Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

"The quest to discover, the Warrior Within."

Introduction:
For those of you that don't know this, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is the sequel to the extremely popular Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. In this game the prince acquires a darker attitude towards life. He is being chased by death and is as he says for the first time in his life, afraid. It's a fantastic sequel with a good story which connects to the Sands of Time.

Graphics: 10/10
The graphics are fantastic. Dust falls down when you run along walls, water ripples when you step on it and blood flows from your enemies when you hit them. And also when you're looking in the weapon gallery, almost everything has a special design to it. Some are easy to spot and others are hard but the way they blend in with the weapons is brilliant. I spent so much time just looking at the weapons and trying to figure out what they were.

Story: 10/10
The story is magnificent. You are being chased by death and the only way to stop it is to go to the island of time in the past and to stop the sands of time from ever being created. You must do this by finding the empress of time and persuading her not to make the sands.

Gameplay: 10/10
In Warrior Within there are four different parts of gameplay (fighting, problem solving, platforming and the Dahaka Chases). Fighting: Fighting is probably the biggest improvement from the Sands of Time. There are so many different combos you can do, it's like the choices are endless. There are lots of new ways that you can use the environment like running up walls and coming spiraling down in a flurry of blades, swinging around a pole then launching into a combo and rebounding off walls, knocking your enemies to the ground. There are also loads of new combos that you can use. Doing a regular hit then suddenly spinning around and slicing your enemy in half is fantastic. There are 26 different combos that you can use to destroy your enemies. Another new addition is the vaulting variations. You can trip them over, decapitate them, strangle them, slice them in half or even steal their weapon. And finally there's the secondary weapon system. Once you've killed your enemy you can pick up there weapon, allowing you to perform even more complex combos. Once you've picked up a weapon, it will be added to your weapon gallery, allowing you to look at it at the game menu. You can even throw your secondary weapon at an enemy. There are a large variety of swords, axes, maces and daggers. Problem solving: Warrior Within doesn't focus on problem solving as much as the Sands of Time did but there are still a couple of puzzles to keep you thinking. Platforming: Platforming is basically the same as it was in the Sands of Time but there are lots of new traps to dodge and avoid. Dahaka Chases: The Dahaka chases are parts of the game where you have to run, jump, swing and roll away from the guardian of time, the Dahaka. Lots of people consider this the best part of gameplay.

Replayability:10/10
There are so many reasons to replay this game. Getting your weapon gallery full, using the alternate ending, unlocking all the concept art and movies and of course, trying different methods of fighting. Also trying the game on hard is a good time passer too.

Conclusion:
There will always be people who complain about this game simply because it's not their style. Don't listen to them. If you're one of the few people who doesn't like sword fighting and platforming games then don't buy it. But if you do like this style then get ready for one of the best games you'll ever play in your life.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/14/08

Game Release: Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (US, 11/30/04)