While these two announcements have certainly fanned many hopes of seeing new entries in these franchises, it’s clear that Ubisoft doesn’t see both of these projects as equals — at least in terms of scope and assigned resources. As a result, it seems that the Splinter Cell remake could turn out to be markedly better than Prince of Persia’s comeback.
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Prince of Persia’s Remake’s Development Hasn’t Been The Smoothest
With its first-ever reveal trailer, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake didn’t enjoy the most positive of fan reception which can mostly be chalked up to its less-than-stellar visuals especially in the facial textures department. This might be a direct result of using AnvilNext 2.0 as the game engine, which is built for rendering massive open-worlds and being used by large development teams.
The remake is being handled by Ubisoft Pune, which is one of the smaller studios in the French publisher’s roster. While it’s great that the studio is getting to take charge of such a fan-beloved project, Ubisoft’s choice most likely implies that the game is (or was at least) being developed under strict budgetary constraints. These restraints might also be limiting the scope of the remake, which reflects in the gameplay improvements.
While fans haven’t received any dedicated gameplay trailers, the snippets of gameplay show very minimal improvements when compared to the original. These minor improvements could work well within the context of the game itself, but it’s likely that the scope of these retouches are being constrained from the budget and the manpower required to make the most out of this technology.
The Splinter Cell Remake Is Much More Well-Equipped To Succeed
While Ubisoft clearly cut some corners for the development of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake, the wrongs seem to have been righted in the case of Splinter Cell’s comeback. The game will be built on Ubisoft’s latest Snowdrop engine, which in addition to having great features claims to be a far more efficient tool for smaller teams. That said, the remake is being handled by Ubisoft Toronto which hints at far more resources being assigned to the project than Prince of Persia.
Furthermore, Ubisoft will also have to redo many of the gameplay ideas that are present in the original release, and subsequently change up level designs and so on. The original’s deep tactical stealth systems do certainly hold an irrefutable charm, but can be pretty cumbersome to return to after all these years. All in all, it’s not just a graphical retouching of the original but a near-complete overhaul meant to welcome new players to the franchise.
As such, its scope and budget far outweigh those for Prince of Persia’s remake, which makes it very likely that the former project could have a much stronger first impression than the latter. Of course, it would be in everyone’s best interests if both games eventually turn out to be great — which would most certainly open new doors for these fan-beloved franchises.
Splinter Cell Remake is currently in development.
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