble deeds throughout the story, taunts the Prince with the prospect that, though they are inside a well, there is no water in it to curb the transformation. Upon the discover of his father's lifeless body at the bottom of the well, the Dark Prince begins to taunt the Prince more, sarcastically suggesting to "gather enough sands" to perform another "grand rewind" to a point before his father's death. The Prince denies he will do as such, accepting the actions that he has done and everything that has come to pass up to this point, and the Sand transformation is reversed, without any water, and the evil voice no longer speaks to the Prince from then on.
The Prince reaches the Vizier again and battles him one last time to save Farah, whom he has grown to love, and his kingdom of Babylon. He defeats and kills the Vizier, and the Sands of Time from the entire kingdom are regathered to give Kaileena a partially corporeal form. Kaileena accepts her fate and frees the Prince from the contamination of the Sands.
Though the Prince has saved his kingdom from the Vizier, he is pulled into a mental battle with the Dark Prince inside his own head for control over the Prince's body. After he has argued with and fought the Dark Prince in his mind, Farah shows up and convinces him to ignore his dark self rather than fight him to defeat his darker half. He leaves the Dark Prince and regains consciousness to his new queen, Farah; she then asks him how he knew here name when they first met; he then recites the first lines from the Sands of Time video game, bringing the series "full circle," so to speak.
[edit] Future game
-
In their third quarter (2007-2008) sales document, Ubisoft stated: "The 2008-09 line-up will include notably the following key titles: [...] Prince of Persia".[3] No more information has been released.
The existence of a planned next-gen sequel to the The Sands of Time trilogy was first noted in concept art contained in a leaked RAR file that originated on the Ubisoft servers on 21 September 2006.[4] Two of the unnamed images show a radical Prince, who does not seem to possess the Dagger of Time. On 1 March 2007 oxm.co.uk mentioned that Ubisoft officially announced a new Prince of Persia game for the Xbox 360 and the PS3.[5] On January 23, 2008 screenshots supposedly leaked for a game called Ghosts of the Past, but Ubisoft has not commented on the images.[6]
Ubisoft registered the domain princeofpersiaprodigy.com on April 1, 2008.[7] This has spawned rumors of a brand new Prince of Persia game with the rumour that is was named Prince of Persia: Prodigy and a teaser web site for a new Prince of Persia game has been launched.[8]
On May 8, 2008, Ubisoft released an official video (Developer's Diary) of an concept artist designing the Prince character for the game, officially confirming it as a work in progress. The 1:54 min "speed art" video shows a professional digital art of full bodied new prince to be created on Photoshop with a pen tablet in 20:57 min fast-forward & the Outcome is quite the very similar to the prior Leaked Concept Arts. [9]
The game will feature an art style similar in appearance to cel-shading, and a story similar to Okami's "heal the world" theme.[10]
[edit] Prince of Persia film
-
A Prince of Persia film, loosely based on the The Sands of Time storyline, is being made. The script was written by Jordan Mechner, the creator of the Prince of Persia franchise, and was later revised by Jeff Nachmanoff, Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro, and Carlo Bernard. The script tells a story similar to that of the original Sands of Time, but has been adapted to better fit the medium of film. The film will be directed by Mike Newell and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. Disney is in charge of distribution and owns the film rights for the Prince of Persia IP.[11] A few pieces of concept art from the movie have also been released.[12]
An early script was reportedly reviewed by two individual sites, but the authenticity of this script has not been confirmed, but some may be lead to believe it's authenticity due to the reviewers' knowledge of the lead characters names before they were officially released. It has also been speculated that the film will feature parkour scenes.[13] The film is currently projected to be released August 7, 2009.[14]
The Hollywood insider has confirmed that Jake Gyllanhaal has been cast as Dastan, Prince of Persia. Gemma Arterton, Alfred Molina, Ben Kingsley have also joined as of June 2008.[15][16]
[edit] Character confusion
There is some confusion over the identity of the "new" Prince. Originally, when Jordan Mechner wrote the story for The Sands of Time, it was suggested this trilogy was a prequel to the older Prince of Persia games.[17] After the release of Warrior Within the developers stated they intended the new series to be a separate entity, because its players are unlikely to be familiar with the storyline from the original games.[18] Screenshots and video footage of the remake of the original, Prince of Persia Classic, show the original story with The Sands of Time prince. No official explanation for this has been given.
[edit] Recurring Story Elements
[edit] The Dagger of Time
The exact origin of The Dagger of Time is unknown, however, since the Sands of Time were created on the Island of Time from Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, it's likely the dagger was too, though for unknown reasons; in Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones the vizier reports finding it. It was later stolen from the Island of Time by the Maharajah along with the Sands the Vizier manipulated the Prince into releasing, claiming that there lay a marvel within. When the Sands are released, the dagger prevents the Prince from being mutated by them; according to the manual, only people carrying artifacts of Time are able to avoid being transformed (however several people in the audience room and a guard survive the initial release). The dagger allows the prince to actually kill the sand creatures since they are immune to any other weapons. The Sands of Time is the only instance in the series that requires the Prince to do this, since in Warrior Within they could be killed with normal weapons. This could be due to the fact that the Prince's armor had the "Medallion of Time" inserted into a socket on the chest piece. During the first installment though, both the Prince's sword and the dagger are taken by Farah, believing to be her duty to avenge her father and kingdom: after a short escape sequence and a simple puzzle in order to deactivate an elaborate security system, the Prince recovers the Damascus Sword, a large saber,which can destroy sand monsters in a single blow; even after recovering the Dagger, it is not used anymore. Due to the Sword's blue coloring, is it possible for it to be a water-enchanted weapon, as Sand Creatures are naturally weak against this element, as shown in Warrior Within.
At the end of The Sands of Time the Prince gives the dagger back to the Maharajah's daughter, Princess Farah, telling her to lock it back in the Maharajah's treasure vaults. Throughout the course of Warrior Within, the fate of the dagger is unknown: presumably, in the present it is still secure in India, while in the past it is locked away somewhere on the Island for the Maharajah to find, or had not been created yet. Whatever the case it plays no role in the game. However, it is revealed in the Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones that the Vizier is still alive, since the prince's manipulation of the timelines undid all his actions in Sands of Time. Motivated by dreams he had from the dagger of the Empress's return (presumably when she entered the timestream in the present day), the Vizier kills the Maharajah and steals the dagger for his own. He then uses its powers to become immortal by stabbing himself with the dagger, as he had planned to do in the first game.
By killing Kaileena with the dagger, he recreates the Sands of Time and absorbs them into the dagger (though not before they transform his generals and, partially, the prince himself). He then impales himself through the chest, transferring the sands to his body and rendering himself immortal. During the transformation, however, he drops the dagger and the Prince reclaims it and flees. At the end of the game the Prince uses its powers to kill the Vizier (apparently it was the one thing that could undo his immortality) and then returns the dagger back to the spirit of Kaileena and it is removed from the world to prevent anyone else from using its powers.
The Dagger of Time is a powerful magical weapon. If the dagger is filled with the Sands of Time and then plunged into the heart of its bearer, the bearer will become immortal, reincarnated as Zurvan, the God of Time; The dagger will also allow its owner to control time in a number of different ways, in such ways as rewinding it, slowing it, freezing it, or even creating an explosion.
The Dagger is the only item that can open the hourglass of the Sands of Time and release them, though the sands will need to be stored inside the dagger first. Between Prince of Persia: Sands of Time and Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones the dagger grows longer and changes shape. The reason is not officially known.
[edit] References in other media
In 1992 a famous Russian author Victor Pelevin wrote a short story called "Prince of Central Planning" which shows a Soviet bureaucratic organisation in which everyone plays computer games for all the time (using for this entertainment American computers which were in a very short supply in the Soviet Union in the end of 1980-s). Nobody really works but everyone actually lives in the world of the game he plays in the moment. The protagonist Alexander (or Sasha as this name shortened in Russian) lives in the world of Prince of Persia (i.e. meets red potions, guardians, spikes and blades in streets and subway in his daily life). The story was a heavy satire on Soviet bureaucracy and resembles stories of Philip K. Dick.
The television series How It's Made featured the production process and gameplay footage from Sands of Time in the video games segment of season 3, episode 12.
[edit] References
