When Ubisoft first rushed into the announcement of this sequel, most of us were very skeptical on the outcome. Game developers who rushed into releasing sequels would generally give the fans a rather unpleasant surprise; this is however, not the case with Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, as you would be amazed by the solid game play and breath-taking graphics of the sequel. Story and back ground: In the prequel, the prince was tricked into unleashing the "Sands of Time", and chaos was sown upon the kingdom. Each and every person who came into contact with the sand was transformed into monsters. Those who used to be sane and living human beings were not what they used to be. The prince lost many of his soldiers and those he cared for the most. Putting aside the sorrow, he bravely fought his way through various challenging tasks and enemies. He eventually managed to restore order to the kingdom by reversing the time. It was all over, but it heralds the beginning of a major disaster. To the prince's horror, his fate has been seeded ever since he disrupted the time line. The "Dahaka" has come for the prince's soul, as one who disturbs the natural progression of time cannot be allowed to live. The prince now runs for his life and fights against his impending doom, or otherwise he would be dead, just like those who got involved at the first place. Graphics: Be ready to experience moments of breathlessness as the introduction movie takes your breath away. Cutting edge technology and fine artistry put together produces one of the best I have seen so far. Details are amazing, facial expressions of the characters in the movie are life-like. Environmental details such as the raging inferno, the giant sea waves are a feast to your eyes. The introduction movie where the prince leads his entire ship-crew to fight against numerous masked enemies is worth viewing over and over again. In-game graphics are sharp and landscapes well designed. Movements are not jaggy at all and animations are smooth. Even the ripples of water under your feet look astonishingly real and through out the game, not a single minor detail is missed out. It is worth mentioning however, that the in-game cut scenes are not perfectly smooth. The prince's faces in the cut scenes appear slightly jaggy, and the hairs of the game characters look polygonal. Even the muscle definitions of the prince are slightly polygonal when you look at it from various angles. You will be thrilled to see the gloomy and eerie design of castle and the vines crawling up towards the pillars. In short, graphics are almost perfect for this game. Game play: There is a massive improvement over the prequel's battle engine. Though retaining the original splendid stunts that the prince can perform, they have added in certain new moves such as: walking on the walls and at the same time slash your enemies, rebound from the wall and strike your enemies like an arrow sprung from the bow and etc. Numerous combo attacks are available and the listing itself ranges from 5 to 6 pages. They have implemented the new "free-form fighting system" where every move leads to a different finishing blow. For example when you jump over an enemy's head, you can either slash him once, or you can slash him twice; in case you want a more fancy-looking finish you can steal your enemies weapon from mid-air and then deliver the killing blow. Other than that, you can choose to trip your enemy using a 360 degree turning kick when you are engaged in a falling motion. If you are still not pleased, you can strangle your enemy and use him as a shield from the other opponents. If the enemy proves to be no use, you can simply throw him over the edge and let him fall to his death. As you can see, every move leads to an entirely different opportunity. There is a tutorial available in the game which will guide you through the operation of the system. Those who loved the slow-down-time option in the prequel would be delighted to find that the option is still available in this game. You collect sands by either killing enemies or smashing crates and vases. Other new time skills such as the "Breath of fate" will allow you to take on several enemies at a time, the "Eye of Storm" will allow an edge as you can slow down time temporarily in order to escape or reach a door that is closing gradually after you hit the switch. These are just among the few new features that have been added to the game. You can unlock different artworks by locating special chests in the game. Life gauge can be extended by searching for secret places and there are also special weapons scattered throughout the different levels. As opposed to the prequel, this sequel has more variety of nasty enemies. The game still depends largely on avoiding traps and running around. Puzzles are less in number compared to the prequel, but some do pose a challenge. This time around, the prince can manipulate the environment to his advantage. For example you can lure some silly enemies onto grounds with numerous holes, and then activate a switch so that spears sprang out of the holes to kill them. You can also use exploding enemies to help you blast open some doors and barriers. The prince travels to-and-fro between the present and past in an attempt to change his fate. I shall not mention too much which would be a spoiler for you guys. The prince can now wield two weapons and he can also throw his weapon towards an unsuspecting enemy patrol. The prince has grown since the 1st game and he now appears more rugged, with a more matured look and his remarks are grunts rather than the "Ooops" and "Whoa" in his younger days. He is more built and more athletic than ever (You should check out his acrobatic moves which will turn any circus acrobat into shame) you will get slow-motion captions of the prince executing some deadly combat moves and some unbelievable melee fighting. The prince at one hand has to run for his life as he is being constantly chased by the mad "Dahaka" (It is in fact irritating to die over and over again since this Dahaka is very fast and once you miss one step, it is all over) on the other hand, he has to battle numerous ugly looking and scary opponents, which makes this sequel feel more like a survival horror game rather than an action game. Background music and sound effects: A big difference from the prequel would be that in this sequel, the backbone of the game is Rock music. In some instances the music will be mixed Rock and Oriental. The rock music blends well with the fast-paced combat action but somehow I missed the original Persian mood that was present in the prequel. Sound effects are very good, but enemy taunts are muffled during the game play. Lip sync is well coordinated. Controls: Easy execution of combo moves by simply pressing buttons in sequence. Movements are smooth and coordinated to your game-pad. Camera angles are poor however, and this is an aspect of the game that requires improvement. There are certain times when the wall will block your view and there is nothing you can do with the right analogue stick to improve it. Pros: Everything about this game is marvelous, ranging from graphics to controls. Improvements over the prequel's battle engine. Indulging story and game play Cons: Bad camera angles, in game cut scenes could have been better. Some bugs where you will see planks and woods floating above a switch. Final verdict: If you have enjoyed the prequel, there is no reason why you should not buy this. For people who are new to this game, it is definitely worth a buy if you are an action game fan. Other than that, this game deserves AT LEAST a rental. Word of caution: There are many bugs in this otherwise great game. Some major bugs could well impede your progress and you will have to restart the entire game.
Other Helpful Reviews for Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
The story continues from The Sands of Time in this Prince of Persia Sequel. This time, the Prince is out to change his destiny and alter time to circumvent his inevitable demise. The overall core game-play of the orig... Read Full Review
Warrior Within is an astonishing game and on which every action-adventure gamer should have. The prince that we all knew from Sands of Time has altered into a darker and more aggressive person. Many may criticize that du... Read Full Review
