Prince of Persia: Warrior Within sees one of my favorite gaming characters in his second three-dimensional adventure this generation. I thought Sands of Time was an exceptional game, and I had extremely high expectations for Warrior Within. My initial reactions were mixed at best, and I actually put the game down for a while. I recently picked it back up, and I have realized that Warrior Within is nearly as good as its predecessor. For those of you who know absolutely nothing about the Prince of Persia, he is an acrobatic, sword-slinging, bada$$. During the Sands of Time, the Prince became involved in a time twisting plot. Now time is out to get him, and he decides to challenge his fate rather than resigning himself to a gory death at the Dahaka’s hands. The story is convoluted at times (especially since you’ll be traveling between the past and present), but there are some really great twists (more particularly, one near the end of the game really made me fall in love with it, but I don’t want to spoil it for you). Warrior Within is considerably darker that Sands of Time, and I recommend it only to an older audience, as it is extremely gory. With that said, I feel that the darker atmosphere is a distinct jump in the direction of the series. I don’t feel that it cheapened the game, but I feel like it was an awfully swift move from the almost fun-loving Prince found in Sands of Time. Warrior Within does manage to pull off the darker atmosphere pretty well. I just wish that there had been some kind of transitional game, because the change in his character is quite astute. The game is controlled much in the same way Sands of Time was. The difference is that the combat experience is filled out in Warrior Within. You may have seen the combat tree picture, and I love being able to choose different combinations of moves. I think Ubisoft did a fabulous job at making the Prince an astounding fighter. The new dual-weapon system adds another great layer to fighting in this game. Meanwhile, you still have all the Prince’s old acrobatic tricks, many of which have been incorporated into combat as well. All of this looks exceptional because Ubisoft took extra care in designing the Prince’s movements realistically. There is a decent mix of combat and puzzle solving in this game, rather than the heavily puzzle-based formula of Sands of Time. This is nice since both aspects are expertly executed. The graphics in Warrior Within are pretty good too. There are a lot of rich environments and evil looking enemies that come to life, but the graphics seem merely above average. I had been hoping for better, but what can I do? The sound was also somewhat mediocre, as you tend to hear the same Godsmack song over and over until your ears want to bleed. The combat sounds good, but the Prince yells out a lot of similar phrases over and over. It’s awfully redundant. I wish it had more of a soundtrack like Sands of Time. One thing that I was disappointed with is the sheer number of glitches that I’ve come across (and several harsher ones that I’ve read about on the internet). The game just isn’t well polished. Sometimes the voices will stop playing during cut scenes. Other times, spikes that should be gone will still show up (although they won’t injure you). I’ve heard of much worse though, such as a purple-ish Prince, or completely losing the ability to progress due to some kind of sand portal error. Overall, if you liked the first game you must play this game. It feels great to be back in the Prince’s boots. The filled out combat made this game for me, and the fact that the plot is excellent helped hold my attention. I can not wait to play through it again and unlock all of the special hidden items. Warrior Within keeps the Prince alive, but I hope that the next game in the series brings him to life even more!
Other Helpful Reviews for Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
The Prince of Persia: Warrior Within boasts an interesting storyline concluding from Ubisofts first edition 'The Sands of Time. A new improved combat engine has also been implemented, as well as a look around camera angl... Read Full Review
prince of persia: warrior within. I can not begin to tell you why exactly ubi soft decided to make the prince of persia series into some kind of a rock heavy metal game. the prince of persia was not meant to be a rocker,... Read Full Review
