Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

"One Fate. One MILLION ways to defy it!"

This is a review for Prince of Persia: Warrior Within for the Gamecube. It is finally here, the sequel to game of the year 2003 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. I have been eagerly awaiting this title for some time because the original was just breath-taking. Instead of the naive Prince we saw in Sands of Time, Ubisoft decided, what the hell, he needs to be MATURE! And that is what they did, and that is why you see a Mature Sticker slapped onto the Gamecube box instead of what Sands of Time had which was Teen.

Graphics: (7) All I got to say is GLITCHES GALORE. This game would have been SO much better without them, but they are present in ALL three console versions of the game. Much improved over the last game in detail but that fails because of the glitches that are present, I only had one glitch (Unlike others), but it got SO annoying it made me want to quit sometimes because it was so horrible. That glitch was the environments would flicker ON and OFF....literally. I would be running into this environment and it would suddenly go black, it did NOT hinder game play ONE bit, but it was hard to know where to go. All the models from the Prince to the low life thugs of the game look nicely detailed.

Sound: (9) One of the better part of the games is the sound. Like the original, this features great music and awesome battle music while you proceed throughout the game. Especially the Dahaka music, it always got me in the mood to get the HELL away from that dam Dahaka. As for the voice-acting, up to the game standards it is. Prince lost is accent and sounds deeper and WAY more mature than he ever was before. And the girls of the game, scantily clad they are, also sound nice. Even the enemies (Though they kind of sound like the enemies from The Sands of Time) sound great.

Game Play: (10) Game play is the MOST improved thing that Ubisoft did with this game. At times in The Sands of Time, combat got SORT of repetitive (Not a lot though), because one there weren't that many moves to pull off. Warrior Within CHANGES all of that and implements a AWESOME new combat system. You get a standard melee weapon and like the original you get newer and better ones as the game progresses, but instead of having the dagger as your secondary weapon (Which didn't really do that much except freeze enemies), you can steal your opponent's weapon after you kill it. And when you want a newer better secondary weapon from an enemy, just throw away your other weapon (Or throw it at your enemy) and pick it up. Now combos are added into the game, and the depth of fighting just gets so much better. As with the last, puzzles are in the game and jumping exercises which test your whit and patience and makes the game really cool to play.

Storyline (If any): (10) Another major improvement from the last is the actual story of the game. And to put it simply I will use the back of the box art:
Years of strife have passed. The Prince, now a battle-hardened outcast hunted by Fate's demon forces, must embark on a fatal odyssey to defy his preordained death. Only by summoning the infinite powers of devastating new combat art can he awaken the warrior within - and emerge with his life.

Summary: (9) If you were a fan of the past Prince of Persia, this game is for you. With improved graphics, better sound, and one cool combat system. This game can't go wrong except if you are not of age to buy this, then you got a problem.

Pros:
+Beautifully detailed graphics and environments
+Voice-acting is above par
+New Combat system
+Breathless story

Cons:
-GLITCHES GALORE

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/10/05