Prince of Persia : The Forgotten Sands will be on the shelves in May 2010 and Ubisoft are setting the launch gears in motion with a teaser trailer above and some of the first concrete details about the game.

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is the next chapter in the Sands of Time universe. Visiting his brother’s kingdom following his adventure in Azad, the Prince finds the royal palace under siege from an army bent on its destruction. When the decision is made to use the ancient power of the Sand in a desperate gamble to save the kingdom from total annihilation, the Prince will embark on an epic adventure in which he will learn to bear the mantle of true leadership, and discover that great power often comes with a great cost. Game features will include:

• Classic Gameplay Reinvented: From huge-scale multi-enemy combat to dizzying feats of acrobatic prowess in gigantic environments enhanced by the Prince’s ability to control nature and time, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands will push the Prince’s prodigious abilities to unseen levels.
• A Blockbuster Experience: Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands will offer players unforgettable set pieces made possible by the advanced technology offered by the award-winning Anvil engine. With all-out war at the gates of the kingdom, the Prince’s abilities will be challenged like never before through the course of epic wow moments.
• Mastery Over Nature: Wielding powers of nature and time, the Prince will have unparalleled mastery over his environment and his enemies. The Prince will discover that harnessing the forces of nature itself will prove to be a devastating companion to his ability to rewind time.
• Return of a Fan-Favourite Franchise: Set between Prince of Persia The Sands of Time and Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands will provide fans a new chapter in the Prince of Persia universe and deepen their understanding of the Sands of Time series.

The versions for Wii, DSi/DS and PSP will feature a different gaming experience from the versions for Xbox 360 and PlayStation®3 system, but details of this are not yet released.

Prince of Persia – The Forgotten Sands Q&A with Graeme Jennings (Producer)

1.Why are you going back to the Sands of Time storyline?

The Sands of Time universe is one that’s a real favorite of the developers at Ubisoft, as well as fans. A great thing about the Prince of Persia series is that it allows us to tell stories in many different settings, with different Princes, while always retaining some core elements that fans expect. Returning to this series is something that we’ve had in the production for quite a long time now, and we can’t wait for everyone to get a look at what we have coming up.

2.Is there any link between The Forgotten Sands and the upcoming movie?

The Forgotten Sands is not related to the film in any way, other than being based within the same overall universe from our own Sands of Time game series. The Prince from The Forgotten Sands is the same one that players controlled in Sands of Time, Warrior Within and The Two Thrones, and its story is unrelated to the film. We are very happy that the movie will expose so many people to the universe that we love so much, and very happy at the amount of talent involved with it!

3.Where does The Forgotten Sands fit within the Sands of Time timeline?

The Forgotten Sands takes place in the span of time between the original Sands of Time and Warrior Within, soon after the Prince’s adventure in Azad.

4.What is the story for The Forgotten Sands?

Following his adventure in Azad, the Prince journeys to visit his brother, whose kingdom is under siege from an invading army. In defense of his people and kingdom, the Prince’s brother is prepared to go to any lengths necessary. Through his brother’s example and his own adventures, he will learn that the mantle of leadership comes at a severe price.

5.Can you tell us about some of the powers the Prince will have?

The Prince will acquire powers that I can only refer to as mastery over nature. What that exactly means is not something I can talk about at the moment, but I think it will be extremely exciting to fans when we reveal it in more detail. 

6.How would you describe the visual style in Forgotten Sands?

We are going for what we call Arabian Nights-inspired realism, in keeping with the other Sands of Time games. We have some very powerful technology at our disposal, which allows us to bring set pieces and memorable moments to life that would not have been possible before.

7.Can you explain what the combat will be like in the game?

Given that we’re designing the game with the Anvil engine, we have a tremendous advantage with the amount of NPCs we are capable of displaying on screen at once. The scale of the battles that you’re going to take be involved in when playing The Forgotten Sands are on a level that have not been seen in the series so far. Also, as was teased in our first trailer, we have some encounters in the game that will pit the Prince against the largest enemies he has ever come across, which we will be showing in more detail later on.