The bad news continues for Ubisoft's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake. Originally announced in 2020, news has been quiet for the last few years, aside from various delays, culminating in the announcement last year that all pre-orders would be refunded, but the project was still not cancelled. During this period, development also shifted to Ubisoft Montreal, the studio that developed the original Sands of Time in 2003.

We've now heard our first update from Ubisoft Montreal since they took over development, and it looks like fans will still have to wait some time. In a recent news update from Ubisoft, producer Jean-Francois Naud says the game is still in the "conception" phase. "Now, we're building up the team, defining the priorities, putting prototypes together, testing elements, and looking at how we can include community feedback in the development as well," said Naud. "It’s still in an early stage, and players should not expect to hear more about the game this year, but rest assured that we’re all putting our strengths and heart into this project."

The original announcement trailer in 2020 received largely negative feedback, with most commenters attacking the outdated graphics, but Ubisoft Montreal has set their sights higher than simply increasing the graphical fidelity. Game Director Michael McIntyre emphasizes that this is not simply a remaster but a full remake, and that they've been trying to rebuild everything - from the movement and combat to the story - to meet modern expectations, not believing that gamers would accept a simple "polished version" of the original.

One of the gameplay cornerstones of the original game is how the Prince moves around. And yes, there is technology that lets us execute that better—but there are also expectations from players, in terms of other modern games, of what it means to actually control a character. Ubisoft Montreal has developed a strong expertise in that, and we are looking at how we take those lessons and apply them to the spirit of a game like Prince of Persia. That kind of thing is more than just technology; it really is us as game makers having evolved, and understanding that for players, simply picking up a polished version of the original would not meet their expectations.

That refinement is actually kind of across the board. I think part of remake-versus-remaster is that there really is some degree of refinement in every aspect. The movement is a big one for us, but combat will get a similar treatment, because of how movement is evolving. And when we as a team look at some of the things that need to be refined, even the story—the story will remain true to itself. But the way it's delivered, we have new ways that stories have been told in games over the past 20 years, and it allows us to be a bit more nuanced and refined in the way we execute the story.

Source

 

[ZeroFX]

Just cancel it already, the original is perfectly playable.

 

[CoolMe]

Just cancel it already, the original is perfectly playable.

Actually, no, while the platforming and jumping around is still serviceable, the combat isn't, in fact it's pretty awful. If you fought against the sand king you'd know exactly what i'm talking about.

 

[LightBeam]

Man, I wish so hard for a PoP come back. I know for a fact that another game is coming up ..... But if they're struggling so so hard on making this PoP I'm afraid it'll just fall flat ....

 

[pedro702]

So they still are in the first day of the game lol they scrapped everything :S i guess POP will join Beyond good and evil 2 as it will be vaporware for years, who knows what happened to that too.

 

[Loonelywolf]

Well,another company going bonkers.Just stop the anual release of the franchises and focus on one single game.They really just whant the cash.

 

[ZeroFX]

Actually, no, while the platforming and jumping around is still serviceable, the combat isn't, in fact it's pretty awful. If you fought against the sand king you'd know exactly what i'm talking about.

Skill issue, it's just a bit clunky but you get it with time, i re-played it not long ago, less than 2y.

 

[Harsky]

So the XIII remaster is okay to be pushed onto the public but PoP remake is when Ubisoft realises that cheap outsourcing isn't always the answer.

 

[CoolMe]

Skill issue, it's just a bit clunky but you get it with time, i re-played it not long ago, less than 2y.

Definitely not a skill issue. Also replayed it recently (last month), did what i could against the aforementioned sand king, called quit after 3 tries. I have no tolerance for games that waste (or tries to) my time (with all the re-tries). And i consider myself to be atleast above average in video games, so if i had trouble with it could a casual get through it (or the tolerance to)? Or even get to that point in the game? Don't think so.

 

[Ghassen-ga]

Skill issue, it's just a bit clunky but you get it with time, i re-played it not long ago, less than 2y.

lmao bro ,you just called it "CLUNKY" and yet you're still arguing against a remake.

 

[nashismo]

I love how Capcom is somehow kicking all these guys butts! Showing them how truly a remake is made, not only updating the graphics, but also keeping the spirit of the original game. And the "spirit" is what Ubisoft is lacking. You just cannot buy SOUL, well unless you are playing Dark Souls

But honestly, these big companies are so out of touch with actually making great games, they have distanced so much with what makes a game truly good! All because of simps and sheep who will buy their Assassin games over and over again, I mean come on, those games are more casual than casual by now, even the Fifa's make more sense than those.

 

[ZeroFX]

lmao bro ,you just called it "CLUNKY" and yet you're still arguing against a remake.

Weak bait.

Definitely not a skill issue. Also replayed it recently (last month), did what i could against the aforementioned sand king, called quit after 3 tries. I have no tolerance for games that waste (or tries to) my time (with all the re-tries). And i consider myself to be atleast above average in video games, so if i had trouble with it could a casual get through it (or the tolerance to)? Or even get to that point in the game? Don't think so.

Again, skill issue most likely. I had no problem with the controllers or the combat

If a company is so failed it is struggling so much to even start a remake project, just cancel it and go focus on the new entries for other games, the game will always be there to be played. There's my point and that's it.

 

[lolcatzuru]

i forgot this was a thing.

 

[Flame]

i forgot this was a thing.

Well, it seems the people who were supposed to be making forgot too.

 

[nashismo]

Weak bait.

Again, skill issue most likely. I had no problem with the controllers or the combat

If a company is so failed it is struggling so much to even start a remake project, just cancel it and go focus on the new entries for other games, the game will always be there to be played. There's my point and that's it.

I agree, and I actually find Prince of Persia TSOT way too easy, so what can I say. Maybe is some gamers today have been riding their tricycles too much? hahahha I mean it makes sense, you play any Uncharted game or what not today, and is just press X to win, no sense of ability, you cannot fall of ledges, etc, etc, etc.

 

[The Catboy]

Prince of Persia forever

 

[pustal]

 

[KingVamp]

Maybe don't try to piecemeal and actually have the skins in the game this time.

Anyway, I think the environment is fine and I think giving some monsters more of a sand theme like the bugs was a good idea, but the models themselves was questionable. Especially the expressions.

 

[mrdude]

View attachment 373942

I suggest that you eat more meat, vegan diets aren't good for you.

 

[PZT]

Isn't the original game considered to be great? Didn't Crash and Spyro sell millions of units just being polished versions of the originals
They've been wagging the bone for too long, either play fetch or go away
Literally all you have to do is remake the game design 1:1 and maybe throw some raytracing in to get fancy, or is that too "niche" for people
Interested in playing that apparently feature-complete canceled version some people stumbled upon