Led by the all-star team that created the previous Prince of Persia Sands of Time trilogy, Prince of Persia has been in development for over three years. The video game opens an entirely new chapter in the Prince of Persia universe in addition to introducing a fresh Illustrative art style, evolved combat system, open world structure and dynamic AI – most notably in the form of the Prince's powerful ally Elika. Ubisoft will also release a Prince of Persia game specifically designed for the NDS, featuring an entirely new storyline and additional characters.

Set in a land rooted in ancient Persian mythology, the Prince finds himself caught in an epic battle between the primal forces of light and darkness: the God of Light, Ormazd versus his brother Ahriman, the destructive God of Darkness. The Prince arrives just in time to witness the destruction of the legendary Tree of Life, an act which threatens to plunge the entire world into eternal darkness. Manifested in the form of the Corruption, a dark substance that physically contaminates the land and the skies, the Prince must partner with Elika, a deadly companion, to heal the world from the evil Corruption.

The new Prince of Persia score features eastern ethnic instrumentation blended with a cinematic orchestral approach, combined with a different musical treatment for each of the game’s four lands. Lead composer Inon Zur contributes dramatic and majestic orchestral music performed by the Northwest Sinfonia and recorded with Arabic flutes and duduk. Zur’s compositions, which include the Main Theme, capture the complex emotional evolution of the characters as well as immersing players during gameplay and in select locations.

Stuart Chatwood, a member of the renowned Canadian rock band The Tea Party, brings his distinct rhythmic style and unique palette of world music instruments that draws upon the cultural sounds of Persia. In addition to augmenting world music library sounds and mixing his own recordings of multiple instruments from his travels worldwide, including Santoors, Sarods, Sitar, Zournas, and Tamboura, Chatwood performs ethnic instruments such as the Oud, Zourna and snake charmer flutes. The intricately layered music mechanism playing musical variations by both composers enhances the gameplay in such a way that is totally adaptive and embraces the gamer’s performance, as if the composers were scoring in real-time, following the player’s action.

Link your Ubisoft.com account to your Xbox Live or PlayStation Network account, and you will gain access to the skin of Altair from Assassin’s Creed. Continue your exploration of the fantastic places of ancient Persia clad in the white and red of Altair’s ancient order.

“Prince of Persia is an incredible experience. We’re thrilled to give our loyal fans another way to journey through it,” said Ben Mattes, producer for Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia video game. “This exclusive reward is a ‘thank you’ to our fans, who can easily unlock it when they link their Ubisoft.com accounts to their Xbox 360 or PS3 gamer identities.”

Game features include:

• Master the acrobatics, strategy and fighting tactics of the most agile warrior of all time. Grip fall down the face of a building, perform perfectly timed acrobatic combinations, swing over canyons, buildings and anything that is reachable. This new rogue warrior must utilize all of his new skills along with a whole new combat system to battle Ahriman's corrupted lieutenants to heal the land from the dark Corruption and restore the light.
• Escape to experience the new fantasy world of ancient Persia. Masterful storytelling and sprawling environments will deliver to action-adventure fans an experience that rivals even the best Hollywood movies.
• A first for the Prince of Persia franchise ? now you have the freedom to determine how the game evolves in this non-linear adventure. Players will decide how they unfold the storyline by choosing their path in the open-ended world.
• History's greatest ally is revealed in the form of Elika, a dynamic AI companion who joins the Prince in his fight to save the world. Gifted with magical powers, she interacts with the player in combat, acrobatics and puzzle-solving enabling the Prince to reach new heights of deadly high-flying artistry through special duo acrobatic moves or devastating fighting combo attacks.
• The franchise's debut on next-generation consoles utilizes Ubisoft's proprietary Anvil engine, the same engine used to develop Assassins Creed.

Minimum System Requirements

• Supported OS: Windows XP/Windows Vista
• Processor: Dual core processor 2.6 GHz Intel Pentium D or AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ or better recommended)
• RAM: 1 GB Windows XP/2 GB Windows Vista
• Video Card: 256 MB DirectX 10.0-compliant video card or DirectX 9.0-compliant card with Shader Model 3.0 or higher (ATI RADEON X1600/1650-1950/HD 2000/3000 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6800/7/8/9 series)
• Sound Card: DirectX 9.0 or 10.0-compliant sound card (5.1 sound card recommended)
• DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0 or 10.0 libraries (included on disc)
• DVD-ROM: DVD-ROM dual-layer drive
• Hard Drive Space: 8 GB
• Peripherals Supported: Keyboard, mouse, optional controller (Xbox 360 Controller for Windows recommended)

Prince of Persia will ship in North America on Dec. 2, 2008 (Dec.5 in Europe) for the X360, PS3 and PC, simultaneously with the NDS exclusive Prince of Persia: The Fallen King.