Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown’s “Mask of Darkness” DLC fully detailed
The Mind Palace is a surreal landscape of floating blocks and caverns lit by ghostly white flames, where ashen statues and clumps of dark webbing hide undead soldiers, nimble wraiths, and flying mechanical “saw birds” that spin like buzzsaws with their bladed wings. Mastering the timing of Sargon’s parry is key to dealing with these new terrors; the flying orbs will attack by charging straight at Sargon, and a successful parry will send them hurtling into a wall – or better yet, another enemy – to explode.
The dark wraiths are a little more complicated, especially when you’re facing more than one. They’re able to attack with rapid lunges and kicks that can knock Sargon backward – and one of their favorite moves is to vanish and reappear either behind Sargon, or above him to execute an unblockable dropping attack. Their acrobatic flips can make the timing of their attacks hard to gauge, but their throwing daggers (which they almost always follow with a diving attack) and chakrams (which they frequently throw over Sargon’s head to catch him in the back with their boomerang-like return) can be parried and do considerable damage if Sargon deflects them back at their owners. If they turn red with a glowing symbol above their heads, though, watch out – Sargon’s strikes won’t interrupt their movements or attacks until the effect wears off.
The area of Radjen’s palace we explored is dominated by another creature – a big, spiderlike mechanical monstrosity known as the Sentinel, with two fearsome demon masks for a head and a huge blade in each of its four hands. One mask breathes jets of fire, the other spits projectiles (which you can parry back), and the upper body can separate from its legs, levitate on a pillar of dark energy, and sweep across the room as a seemingly inescapable column. It’s not a true boss encounter, but it sure feels like one.
New Ways to Get Around (and Die)
Each of Mount Qaf’s diverse biomes features new environmental hazards and traversal methods, and the Mind Palace introduces a dozen (about half of which we’ve seen so far). The most ubiquitous additions are floating metal “bumper” orbs that emit plumes of blue energy; strike them in midair, and they’ll chime loudly and launch you in whatever direction those plumes point. Timing your way through sequences of these is a huge part of getting around in Mask of Darkness, but not all of them are usable right away. In fact, if you see any faint amber blobs where an orb should be – or amber barriers covering doors – it’s a sure sign that there’s a floating amber hexagon nearby, blocking your progress. Find it, attack it, and keep chasing it, and eventually its barrier will fall.
Also new are floating vertical pillars that Sargon can climb on and shimmy across to switch sides (which are frequently covered in strategically placed spikes), and massive horizontal pillars carved with beastly faces that steadily shoot cannonballs from their “mouths.” The latter frequently block essential corridors, and getting past them means finding a way to push them back until they break. (Remember what we said above about timing your parries?)
Additionally, you’ll contend with spinning red sawblades that can appear out of thin air and scream toward you with little warning (often while you’re trying to navigate sequences of also-new disappearing platforms). The good news is that these saws telegraph their paths with glowing red lines, giving you a split-second to get out of their way; the bad news is they usually move a lot faster than Sargon does.
Uncover the Enigma of Radjen
Radjen herself – one of Persia’s elite Immortals and a devoted follower of the group’s leader, Vahram – is the malevolent mystery at the core of Mask of Darkness, and her disembodied voice will periodically taunt Sargon as he progresses through her palace. Being inside someone’s mind is a double-edged sword, though, and you’ll be able to discover more about Radjen’s past and motivations by smashing blue crystals hidden throughout the Mind Palace to replay snippets of her memories.
By destroying the corruption at the ends of her deadly obstacle courses, you’ll discover bigger secrets. For example, early in your explorations, you’ll discover a room that reveals a pivotal scene from Radjen’s childhood: Her village was attacked by Kushans (the army the Immortals fought in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown’s opening moments), and her mother was cut down by the game’s first boss, General Uvishka, while helping Radjen and her brother escape. The discovery seems to knock Radjen off-balance just a little – and it’s only the start of what Mask of Darkness has to reveal.
