Prince of Persia gets new sidekick

By Ellie Gibson Published 28 May, 2008

Pretty lady will help him save the world.

Ben Mattes, producer of the next instalment in the Prince of Persia series, has revealed our hero will be assisted throughout his adventures by a beautiful lady

Her name is Elika and she made her debut at the Ubidays conference in Paris this evening. She comes equipped with "revolutionary" AI and a lovely pair of eyes but she's "not just a love interest", according to Mattes. Elika, according to Mattes, is "a supporting character that's going to integrate into every element of gameplay". So she'll help you fight off enemies and pull off acrobatic stunts, and help you find your way when you get lost on your explorations.

"Elika is not going to be a burden," Mattes assured the Ubidays audience. "Players are not going to be dragging their heels and getting frustrated... She's always going to be a positive. Not only is she making the game better but she's not making the game worse, which is of course very important to us."

Of course, Elika's not the only star of the show. The Prince is back - or is he? "Our hero does not start as a prince," Mattes said. "He starts as a wanderer, an adventurer." Apparently our hero is all about earning a bit of cash wherever he can, and spending whatever he's got as soon as he gets it. This "defines his personality", according to Mattes, but as the game progresses he learns "the quest he is facing is literally to save the world, and seeing the evolution of his personality is a really neat thing for us to be able to do".

Mattes was keen to emphasise this is an "all-new Prince of Persia" and "a restart of the franchise". Yes, he continued, our hero still has spectacular acrobatic and combat abilities, and the development team recognises the way POP: Sands of Time "raised the bar" in terms of "innovative gameplay and engaging characters". But this game offers "a new prince, new characters and a new universe for a new gneration of consoles" - so "no more Sands of Time". "It certainly is one of the more controversial decisions we took," Mattes observed, "But I stand by it 100 per cent.

We'll be getting a closer look at the new Prince of Persia tomorrow, so expect more info soon.

Meanwhile, adventure over to our Prince of Persia gallery to see what Elika looks like.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (16) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • clean515 #1 4 years ago

    Big boob space.

  • Razorus #2 4 years ago

    ^Agreed, but still hot.
    As for the game, I'm not too keen on this sidekick thing. She had BETTER not annoy me.

  • YourMessageHere #3 4 years ago

    Not only is she making the game better but she's not making the game worse, which is of course very important to us.

    Spoken like a true marketing superhero. Note to N00bisoft: this shit does not help you to sell games.

  • penhalion #4 4 years ago

    One of the great things about the prince was his ability to go it alone. I have zero interest in having to wait for an ai character to catch up to me or having to rely on an ai character to deliberately help me across a gap that the old POP would have sailed across. No doubt the sidekick is the one you have to get from A to B in order to banish the darkness. No medalion of light, no staff of light, nope it's going to be some sad forced story whereby the sidekick turns out to be the queen of light or some such nonsense.

  • Gremo #5 4 years ago

    ok tahts just going be weird

  • azwipe #6 4 years ago

    you people whine too much. Farah was one of the best parts of POP:SOT

  • hiddenranbir #7 4 years ago

    A female sidekick. I AM SO SHOCKED!

    If she has quality VA like in Sands, I'm chilled. If it's the stupidity of Two Thrones, I'm out.

  • nufcfan123 #8 4 years ago

    My God, it's Natalie Portman

  • Bennicus #9 4 years ago

    Oh dear, and it was all going so well :(

  • sailesh #10 4 years ago

    *generation

    Sounds like a good story, a nice new angle. Am liking it :)

  • MBar #11 4 years ago

    revolutionary AI

    Does this ever actually happen?

    Tenner says you still at points have to run back and rescue her from the chair/pot/wall she can't possibly seem to walk around.

  • robg #12 4 years ago

    Sounds like the prince is straight out of Aladdin :)

  • penhalion #13 4 years ago

    @azwipe

    Did you play POP:SOT? Farah was used to climb through some small holes in a few levels and then open the door for you. When doing this she was never attacked by the sand monsters for some reason. She contributed nothing to gameplay and used her bow to stun a few bosses while you attacked. These were tolerable moments because 90% of the time you simply didn't see her or were allowed to go a different route by yourself to "catch up" to her.

    She was un-obtrusive because she was never in your way either during combat or when puzzling or doing the acrobatic stunts. She would be in the background talking to you or firing the occasonal arrow.

    The new sidekick is integrated into the foreground. She fights with you to pull off combo moves (danger sirens ringing right there!) and mimics your acrobatics as you go through the level. In fact, thinking about it, she almost seems placed for co-op play!

  • CARL05 #14 4 years ago

    I'm really hoping they don't dum it down to make it a child's game!
    I must admit though, at first I wasn't so kean on the new artistic style but in the new screenshots of the gameplay it doesn't look too bad!

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #15 4 years ago

    I think the whole plot is straight out of Aladdin: wandering vagabond "prince", princess (no doubt) in disguise... etc, etc, etc. Not necessarily a bad thing, of course.

    I quite like the co-op idea. But I'm still not sold on the art style: I like stylised cel-shaded sorta things, but this looks a bit too busy, detailed, maybe pitched too old, I dunno. I'd rather it was simpler, even more cartoony.

  • azwipe #16 4 years ago

    @penhalion:

    well, chalk it up to taste perhaps. i thought she added immensely to the atmosphere and story of the game, at least. i enjoyed the banter. also, i remember her shooting arrows at enemies, and occasionally hitting me if i wasn't conscious of positioning.