Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

"Don't Listen to Penny-Arcade"

If any of you out there reading this half-crazed, and somewhat sleep-deprived review happen to read the online comic: Penny-Arcade on occasion, you may have run into their "review" (it doesn't even deserve to be called a review, more a hateful rant, but hey, that's why we love 'em). It' scathing to say the least, with lines like: "Prince of Persia 2 is a good game in spite of the fact that the developer tried to ruin it. It's like they did their best to burn the entire thing to the ground, but enough of the foundation remains that it's still recognizable." Usually I follow the advice of people I respect when it comes to video games, but this time I thought what the hell and bought the damn game.

I wonder now if perhaps I should not have bought the game, if not for the reasons you may be thinking. I don't think I should have bought the game because I have now lost all faith in Tycho and Gabe's reviewing abilities. I was AMAZED, yes that's the word AMAZED by Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. I went into the game with a preconceived notion of it being somewhat lackluster, repetitive, and completely un-comparable to it's predecessor, and came out delirious with pleasure. Before I go off on a tangent about how orgasmic that game was however, I better sit down and lay out a somewhat comprehensive review for you.

Sound/Music = 7

Possibly the only part of the game I found myself disappointed with. First off, I don't think Ubi-soft actually had a beta-test for this game after doing the voice acting. It was like they wanted to push out this game so badly they shipped it immediately after putting the sound files into one of the game's many folders. While I am exaggerating considerably, there is none the less a gross amount of glitches concerning the sound. Tip for newbies: leave the subtitles on, you'll miss some of the story if you don't. The sound also likes to cut-out when performing one of the steal weapon moves. I just think they were too lazy to make a sound-file for it.

Now, concerning the music itself, I have to say that I liked it. Being a fan of metal, I loved the new twist they put on the music. It was a nice touch the older game could have used with one exception: where's the Indian flare? The original sound track was so amazing because of its diverse mix of foreign music and rock. PoP: WW seems to be lacking in this category and thus, while the music is good; it lacks the ability to draw you into the game. It would have been better if the sound-guys had just created new music but combined metal and foreign music instead of rock and foreign music. This review of course only being applicable when the sound works, as it too likes to cutout randomly.

Graphics = 8

While not disappointed per say with this aspect of the game, I also did not find myself truly enthralled by the graphics of PoP: WW. Very little had been done to improve the game play graphics of the last game, leaving me with a somewhat bad (if not bad than disappointed) taste in my mouth. The cinema scene graphics on the other hand are astonishing. I'd almost think of saying they were of blizzard quality, but I doubt anyone but blizzard can truly achieve that. The cinema scenes were true wonder to behold, excluding perhaps the first one, in which the prince runs from the Dhaka. It seemed as if his movements were . . .lacking frames. Making the somewhat choppy. The Prince also adopted an odd stance at the end, one I would not think plausible for one about to fight a demon. Nevertheless it too looked beautiful.

Story = 11

That's right, eleven, this category was just such a great part of the game I couldn't possible lower it by confining it to a maximum. Many people, such as Gabe and Tycho, found that the story was mediocre at best, or perhaps juvenile or possibly even verging on plagiarism. One reviewer even went so far as to say it was a possible copy of Tolkien's work. Now, I will use my newfound power of this review to lower and debase him in such a way that he will retract his comment. Wow, this story involves someone going back to the birthplace of something so they can destroy it, damn that's an exact copy of Tolkien's works. I mean DAMN, how the hell did no one else pick up on that? These people should be shutdown. To think they had the nerve to take such an original plot as that described in the Lord of the Rings and put it in their game. The vague references to a 'place' where something was 'made' clearly abuse Tolkien in such a way I think he just rolled over in his grave.

Clearly, the Warrior Within is absolutely NOTHING like the Lord of the Rings. I mean you don't see him forming a fellowship of elves, dwarves, and men to march against the nine black riders, so as to protect a hobbit that is carrying the One Ring, a ring that can kill the Dark Lord, and stop his arming from marching across middle earth.

The story in PoP2 is in fact extremely original, and being one of only three stories I know of that dealt with time travel property. Sorry to all you trekie fans out there, but a Star Trek episode was not one of those three. The three are: Babylon 5: War Without End (parts one and two), Prince of Persia: The Sands of time, and now Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. There is a single paradox in this game, as there was in the original, but like in the original, I hope it will be resolved in the next Prince of Persia game. There was one imperfection in this game besides the paradox, that dealt purely with the artistic as opposed to the scientific, and that was the ending. While I cannot possible begin to explain it without dropping a huge spoiler, let it be known that I would have preferred the ending to be different, although they did add something in there that allows the ending I preferred not to be in there. In other words, the ending was not as I expected, but still good.

Game play = 10

The game play in Warrior Within is considerably improved upon from the last installment of the series. Addressing the main concern and criticism of the last one: the fighting system, Warrior Within introduces a new "free-form" fighting style. This fighting style I can personally say was amazing, allowing for an even more wide variety of moves as the last game, making the combat as fun as the platforming levels were in the original. The game also takes away less of the linear aspects of the first game, by allowing enemies and platforming puzzles to exist in the same room, something some people consider sacrilegious, which may explain their opinions of the game. Everything good from the original game is still there, but with a more immersive fighting system, as well as better animations for the Prince.

As a side note having nothing to do with any category, there was a glitch I found in the game that forced me to start-over. Yet, unbelievably, I wasn't even made at the game for making me do that, the game is that much fun. I just gave a wry smile and shrugged, returning to the menu and beginning a new game. To quote Will Ferrell in Anchorman: "I'm not even made, that's amazing!"

I hope you'll excuse my half -conscious rant concerning certain aspects of this game, I'm still in shock and awe over how much fun this game was to play and beat. Next step: hard mode.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/22/05