The Rogue Prince of Persia Coming Out for Early Access in May! Bringing Back Classic 2D Gameplay

The Rogue Prince of Persia has been announced as the newest title in the franchise and is set to be released for early access in May.

The upcoming game is the second game in the franchise to be released this year, the first is Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. However, the new title was developed by Dead Cells creator Evil Empire and brings back the classic 2D platformer gameplay of the classic game.

The Rogue Prince of Persia

The new game was first announced at the end of the Triple-I Initiative Showcase on Apr. 10, 2024. The Rogue Prince of Persia released a trailer that showed off a beautifully animated scene before diving into some gameplay footage.

While The Rogue Prince of Persia is a 2D platformer game, it will have Metroidvania and roguelite elements that should feel extremely familiar to players who have tried out Dead Cells.

Those who were able to try out the new game highlighted some similarities between the two franchises, in a good way, according to Kotaku.

The rumors about the existence of The Rogue Prince of Persia first started spreading on Apr. 3, 2024, after a report by Insider Gaming. The recent official announcement of the game did not include a release date and made no mention of what platforms it would be available on.

Despite The Rogue Prince of Persia's similarity with Dead Cells, it swaps the latter's 16-bit sprites for a stylized sheen that looks a little bit cartoonish. The basic structure in both games is that players will explore randomly generated 2D slices of thematically distinct regions.

The new title will let players slaughter their enemies for gold while going on the hunt for the deadliest weapon upgrades that they can get their hands on.

It also features portal gates that can be activated that allow you to quickly travel back and forth around the continuously expanding 2D map.

Some of the first enemies that players will encounter in The Rogue Prince of Persia will also feel similar to those in Dead Cells, such as the bolt-blasting archers and bomb-hurling grenadiers.

Early Access is Coming in May

The game gives players the classic dual-wielded blades that the Prince of Persia franchise is known for but also gives them a chance to use other weapons, such as swords and javelins, said IGN.

However, there are some key differences between the two franchises, including movement. The Rogue Prince of Persia is more acrobatic and features the iconic wall-run mechanic for both horizontal and vertical directions.

This particular mechanic serves two purposes; one is for boosting players to hard-to-reach areas and the second is to scurry over an enemy's head and attack them by surprise from behind.

The developer of the new game, Evil Empire, was created as a means to continue development on Dead Cells while Motion Twin, the original team working on the title, moved on to other projects.

Evil Empire's first official game separate from Motion Twin is The Rogue Prince of Persia and could become an instant fan-favorite with how the first trailer looks, according to Polygon.