‘Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time’ Developers Talk Visuals After Negative Reviews

After months of speculations, rumors and leaks, Ubisoft finally revealed a full-on remake of the original Prince of Persia: Sands of Time at its Ubisoft Forward presentation. While many were excited to get a new game in the series, the online reaction hasn’t been so ecstatic after the reveal. Many fans were quick to criticize the visuals of the remake as outdated by today’s standards, especially with the game’s character models.  In an interview with The Mako Reactor, Game Director Pierre Sylvain-Gires discussed the new visuals for the upcoming title.

“If you take the game that was made 17 years ago, there’s definitely room for improvement in terms of graphism, and we really wanted to give a unique look to the game because Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is actually is a fantasy story. The narration, the 40 different levels you have to go through to finish the game are an immersion into the Thief of Baghdad and all these magical environments. So we decided to go for a unique visual treatment to make this game stand out from other games. It’s not another Assassin’s Creed; it’s not like the same Prince of Persia from 2008. It has to be unique. This magic, this fantasy is shown through the saturation, through the light, so it also a challenge to redefine the visual identity of the game with this remake.”

When asked if the budget had any impact on the game’s visuals, Deputy Managing Director Syed Abbas said that wasn’t the case. “For us at Ubisoft, quality is of the utmost importance, and this is something that we have kept in mind from the start,” he said. “The project has been in development for the last two and a half years. We have had at peak 170 members working on this project and not to mention other investments in infrastructure and set up to make a modern game. No, there have not been any cutback in budget or timeline for the game.”

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake will release on January 21, 2021, for PS4, Xbox One and PC.