Earlier this year, players who had been waiting for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake received bad news when Ubisoft announced that the project had been abruptly cancelled. Between Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and The False Prince of Persiait felt like the franchise was coming back in a big way. Unfortunately, the remake was left on the cutting room floor, leaving many fans wondering what's next for the series. Thankfully, a new indie game is on the way Steam may be the surprising answer Prince of Persia fans have been looking for. Its approach is very different from Prince of Persia game, but it has lots of action-packed parkour.
Steam is filled with some of the best indie offerings, and Engine disc is a new take on the parkour genre. Parkour-based games are a special niche with mechanics that are hard to nail down, but Engine disc looks to have what it takes to be a promising newcomer. Engine discs three main sources of inspiration are Prince of Persia, Mirror's Edgeand Shadow of the Colossusteased a fun and unexpected mix of some great titles.
A brief look at Motorslice's features
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Acrobatic focused parkour gameplay and traversal
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Difficult fast-paced combat
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Giant machine enemies
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Brutalist landscape
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Minimalist atmosphere
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Physics based puzzles
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Stylized low poly graphics
Motorslice takes Prince of Persia's third-person parkour and puts it into a brutal sci-fi setting
At first glance, it is quite obvious that Engine disc does not share the same attitude as Prince of Persia. While Prince of Persia takes place in the past, Engine disc takes place in a distant future filled with huge, dangerous machines. The story follows the protagonist P, a “Slicer” who has an important job to do. Slicers are basically exterminators, but instead of bugs they have to deal with huge machines that can kill P in an instant. It's a completely different premise from Prince of Persias story, but that shouldn't deter longtime fans from giving it a try. When it comes to gameplay is Prince of Persia influence is crystal clear.
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Jumping back and forth between large walls and swinging from ledges are important obstacles in Prince of Persiaand Engine disc replicates this in a dystopian sci-fi world. The world design is clearly more inspired by Mirror's Edgebut the third-person parkour is taken out right away Prince of Persias playbook. There aren't many games that Prince of Persia out there, so it does Engine disc so much more exciting. The main description for the game reads: “Parkour through the ruins of a megastructure, climb massive bosses and chase down all the construction equipment in this action adventure with immaculate vibes.” Mirror's Edge, Prince of Persiaand Shadow of the Colossus are usually not games that are lumped together. They all have their own opinions on climbing mechanics, though Engine disc is a fun example of how all these concepts can work together.
Fast-paced battles mean that Motorslice players must think quickly
One of the reasons Prince of Persia is so good because of the quick thinking it requires of the players. Parkour games mean that any wrong move can mean death. Engine disc takes Prince of Persias combat and parkour combination and uses it as the perfect way to cut through the machinery standing in P's way.
Of course, the titular prince doesn't take down machines, but the essence of using the environment to his advantage and making quick decisions is an important part of Engine disc. However, one of the main traits that really sets P apart from the Prince is that she doesn't use the Dagger of Time. Instead, she brandishes a chainsaw. Taking on massive machines requires some serious weaponry, and a chainsaw is the perfect choice for hacking and slashing away at these futuristic foes. Although a lot of Engine discs gameplay is taken from Prince of Persiathere is one important feature that is not there: time manipulation. This is bad news for Prince of Persia fans who liked the series' time manipulation mechanics the most, but parkour lovers still have a lot to enjoy Engine disc.
Prince of Persia's cancellation leaves the series' future uncertain, but Motorslice arrives at the perfect time
right now, Engine disc doesn't have an official release date set in stone, but developer Regular Studio expects a 2026 launch. Given that Engine discThe Steam page has tons of in-game footage and a demo available, it's hopefully almost ready for release. The game may be delayed down the road, but at least it looks like it's on track right now. There are already many new indie games on Steam that will launch this year, and Engine disc stands out with its unique premise.
Despite the cancellation of the remake, Ubisoft claims that the company is not done with the series. An official statement from the team has said, “Prince of Persia because a universe and a legacy continue to mean deeply to us, and this decision does not mean we are taking a step away from the franchise.”
Games like Motorslice and Prince of Persia are few and far between
Engine disc will hopefully bring out the parkour heavy gameplay that Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake promised. Games with parkour mechanics only seem to pop up once every few years. Well, at least it seems that way when it comes to making parkour a central mechanic. There are tons of games that deal with parkour elements, but make it an important part of the game Prince of Persia is less common. One of the most recent parkour-based games was last year's Dying Light: The Beast. Between games that Dying Light: The Beast and Cyberpunk 2077there have been some solid first person games that have parkour.
Engine disc however, marks a much-needed return of third-person parkour. Some of the closest games that have met this criteria in recent years are Watch Dogs: Legion, Marvel's Spider-Man 2and Assassin's Creed Shadows. Prince of PersiaBut the parkour mechanics were something special. It's disappointing that the list of canceled Ubisoft games includes Prince of Persia remake, though Engine disc waiting in the wings to finally bring some more third-person parkour into the spotlight.
