Ubisoft‘s Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake was meant to release in early 2021, sometime in January. In a recent post – that went somewhat under the radar – on the game’s Czech Facebook page, the title has apparently been delayed until at least 18th March 2021.
Stating 2020’s work-from-home dilemma as the main cause and factor, the remake of this Prince of Persia classic is yet another game that has fallen foul to what has been a terrible year for game delays and production.
After leaks throughout 2020, the game was officially revealed in September with the details that this was a proper “remake”, not just an optimization for modern consoles and PC.
The game has been updated to run on the Assassin Creed engine, with new assets, mo-cap for the actors, and new voice-lines all coming together to recreate the game. As AC is pretty much the spiritual successor to the PoP franchise, it’s nice to see the classic be remade with the modern engine.
If everything goes well, this will be the first Prince of Persia game to see the light of day since Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, way back in 2010. I’m not including the mobile game that came out two years ago, just doesn’t seem right.
However, even before this delay, the trailer for the remake of Sands of Time received pretty mixed feedback. The graphics don’t exactly look great, and Ubisoft doesn’t have the best record when it comes to rejuvenating old titles.
It will run on a PS4 or Xbox One, as was originally intended, with the option to play the game on the next-gen consoles. With the graphics look as wonky as they do – a bit like a Nintendo Wii game – I can’t see this being a massive hit on next-gen.
It’s rather a bit of nostalgic fun, an update to what is one of the most critically-acclaimed action-adventure platformers from the PS2 era. For those who played the game when it released (the horrifying realization that it came out in 2003, 17 years ago) there’ll be plenty of goosebumps moments.
Will the remake be good enough to warrant a playthrough for a new generation? Well, you’ll have to wait until March 18th, 2021, as the studio faces a delay.
