Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

"A Worthy Successor"

Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time was a great game, I won't deny it, but I see a lot of reviewers of this game seem to rate it down because it isn't as good as the original. I disagree, the original was fantastic, but this one is even better.

Gameplay - 10/10
The one thing that made The Sands Of Time so enjoyable and unique was the platforming. It was different from your average generic 'jump here, jump there'. It was, very basically, just jumping, but the setting and the situations made it so much different. There's nothing to worry about, because Ubisoft haven't changed that very much. They've taken out some moves, and added some new ones, but nothing essential is gone. The thing that they have changed a lot is the combat. Instead of using a couple of different moves to vanquish a couple of enemies, there are proper battles, surrounded by enemies, and every single attack can be followed by a variety of others. The environment is used more also, you can jump down from a ledge, spearheading the enemy by suprise, or you could run along a wall and slice their head mid-run. The possibilities are endless. Another new feature is a 'boss chase' mode, where you are running from the Dahaka (see 'Storyline'), and you have to get across chasms and acrobatically escape your enemy, if you're too slow, you die. The combat system now adds a new dimension to the game. Before, the game was sectioned into acrobatics & platforming, fighting and puzzles. Now all 3 are combined into one, and, quite frankly, it's brilliant.

Graphics - 10/10
These are some of the best PS2 graphics from the time. The curtains blow in the wind, the water flows realistically, and the light coming from cracks in the walls look fantastic, if a little distracting while playing the game. The characters are pretty well done, particularly the enemies, who's blood, guts and Sands spill out magnificently, especially in slow motion (which happens when you happen to kill an enemy in a particularly stylish way).

Storyline - 9.5/10
One thing which annoys me about this game is the fact that the Prince from The Sands Of Time has seemingly died, and been replaced by some kind of dark, tortured soul with some physical resemblance to the old Prince. I think Ubisoft chose this change of tone (the game in general is darker and more bloody) to either fit the storyline better, or to 'cash in' on the little kids who think they'll be cooler if they can show their friends how good they are at slicing open demons in slow motion. The plot twists and turns at regular intervals, which makes it hard for me to summarise, but basically, the Prince has seen his fate in the timeline and wishes to change it on the Island Of Time. However, he is hunted by a beast who seeks divine retribution, the Dahaka. He meets only a few other characters on his adventure, but they play very important roles.

Sound - 7/10
This is the one area where Warrior Within doesn't live up to the original. The wonderful Eastern folk music from the original is still here, though not nearly as much, and it is often replaced by repetitive metal riffs, which appear when faced by enemies. It sets the mood quite well, and you will probably enjoy it for the first 30% of the game, but it gets very very old very very quickly. As for general sound, it's good. Standard fare, nice sound quality, and there are no instances where you grab onto a ledge, and 3 seconds later there's a sound to accompany it.

Overall, this game is fantastic, I'm not entirely sure where the negativity comes from in some of these reviews. This is a very good game. Buy it now.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/02/07