Prince of Persia: Epilogue • Eurogamer.net

"Women flipped" during test screenings.

Uberproducer Jerry Bruckheimer has said the new Prince of Persia film is a hit with test audiences.

See Jake and Gemma go at it. So to speak.

A new trailer for the Prince of Persia movie has appeared on YouTube.

It shows the eponymous hero, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, running, jumping and generally swishing his sword about. He's got an English accent, by the sounds of things.

Also featured are Gemma Arterton, who plays sidekick Tamina, and Ben Kingsley, who must be a baddie judging by that beard.

Prince of Persia: Epilogue

Ormazd try harder.

On the surface, this optional final chapter for Prince of Persia seems to offer most of what people expect from DLC. It extends the gameplay by a couple of hours, its price (800 MSP on Live, eight quid on PSN) fits snugly into the "Hmm, go on then" impulse purchase bracket, and it enables fans to do a little bit more of what they enjoyed. Scratch the surface, however, and you realise that, actually, Epilogue manages to miss the good points of its parent game and instead focuses to detrimental effect on the clumsier aspects of the original experience.

The story picks up immediately after the rather effective conclusion to the game, so those still wall-running their way through the Prince's adventure should probably be wary of spoilers. Gone? Good.

So, the Prince has revived Elika, but released the dark god Ahriman in the process. This is pretty annoying, given that you just spent the span of the entire game trying to imprison him, but the cliffhanger would be easier to swallow if this DLC gave some weight to the Prince's selfish choice. Sadly, it's not to be. Oh, Elika is in a right huff with him - and rightly so - but the story doesn't go to much effort to disguise the fact that Ahriman's release was brought about by practical necessity rather than narrative coherence. Games need baddies, and if that means undoing everything you've worked for then so be it.