Prince of Persia Epilogue DLC Revealed
Ubisoft cranks up the difficulty as it expands the Prince's world.
January 28, 2009 - Prince of Persia was one of the last games to hit store shelves in '08. Now it becomes among the first to release major downloadable content in '09. The Prince of Persia Epilogue DLC comes to PS3 and Xbox 360 on February 26. Pricing has yet to be announced. What we do know is that the new POP continues the story of the retail game, ups the difficulty, adds a new power for Elika and attack for the Prince, reveals a brand new location, and includes two unlockable skins that become available after completing the Epilogue. It's a significant update.
IGN spoke with Jamal Rguigui, Associate Producer for the Epilogue DLC, about the upcoming expansion. We learned a great deal about the adjustments being made to Prince of Persia to add some challenge, Elika's new "Energize" power, and learn about the return of someone we all thought was dead.
IGN: First off, a lot of folks will wonder why this wasn't included in the full game. Do you have a response to ease gamer concerns?
Jamal Rguigui: The team decided to go on ahead full throttle with some cool ideas that the team had during and post-production and developed a unique DLC that would enhance the experience for Prince of Persia fans. We have a lot of ambitions for the DLC and we are filtering all the feedback from the industry and the community of gamers. Players can expect to have a specific experience that will give them more content with superior difficulty and pace. This is one of the most ambitious DLC projects from Ubisoft, and it adds to the understanding of PoP's new world and characters.
IGN: How does the story connect with the retail game?
Rguigui: The story is directly set after the events of the retail game.
IGN: Can you give us a little bit on the story and how much it adds to the original game?
Rguigui: Without spoiling the end of the game to those who haven't completed it, the DLC will develop the relationship between the Prince and Elika following the end of the game and will give additional narrative elements. Also, players will discover the immense and once glorious Underground Palace which is now corrupted and where danger awaits every corner.
![[IMG]](http://xboxlivemedia.ign.com/xboxlive/image/article/948/948893/prince-of-persia-epilogue-tba-20090128035819937-000.jpg)
IGN: How do I access the new content? Do I have to have finished POP in order to play the DLC?
Rguigui: The content will be downloadable via XBL and PSN. It is not necessary to have finished the Prince of Persia game to play the DLC.
IGN: There are four powers in the retail game, all of which are travel based. Is this the same for the new power? How does it work?
Rguigui: Elika's new power "Energize" is a travel based power that adds a timing challenge. This power allows Elika for a short period of time to materialize an area of the environment that was previously destroyed. Therefore, the Prince and Elika will be able to access areas previously impossible to reach without this power.
IGN: Explain the new enemy we will have in the DLC.
Rguigui: The Shapeshifter is an enemy that takes the form of two of Ahriman's most fearsome Lieutenants, the Warrior and the Hunter. Though their physical form is familiar to our heroes and the player, it will requires a particular strategy to defeat the Shapeshifter, rewarding the player that takes advantage of the new sprint feature exclusive to the Epilogue.
IGN: What's the new attack being added and how does that affect the combo strings in POP?
Rguigui: Since we wanted everything to feel more intense, we added the "Sprinting Clash" making both the Prince and his foes more dangerous. When at a distance from the enemy, the player can mash the Acrobatic button to sprint. This leads to an opportunity for the player to "stun" the attacker and therefore take the offensive. These make for even more intense combat sequences and with a little creativity, the player can create some rather memorable moments in duels. Honestly, it's a pretty cool move and can really change the dynamics for combat!
IGN: Has the fight system changed in any other way?
Rguigui: All the Enemies are more aggressive in the epilogue. For example, they won't hold back from attacking when the Prince fails to block an attack. But most notably, the enemies all have the new ability to sprint, making them dangerous even at a distance. [Elika's father], the Mourning King, is now even more powerful. Since his powers are constantly growing, the Prince will not be able to defeat him on his own. This forces the player to adopt a new fight strategy. Thanks to her abilities inherited by Ormazd, Elika attacks can temporarily "weaken" the Mourning King and make him vulnerable to the Prince's attacks. Team work is key!
IGN: How are traps being improved for the DLC?
Rguigui: The trap challenge is based on understanding the pattern of an amount of set traps and the proper timing to go through them safely. The number of traps set and the timing between each other affects the right time that player needs to leap through them. For the main game, players could check the timing of the first and second trap of the pattern and most of the time, successfully go through the sequence. Now in the DLC, the number of traps for one sequence will be higher and players will need to look at the third, fourth, and further traps to understand the pattern and find the right timing. There will be more thinking involved to succeed a sequence of acrobatics, and there will be traps in almost every acrobatic sequence.
IGN: How are you adapting the DLC to player reaction to the retail game?
Rguigui: Expect everything to be at a higher pace and to keep you on the edge of your seat. Figuring out how to succeed passing this long acrobatic sequence mined with traps or how to defeat this boss before he regenerates his energy will definitely be more intense. What hardcore Prince of Persia gamers want is a challenge and some of them found the game too easy. We understand this. Seeing such feedback, our vision and intentions with the DLC coincided with their comments quite well. We wanted to build a challenge and experience even greater with all the tools at our disposal, and let me say that there are a lot: Elika's power, traps, combat system, etc.
![[IMG]](http://xboxlivemedia.ign.com/xboxlive/image/article/948/948893/prince-of-persia-epilogue-tba-20090128035816140-000.jpg)
IGN: Will these updates also affect the retail game as well?
Rguigui: The DLC is an experience that was intended for the fans of Prince of Persia, and particularly to the core gamers who wants an extensive experience with new top challenges. The core gamers will definitely be the ones who will benefit the most out of it. The DLC doesn't affect the retail game.
IGN: One thing that helped POP stand out was its visual look. What can we expect, visually, from this new area?
Rguigui: We kept the "illustrative" art style within the new area -- the Underground Palace -- which is entirely corrupted. Corruption in all of its form definitely gets more invasive and adds to the acrobatic experience in the areas. The new area takes place mostly in huge various rooms. It is reminiscent of the mine of the Moria. It reflects a really dark ambiance and claustrophobic feelings.
IGN: Is there going to be as much history and available optional dialogue for this new locale as there was in the other lands in POP?
Rguigui: Definitely! Let me assure you that there will be a lot of up and down moments in the DLC and the story and character development will reach new climax.
IGN: Are there new Achievements/Trophies?
Rguigui: Yes.
IGN: Does the new DLC complete this arc of the Prince of Persia storyline or is there potential for more bonus content in the future?
Rguigui: Nothing has been announced yet.
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