Insofar as I could gather last Thursday at Ubisoft’s press demo event, Prince of Persia (2008) represents a reinvigoration of the series as a whole. Gone are the overly dramatic and emotional overtones seen in some of last gen’s Sands trilogy, which polarized some players with their difficulty that ranged somewhere between “tricky” and “hellish.” Instead, this version presents itself as a cleaner, wittier, and instantly accessible game that aims to be enjoyed by all who pick up the controller and spend some time with it,

This newfound emphasis is immediately apparent in the introductory chapter. Instead of returning to your devastated country and watching your beloved pulled away by miscreants (a la Rival Swords), Prince of Persia begins with the Prince in search of his donkey. Seriously. While I’d like to say I’m just being allegorical about the Prince’s quest for ass, he’s actually haphazardly thrust into a partnership with the magical princess Elika while searching for his misplaced donkey carrying a King’s weight in gold.

With the Prince suddenly thrust into an adventure chasing, protecting, and being protected by the beautiful Elika, his story truly begins. As he follows Elika to find out more about what she’s running from, you’re gradually introduced to the new gameplay mechanics. Longtime players shouldn’t worry too much about the core gameplay, as many of the most basic actions remain the same. While running, jumping, and fighting were all about as straightforward as I remembered, the “Y” (or Triangle) button is where changes really start to show

Even though I was only able to control the Prince throughout my time spent with the game, the “Y” button was used to bridge the gap between him and the magical Elika. Instead of relying on simple AI to help you out along the way, you can press the Y button at certain times to receive magical boosts to leap over chasms, get guidance on the correct path to take, and even use her powers of sorcery to aid you in battle. Since she can always lend you a hand and never seems to take any damage or require much help, Elika never got in my way and made a perfect sidekick during my admittedly minimal time with the game.

As the search for my donkey became my quest to aid Elika with her mysterious predicament, I managed to sneak my way into a temple and made my first contact with substantial competition. Enemies in Prince of Persia don’t go down without a fight, but luckily a bit of stealth (and a few combos) help to balance things out. While fighting, I easily hopped over and slashed the enemy by pressing “A”, and used a “gauntlet move” by pressing “B” to pick up enemies and dispatch them quickly. Although regular enemies presented a decent amount of challenge, things were certainly kicked up a notch I finally came in contact with one of The Corrupted.