Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

"A Dark but Solid Sequel"

Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within is the sequel to The Sands of Time. The Sands of Time was the first game based on the old Prince of Persia series to come to the PS2. While it was a great game it was not without its issues. Warrior Within is also a great game, but it has its own issues.

Graphics
Graphically, this game is pretty good. It uses the same engine as the previous game, with a few nice improvements in order to keep the graphics up-to-date. The scenes in the Garden area are especially cool looking. The models are also very well done. Most people will just look at the empress or her Hench-man…ah that is, Hench-woman, but all the models including the Prince are realistic looking. Its also very cool to watch the prince decapitate one of the enemies in slow-motion, or split them in half. There are some nice looking cut-scenes as well.

Sound
The only real issue with the sound has to do with the hardware capabilities with the PS2. Sometimes the enemies yell, other times they just don't, and it usually has to do with how much action is going on. Other than that, the voices are good, and the music is great. Sometimes the music can get a little annoying, but for the most part it really adds to the mood.

Controls
The controls take a little while to get use to. Basically the left analog controls the prince, and the right analog controls the camera. The direction the prince moves depends on the location of the camera. You hold down R1 to do “special” moves, like wall runs, swinging on ropes, and so on. The X key is to jump, the square key is to attack with primary sword, triangle is to attack with secondary sword/weapon, and O is to throw secondary weapon, or pick up a secondary weapon. Then there are time controls, which are mainly controlled by the L1 button, which is also how you block. One good this about this game is that you will learn the controls as you go. Plus, once you get the hang of them, they are not that bad.

Game play
Once again, as with The Sands of Time, we have a mixed bag. First lets look at the combat system. The developers fixed the issues from the first game, but created new ones at the same time. Instead of the enemy's teleporting to you from across the room, the just continually jump over you and drop down out of nowhere. Thankfully, you don't have to stab them with a dagger in this game; you just have to be able to land a hit. However, just as in the previous game, the best way to kill your enemies is to either do a wall lunge, or use a pillar to your advantage. Believe it or not, some of the best fights are the “mini-boss” fights that you encounter all throughout the game. Each one has a strategy to follow, and it will usually involve you jumping over them, or dancing circles around them. This can get quite amusing once you know what you are doing.

Other than the major changes to the battle system, there really isn't much difference between this game and its predecessor. The whole game is pretty much a puzzle of how to get from point A to point B. Occasionally, there are some more complicated puzzles, like which direction to set the water flowing in order to open a door. Most of the areas that you encounter are large and impassible sections of an old castle. Luckily, the prince is very agile, and can perform more acrobatics than a Trapeze at a circus. You can jump, swing, wall run, climb, and jump some more until you reach your destination. You then fight some enemies, drink some water to replenish your health, save, then do it all again. Don't think that the game gets repetitive, cause it does not. Each area that you have to transverse is extremely unique. There is plenty of backtracking, especially if you want some special items, but trust me, you will not get bored playing this game.

There are, however, two other major problems I want to point out. They are both software bugs, and they are both “show-stoppers”. First, throughout the game, you constantly enter what are called Sand portals. These transfer you to another point in time. Now the way the game plays, is that you never need to backtrack into a portal you just used, so it makes now sense to turn around and go back into the portal that you just came from. However, if you do, it should not be a problem right? Wrong. If you backtrack through a portal, you will most likely cause a bug to happen later in the game where a Sand Portal won't work, and then your stuck. You have to restore a saved game, or restart from scratch. Thankfully, this bug is easily avoidable, just be sore not go back into the sand portal you just used.

The second bug isn't as easily avoidable, unless you know about it ahead of time. At one point in the game, you get to choose which section to proceed to next. You do this buy changing a pathway to go in a certain direction, and then you change it again when you come back. The problem with this is that later in the game, through one way or another, you end up needing this pathway to be pointed in a certain direction, or else you will become stuck. Once you know to do this it isn't a big deal, but that is something that should not happen, since you are encouraged to choose your own path earlier in the game.

Let me make one final statement. I did not encounter any bugs at all while playing the game. They are very avoidable, and you can enjoy the game just as much while making sure you avoid them. That does not make it acceptable however, especially for a console game, to be released with such huge bugs that could probably be fixed with just a little tweaking.

Story
This game continues the story of the first game. In the first game, you unleashed the Sands of Time, but managed to reseal them. However, this caused great damage to the Time-line, and caused the guardian of the Time-line, the invincible Dahaka, to chase you. You then try to stop him buy preventing the Sands from being created, that way you can't release them. It's not as simple, or easy, as it sounds. So you travel to this Fortress, where the Empress of Time created the sands, and the game begins. You have to transverse the castle, fight the empress, fight her minions, and continuously run from the Dahaka. There are two different endings to the game. One is clearly better than the other, but both are very good, and I recommend seeing both. As you would expect, with a very quick announcement of a Prince of Persia 3, both endings end is a cliffhanger, and you will want more.

Overall, the biggest problem with this game is its bugs. However, this should not interfere with you enjoying the game, because they are avoidable. This game is fun, creative, and it keeps you playing. It should take you a while to solve the game, as the total time I spent was about 15 hours, maybe more.

If you are a fan of the first game, get this one as its just as good, if not better. If not, then get it anyway, as it's a great action based game and you will love it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/19/05