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Man, they really are going really dark with the POP 2 setting

Video on POP 2 art direction

The prince is cursed, he knows he'll die.

Art wise, I gotta say, we have some talented people. Nice art overall.... but there's way too much freaks running aroung the office. Lots of goths, punks... sometimes it feels Ubi's runnin a freak show.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Travado said:
POP 2 = Jak 2 = Frustation/Disappointment

Now THAT'S not true...

I really didn't care for Jak & Daxter at all. It was an ultra generic, extremely easy platformer. Jak 2 at least presented some difficult and enjoyable challenges despite the flaws.
 

MetatronM

Unconfirmed Member
6.8 said:
If they open up PoP's gameplay a bit for PoP2, I will be happy.
If by "open up" you mean "cut acrobatic platforming gameplay in favor of more endless bad guy fighting," then yes, that's exactly what they're doing.
 

6.8

Member
No, that's not what I meant. I meant making it less linear, and keep whatever was good about the first one.
 
Keio said:
It is wonderful that developers have realized what maturity really is: teen angst.

these guys are blathering idiots. They're taking something so wonderful (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time) and totally fucking it up with all this angst bullshit. Jordan Mechner's not writing the story, the guy they have is going to fuck it up so bad, and the sad thing is that it'll probably sell more than the first did.
 

epmode

Member
StrikerObi said:
these guys are blathering idiots. They're taking something so wonderful (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time) and totally fucking it up with all this angst bullshit. Jordan Mechner's not writing the story, the guy they have is going to fuck it up so bad, and the sad thing is that it'll probably sell more than the first did.
yawn. wait till it's released. ubisoft has been kicking ass recently, and i've learned to always give them the benefit of the doubt.
 

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
You know, I liked the art style till I saw the video. Now I don't know if they are trying to evolve Prince of Persia to a next level or if it is just a guy wanking off over his Wacom while listening to Linkin Park.

I really hope they don't fuck up the license.
 
StrikerObi said:
these guys are blathering idiots. They're taking something so wonderful (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time) and totally fucking it up with all this angst bullshit. Jordan Mechner's not writing the story, the guy they have is going to fuck it up so bad, and the sad thing is that it'll probably sell more than the first did.

Yeah if they had kept it, you would have probably come out and say: "OMG, LOOK IT'S DA REHARSH, CONTINUE THE MILKING UBI".


The only thing I really hate about Ubi Montreal is their Art department... well their lead. They got great style and everything.... But they just go in the wrong directions.
 

human5892

Queen of Denmark
StrikerObi said:
and the sad thing is that it'll probably sell more than the first did.

Of course it will. Can you really blame Ubi Soft for changing it up so that it has less of a chance of bombing like the first one did?

If they can keep the gameplay intact while making the game a little more likely to make them a little money, I say more power to them. Yes, it sucks that that's how the industry is these days, but TEH MATURE sells and I'm not going to hold it against a company for realizing that, as long as the gameplay holds up.

Of course, if you're Nintendo you'll find a way to sell your games without this quality (usually with a proven franchise/brand name), but not everyone can do that. ;)
 
Jordan Mechner's not writing the story, the guy they have is going to fuck it up so bad, and the sad thing is that it'll probably sell more than the first did.

Mechner didn't do shit in the first PoP. All he did was go at Ubi Montreal 2-3 times, looking at the current build, and say : "I like, I don't like."
 

Keio

For a Finer World
All he did was go at Ubi Montreal 2-3 times, looking at the current build, and say : "I like, I don't like."

And it might help if he went again and looked at the grey/grown/dark green palette and said: "I don't like".

I'm really looking forward to the game. I'm just disappointed that they blame a perfectly good art style for bad sales when the real problems were in bad release timing and marketing failures...
 
Keio said:
And it might help if he went again and looked at the grey/grown/dark green palette and said: "I don't like".

I'm really looking forward to the game. I'm just disappointed that they blame a perfectly good art style for bad sales when the real problems were in bad release timing and marketing failures...

I'm not saying I like PoP2 artstyle :p I'm just tired of people saying : "Mechner did this, Mechner did that." Mechner actually did Prince of Persia 3D GUYS. :p
 

silenttwn

Member
human5892 said:
Of course, if you're Nintendo you'll find a way to sell your games without this quality (usually with a proven franchise/brand name), but not everyone can do that. ;)

Yeah, you know, considering this game has nothing to do with Nintendo at all, why not take a shot at them for the hell of it.
 

human5892

Queen of Denmark
silenttwn said:
Yeah, you know, considering this game has nothing to do with Nintendo at all, why not take a shot at them for the hell of it.
It wasn't a shot at Nintendo, but rather a statement of the obvious. If you absolutely insist on getting bias out of it, it could actually be construed as a compliment.

I find that I'm actually one of the more ardent supporters/defenders of Nintendo around here, Junior.
 

Laurent

Member
WTF?! What's with the Todd McFarlane wannabee?!

«Ce serait cool si le Prince était un pofin... avec mon tatoo sur le bras!»
 

----

Banned
Wow that was perhaps the 2nd lamest video I have ever seen.

That wasn't Linkin Park though you losers. That was Godsmack. Linkin Park is a good band I don't understand the hate.

If you had realized the music was from Godsmack you'd realize how lame this actually is. They're using the song "I Stand Alone" which was the theme song from the Scorpion King. In otherwords POP2 is a lameass game getting inspiration from a shitty Rock movie and is even stealing it's theme song. I can't believe that loser is showing off his tattoo in that video.

I wouldn't be against a game using a Linkin Park soundtrack though. This game is totally lame, so don't attach anything related to Linkin Park to it. Thank you.
 

Gattsu25

Banned
wait...so the guy mentions that one of the best aspects of PoP:SoT was its great artistic style and then goes off to show this generic shit which flies in the exact opposite direction that the original did??

he specifically mentions going for a 'more mature' style and embracing a monochromatic color scheme? wtf?

"First, we had to give the prince a new charisma, an attitude corrisponding to his new combat abilities" while they're zooming in on the prince having the same tribal tattoo as the artistic director...maybe if this fucker concentrated on making a game that stayed true to it's original, or at the very least, try not to spit in the face of all the fans while trying to put his lardass into the game as a slimmer and 'more mature' avatar...fuck



one last thing:


GODSMACK FUCKING SUCKS
 

Prospero

Member
So I was just looking around Ubisoft's webpage and came across this list of "features" of Prince of Persia 2, which reminded me that I haven't bitched about this game for a while.

Key Features

The Game of the Year Returns: Prince of Persia 2 is the highly anticipated sequel to the universally acclaimed Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the undisputed Console Game of the Year for 2003.

A Warrior Reborn: The Prince has matured immeasurably since his courageous fight in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. He returns here with deadlier skills, a darker heart and a craving for battle.

Free-Form Fighting System: An intricate new combat system lets you wage battles with no boundaries. Manipulate the environment and the enemies themselves to develop your own unique fighting style. Plus, an all-new projectile attack system allows for a variety of ranged combat tactics.

A Violent Underworld Revealed: Explore and conquer a cursed island underworld, breeding ground for the most brutal, unrelenting monsters to torment mankind.

Control the Ravages of Time: Ravage enemies with the devastating new combative powers of the Sands of Time, opening up astounding variations in fighting gameplay.

Fight Harder, Play Longer: Hours upon hours of action await in your fight for survival, including various bonus incentives for those who finish the game.

Ranged combat?? And this "hours upon hours of action" remark just screams "artificial timesink" to me.

I didn't want to believe it, but it looks more and more like POP 2 is going to play like a 3D version of Final Fight.
 
Hopefully, there is far more to the game than just what is being shown. The previous game was so good that I will assume that the second will satisfy.

I agree that it did not need a style change and , if anything, needed less fighting, particularly, some ofthe fights just had too many waves of enemies.

If the fighting is streamlined and faster, it may not be much of an anoyyance. I do expect that it will retain a goodly number of puzzles, but those would not make nearly as exciting a video.
 

drohne

hyperbolically metafictive
i don't know how much consolation it is, but if you recall, the advertising footage of pop1 was almost all combat as well. perhaps ubi are just foregrounding combat in pop2's marketing, but there's actually plenty of the puzzling and platforming that made the first one great? i can hope, anyway.
 
Ubi of Montreal = DISSED


Who the phuck hired that fat phucker?

Jesus, only in Quebec would they see a punkass, complete with wannabe mohawk, peircings, shitty clothes, gay-ass tatoo and buttrock in the background, as being 'cool' and 'artistic.' This guy has as much innovative and original ideas as the music he listens to.

I'm gonna have to take a step with concervative america and say that this shit does not and will never roll in american developing houses such as iD, Retro, and even SK where they hire the right people for the job, pride-filled NERDS. Not wannabe punks; "LETS MAKE IT TEH MATURE."

Ideas like "LETS MAKE HIM CURSED!!" is as shitty and cliche as they come. I didn't like Prince of Persia's story THAT much, but it definitively had it's moments and kept that light-hearted videogame theme with the Prince talking to himself and hitting on the chick (with some good script, the one thing japanese developers can't do).
But who needs that when you can go 180 and make him into a self-proclaimed "badass."
This cheapens the main prostitut...err, protagonist. I think I'd be crying myself to sleep if I was Jordan Mechner. Hell even rockstar knows how to design a main character with their GTA series. You think anyone would play GTA if the main guy was a punk rocker?

Angst didn't help FF8 and it wont help this game. Why can't you just make him stand tall and relaxed, like a MAN? Make him impartial with a distant personality and reveal to us in the VERY END that he is ACTUALLY cursed, add some 'has accepted his fate' stuff and that would already be a step in the right direction.

Jesus, why did they need to make this stupid video anyway? It really only makes the game and the people behind it look like shit.


Maybe it'll be popular with the casuals and kiddies, for Ubi's sake. I'm still holding out for the gameplay but at this point, it looks pretty bleak. They should have explored more open levels, cause it's still looking linear as hell. Again, I'll retain myself, it was only 1 video after all.
 

Ranger X

Member
Date of Lies said:
Ubi of Montreal = DISSED

Jesus, only in Quebec would they see a punkass, complete with wannabe mohawk, peircings, shitty clothes, gay-ass tatoo and buttrock in the background, as being 'cool' and 'artistic.' This guy has as much innovative and original ideas as the music he listens to.

I don't like the new art either. At first glance this look like a cheesy game but we never know. Just wanted to point that what you say up there it's having racist (or whatever you want to call the kind of discrimination there) undertones.
 
The tattoo is a bit much, especially since they make the effort to point out thatthe artist used his own tatto. The level of violence also seems a little excessive, and not particularly "mature."

I just want there to be some of the magical Arabian Nights feel that the previous game captured. The backgrounds look incredible and the characters don't actually look bad, it just seems like they have changed the very charming prince too much. Hopefully he doesn't spend too much time brooding or acting angsty while he fights.

I understand that he won't be nearly as naive as in the first game, but I don't want him to turn into some punk.
 

AniHawk

Member
Date of Lies said:
Angst didn't help FF8 and it wont help this game. Why can't you just make him stand tall and relaxed, like a MAN? Make him impartial with a distant personality and reveal to us in the VERY END that he is ACTUALLY cursed, add some 'has accepted his fate' stuff and that would already be a step in the right direction.

Agreed.
 
Holy christ, sure they guy in the video was a wannabe punk/goth looser, but just cause the game is taking a darker tone doesnt mean it's gonna suck. And why is evryone saying this is about teen angst? As far as I can tell he's deffinatly no teen, hell he was like at least 18 to 20 in the first game, so it's not exactly like it's teen angst here.

I do agree I completaly loved the first one, but I still have high hopes for this one.

IAnd to whoever said they were pissed because they figured this game would outsell the first, that could work to it's advantage, maybe it will inspire more people to pick up the first as well.

~Black Deatha
 

AniHawk

Member
Black Deatha said:
Holy christ, sure they guy in the video was a wannabe punk/goth looser, but just cause the game is taking a darker tone doesnt mean it's gonna suck. And why is evryone saying this is about teen angst? As far as I can tell he's deffinatly no teen, hell he was like at least 18 to 20 in the first game, so it's not exactly like it's teen angst here.

I do agree I completaly loved the first one, but I still have high hopes for this one.

IAnd to whoever said they were pissed because they figured this game would outsell the first, that could work to it's advantage, maybe it will inspire more people to pick up the first as well.

~Black Deatha

Teen angst is more of a term regarding the mood this game and others (Jak 2, FFVIII, etc) have taken on... Doesn't have to reflect the character's age.

People are just upset not because of the mood, but because someone's taking a game which was more directed to the same crowd who liked Ico and Beyond Good & Evil, and turning it more towards the GTA crowd.
 

G4life98

Member
the weird part about the whole gay-matching tattoo maturity drive that they are on , is that the game doesnt look that different, its like they forgot to turn the lights on.

and i gues it could be interesting if they actually showed his transition from prince-on-a-mission to uber-baddass with kewl tat.
 
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