2024 could be a classic year for gamers, with some of the much-loved franchises producing keenly awaited new titles such as Tekken 8, Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered, and Mario vs Donkey Kong. Yet, for a lot of gamers, it’s the new Prince of Persia games that’s got their pulse racing and has them eagerly checking the calendar.
The Original Games and Franchise
Few games have had such a dramatic and long-lasting impact as 1989’s Prince of Persia, even if the original game produced by Jordan Mechner wasn’t particularly successful. The idea of an adventure in a medieval Arabian setting caught the imagination of Ubisoft, who bought the rights to it and launched a reboot in 2003 titled Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.
Several new games followed this, as it developed quickly into one of the best-selling game franchises of all time. The most recent games have included the mobile efforts Prince of Persia: Escape and Escape 2, which received mixed reviews and were described as basic running games. In truth, many gamers are waiting to finally see a new Prince of Persia game that captures the atmosphere and action of their favourite versions, as there have been some serious letdowns over the year.
The Impact of This Franchise
Some gaming industry experts credit Prince of Persia as being one of the most influential games ever released, hugely successful series such as Tomb Raider and Assassin’s Creed are believed to have been at least partly inspired by these games, with the gameplay and mechanics making their way in many other games.
The influence of the franchise has also led to the Persian theme appearing in other genres. When you look online for online slot games for real money, you’ll find a variety of slots based on an Arabian theme and with characters such as Aladdin and Sinbad adding to the appeal. This is just one of the many themes used to help these gambling games appeal to as wide a range of players as possible.
We must go back to 2010 to find the movie version of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Considered an adaptation of the 2003 game, it had mixed reviews with one of the key criticisms being the way that it leaned too far away from the source material. Despite this, it set a record as the highest-grossing movie based on a video game until the release of Warcraft in 2016.
Its impact doesn’t stop there, as the Prince of Persia name has been added to products from comic books to Lego sets. This helps to show how broad its appeal has been and why there are now so many people looking forward to the new game.
What Do We Know About the Lost Crown
The new Prince of Persia game that’s set to be released in mid-January 2024 is set to be the first major new game in the series since The Forgotten Sands way back in 2010. While several aspects of this game will sound familiar to anyone who has played earlier instalments, it brings a new character called Sargon into the fray as a warrior who needs to rescue Prince Ghassan from Mount Qaf.
Ubisoft calls it a “stylish and thrilling action-adventure platformer game” and points out that the boundaries of time and space can be explored thanks to the various features. Recent reports suggest that a demo video of the new game might have been accidentally released before being deleted.
This video shows a visually stunning backdrop over which Sargon boldly jumps between platforms while fighting some huge and fearsome opponents. We’ll soon find out if the video was real, as a playable demo has been mentioned for January 11 and the full game should be out just a week after that date.
The Lost Crown is to be released in various formats including a PC version and others for the PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X/S. There’s also a Nintendo Switch version and it’ll be added to Amazon Luna.
It’s too early to say if this new Prince of Persia game is going to be another success story for the franchise. We’ve seen in 2023 that games like Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – The Mountain Royals, Resident Evil IV, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, can keep the most popular franchises rolling along nicely and getting new fans by updating the gameplay while keeping many of the elements that people love about the earlier titles.
It’s going to be an exciting wait for fans of Prince of Persia, as they look forward to the first big release in the franchise for more than a decade. However well it’s received, we can expect this legendary game to carry on inspiring other games as well as popping up in other parts of popular culture.