Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

"Just as good as Sands of Time!"

I will never forget the first time I played Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. I loved it because of its sweet music, beautiful graphics, and entertaining game play. It was my favorite game of 2003 and still is one of my favorites. So you probably know how I felt when the sequel was announced. However, one thing turned me off. Well I was one of those people who disapproved the darker tone. I was still excited that it was coming out, but excessive blood in a Prince of Persia game? Still, with all these set backs, I gave this game a home and boy do I feel like crap thinking this game was ruined.

Story: 9
This game takes place 7 years after the events in the Sands of time. The prince was supposed to die when he opened the sands of time. So because he lived he screwed up the time line and the guardian of time known as the Dahaka comes after the prince to kill him. Fast forward and the Prince is not the funny and jolly guy we knew in SoT. Instead, he is meaner and ready to annihilate anyone who ticks him off. Anyway, he heads off to the island of time to prevent the sands from ever being made. The story was good, it just wasn't as good as Sands of Time's story.

Graphics: 10
WOW! These graphics are even better than SoT's! There is so much detail in the environments and everything else! One thing that is different is the dark and gloomy atmosphere. The Prince has a darker look to him. Also, the character models are not as blocky as they were in SoT. The most beautiful place would be the gardens in my opinion because of the bright green plants that surround an otherwise gloomy area. In addition, the cinematics are great and great looking. Overall, the detail in the graphics is amazing!

Sound: 10
The sound is as crisp and clear as SoT. The sounds of footsteps, swords hitting flesh (or sand), traps, and the evil yells from enemies all sound awesome! The voice actors are different though from SoT. The guy that voices the Prince is great, but I liked the actor from SoT a little better. But the voice acting is great none the less. Overall, the sound is great but the voice actors were a little bit better.

Music: 10
Honestly, who was excited when Godsmack was announced to do the sound track? Nope don't see any hands raised and to tell you the truth, I wasn't either. Boy was I wrong! The tracks are for the most part great! Some kind of suck but come on, you can't grade the score down for one or two crappy tracks can you! The environment music is better though. Heck, I found myself anticipating certain areas because the music was awesome! Overall, the music was better than I thought it was going to be.

Game play: 10
Okay so I was wrong when I said this game was going to suck. Lets just start with the combat. The combat was probably the worse part of SoT because it was so repetitive. That is not the case here. The new combat system is way more enjoyable than it was in SoT. There are more combos and you can destroy your enemies in anyway possible. The prince can run up a wall than jump down and kill his enemies fast, He can pick up weapons for more strength, He can also vault over his enemies and throw them, strangle them, or even decapitate them (assuming you have the blood on). The combat is way more enjoyable than it was in SoT.

Life upgrades are harder to find in Warrior Within then they were in SoT. There are 9 altogether and if you find them all you get a new sword and another ending. The life upgrades are harder to get to also because you have to walk through a hallway of traps. They are worth getting though because the third Prince of Persia game follows the alternate ending.

Saving your game is also different from SoT. In SoT, you went into portals that showed the future. Then you would save after the vision was done. Well thats not what happens here. Instead of the cool portals, you save by drinking out of a fountain. It's not as entertaining as the portals, but at least the fountain gives you health.

There are more types of bad guys than SoT. There are even bosses! The bosses can get HUGE! They get to the size of 10 princes! There are smaller bosses but the huge bosses are neat.

Those of you who don't like the idea of the game focusing more on combat, don't freak out! There are plenty of tough environment puzzles. There is even more moves that the prince can do to solve them. He can now stab his sword into a curtain and slide down the curtain. He can also grab ropes and run on the wall while hanging on the rope. These don't sound all that great but they are real fun to do in the game.

As for the sand powers, the old ones from Sands of time are in this one too. You can still rewind, you can still slow time down, and you can still do mega freeze (although it has a new name.) But there are some differences though. When you slow time down, everything but the Prince slows down which gives you a huge advantage. Mega freeze is also different. Instead of everybody freezing, everything moves the same speed but the Prince goes lightning fast. There is also a new sand power. In this one, the Prince charges an attack and slams his sword in the ground which knocks all the enemies of their feet. I'm glad all the powers make a return as well as a new one. Overall, the same great game play from the Sands of Time is still here with some new additions as well.

Replay: 10
There are extra swords and artwork just waiting to be found! You can also try to find all the life upgrades to get the "better" ending. Overall, the replay is great!

Buy or rent?
Buy! The game should be cheap (I got mine for 29.99 but is 19.99 right now.) It is a great game that should be in your collection!

Overall score: 9.8/10 (rounded to 10)

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/16/06