The new DLC for the Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Mask of Darkness, is pure evil. Sadistic even. Without doubt it has proven to be one of the most challenging, most arduous, most masochistic video game experiences of my life. Thrilling in places, deeply frustrating in others, I certainly didn’t enjoy every moment of it, but what I can say is that I survived it and was immensely satisfied in the process.
For all those who didn’t find the brilliant Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown challenging enough – what is wrong with you? That last boss almost broke me – then the Mask of Darkness DLC is undoubtedly for you. Accessible from a few hours into the main game, this DLC takes the form of an optional side quest. Sargon is tasked with hunting down the mysterious masked Immortal Radjen. Unfortunately, our hapless hero is tricked and ends up trapped in Radjen’s mind palace, an entirely separate map, cut off from the labyrinthian environment of Mount Qaf that we have all grown so familiar with.
The player is immediately stripped of the majority of Sargon’s abilities and health boosts. Essentially, you end up with the bog-standard vanilla version of the protagonist. Two exceptions remain: a dash and the teleport. It took some time to adjust to not having a double jump anymore; Sargon plunging to his death on more occasions than I care to recount due to my muscle memory kicking in. On the plus side, entirely new amulets can be found and returned with to the main game. One notable example, with which your Chakram is turned into a vampire, absorbing health from enemies to return to the player, is an unbelievably handy addition.
With Sargon thoroughly debuffed, what follows is one of the most brutal, yet finely honed, platforming challenges I’ve ever encountered. From the first stretch, where Sargon is chased by a giant evil eye that will instant kill him on contact, this DLC is clearly a very different beast from the original game. You should prepare to die. A lot. The precision platforming required can often feel overwhelming, yet, due to the thorough and immaculate design work, there is always a way through. A way that often surprises you with its ease to implement once you see it. Yet, before that, there is a lot of trial and error – particularly when it comes to those irritating platforms that only disappear after you leave their surface – and that certainly won’t be to everyone’s taste.
Aesthetically, Radjen’s mind palace stands out from the varied biomes of Mount Qaf. This is a far darker, eminently sinister, environment. One with huge symbiote-like tendrils infecting it, twisting and suffocating each vast landscape you encounter. There are some new baddies to bash, of course. Most enjoyable are the mechanical spinning blade drones that you can deflect into the unsuspecting faces of other foes, most satisfying indeed.
There are also supposedly four bosses to be killed by, though that number is rather disingenuous, as one of the four is little more than a powered-up regular warrior with a life bar. Radjen though, proves to offer a phenomenal, if disparagingly difficult, final challenge. One which will test your reflexes like nothing else in the main game. You also unlock a further boss battle upon completion of the mind Palace. Suffice to say it’s a great ultimate smackdown against an old mentor.
Despite the hugely difficult challenge that Mark of Darkness offers, it is entirely doable thanks to Ubisoft’s generous suite of accessibility options. Nearly ever facet of the game can be tinkered with. From being able to summon portals to instantly navigate nasty platforming sections or by reducing enemy attack damage to virtually nothing. So effective are these gameplay easers, that even this aged and slightly inept gamer was able to see things through to completion.
For under a fiver and with around five to six hours of content, the Mask of Darkness is practically an essential addition for fans of The Lost Crown. Offering an intense experience; as well as a surprisingly compelling story that fills in many of the blanks from the original game. Recommended.