The new Prince of Persia

The Prince of Persia

franchise is heading back to its roots, ditching the cel-shaded approach taken in

Prince of Persia

(2008) in favour of the

Sands of Time

storyline. Graeme Jennings, producer of

Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands

, gives us the lowdown on what to expect when the game hits stands later this month.

So why move away from the cel-shaded look you employed with

Prince of Persia

A great thing about the 1001 Arabian Nights setting is that it allows us to tell stories in different settings with different princes, while retaining core elements that fans expect.

Returning to the Sands of Time

storyline is something that we've had in the production pipeline for quite a long timeand we've always wanted to go back to it.

Will we see a sequel to

Prince of Persia

I am currently working on

Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands

, that is my focus and that is all I know of at this time.

Gameplay in

Forgotten Sands

Thanks to the power of the Anvil engine, we are able to do so much more in

Forgotten Sands

than

Sands of Time

, like hold huge epic scale battles with enemies up to 40 feet tall and multi-enemy combat with up to 50 characters on the screen at once! Combat is based on the Prince's agility — he'll be rolling and jumping on the enemies and controlling large mobs. The Prince's acrobatics will be improved and more dynamic as well.

Could you give us the lowdown on the game's new elemental powers?

The powers fall into two areas, navigation and combat. Navigation powers are elemental powers that help the Prince get from point A to point B, such as the ability to solidify water into climbable objects, as well as an air dash that allows the prince to clear large gaps with ease. On the combat side, the Prince will be able to create trails of fire and rock armour to clear out an area of enemies with ease.

We hear that you'll be fighting a lot more enemies at a time now. Will it be a free flow system like Arkham Asylum or have you worked on something from scratch?

Making use of the Anvil engine we were able to create huge battles on the screen. Because of this, the Prince's combat had to become much more fluid and quick, we created a type of combat we like to call crowd control where, as you cut down the number of enemies with the Prince's sword skills, you must always be mindful of others around you without getting overwhelmed.

Will the game bear any similarities to the movie that's coming out?

Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands

is not related to the film other than the Jerry Bruckheimer film being based on the overall universe imagined by Ubisoft. Both the game and the movie share Jordan Mechner's original vision, but are two separate entities. We're excited for the film to come out as we feel it will introduce a new fan base to the franchise.

Will the game have an open world environment?

We wanted fans to focus on the story of

Forgotten Sands

, for this reason there will be no open world environment — the Prince is free to explore the settings, however in the end, he has a clear goal to reach.

What kind of technology will you be using for the game?

We are using the Anvil engine. This engine is great for far views, fast renders, and having tonnes of action without slowing down.