And we also had the help of the other studios as mentoring, regarding the new engine. Before, it was just animated, and so there was no performance capture in that game that I know of," Lowenthal tells Ubisoft's website, "In addition to that, new Farah, Supinder Wraich, was so wonderful to work with, and brought so much of herself, and so much power to the role."Īll of which sounds great, but why was the task handed to the Pune and Mumbai studios? "We've been through a few productions here," Gires says, "And we have some senior members that have been working on different titles from Ubisoft. "Getting to do performance capture this time around was such a gift it was as if we had gotten to rewind time and do it better. Players continue to progress as they combat enemies and master the art of parkour," the Ubisoft release notes state.Įlsewhere, while the original voice of the prince, Yuri Lowenthal, reprises his role as the game's main protagonist (and does the motion capture work for the character - a technology that wasn't utilised in the original), the role of Farah is being essayed by Canadian actor Supinder Wraich. "As with the original, players will embody the heroic Prince alongside the daughter of the Maharaja, Princess Farah as they navigate the palace, battle sword-wielding enemies, manoeuvre trap-filled rooms and ultimately confront the evil Vizier, who controls the Sands of Time. This original versus remake video compilation, based on very early footage from PoP:TSoTR, gives some indication as to the extent of the redevelopment. It’s still a masterpiece, but to reach the new audience, we definitely wanted to include the cameras and the combat." According to Ubisoft, "The new design, made with updated technology for today’s gaming systems, includes new camera angles and fully remade sequences." Gires adds, " terms of content, we wanted to play on the nostalgia, but also we wanted to revisit the three Cs, because the game was a masterpiece. This time around, Ubisoft Pune and Ubisoft Mumbai are reportedly taking a fresh approach to combat, puzzle-solving and rewinding time - the latter formed a key aspect of the original version's narrative and gameplay mechanics.
And while the original game from 17 years ago was built on Ubisoft's own Jade engine (named after the protagonist of Beyond Good and Evil, for which the engine was initially designed), the remake - Ubisoft's first-ever - will run on the Anvil engine that has most notably been used to power the Assassin's Creed series of games.Īccording to game director Pierre-Sylvain Gires, the rationale behind reviving this game "was to please the players that were asking to replay the game for a very long time." Much like 2K Games' upcoming Mafia: Definitive Edition, PoP:TSoTR has been developed from the ground up. On Thursday at its digital press conference ( Ubisoft Forward), Ubisoft announced Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake (PoP:TSoTR) - a reworking of the game originally released in 2003.