Not quite "Game of the Year" material. More like "Game of the Month."
User Rating: 8 | Prince of Persia: Warrior Within PS2
While considering what to put in my review of Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, I sadly was able to come up with more and more negative aspects of the game. With PoP:WW, Ubisoft changes the atmosphere of last year's hit game to a much darker and disturbing one. The Prince is no longer the "hero" that he seemed to be, but instead a wisecracking fighter with an attitude. I personally enjoyed the new atmosphere and pounding rock soundtrack, but it could easily deter many gamers due to the "Mature" label placed on the game. The fatality-like animations when the Prince kills a sand monster are very cool, but the inclusion of blood seems forced. After all, these are monsters made of sand, so where is all of the blood coming from? There are also a few enemies who have some very sexual things to say. They are more or less overtones, but nonetheless still suggestive. The new fighting system, which sees the Prince able to do numerous acrobatic combos and dual-wield weapons, is fun at first but quickly loses its grandeur. Fighting gets repetitive and annoying as most of the enemies remain the same throughout the different levels with only a few battles against new foes thrown in to spice things up. Also new to this sequel are some extra sand powers. These come in very useful, and it's easy to keep your sand tanks filled by breaking the barrels laying around most areas. Despite the ease of most fights, the boss battles can present a challenge, and dying several times before figuring out the best strategy to defeat them with is common. The puzzles in the game are nowhere near as challenging as in last year's game. In Prince of Persia, I needed a guide at some points to figure out what to do. But in Warrior Within, I've never spent more than a few minutes deciding what route to take. The camera in the game can be very unhelpful at times, too. During chase scenes and at other random times, Ubisoft switches the camera to a cinematic one. Not good for gaming. Sure, it looks cool, but that doesn't matter if it causes you to die fifteen times because you don't know where you are going. The level designs in PoP:WW are amazing. Beautiful and very detailed, but consistency is lacking. The Prince will drop from a certain height to a ledge below at one point, but then in the next room the same drop will kill him because it isn't the way you are intended to go. This can be very, very frustrating when figuring out which way to go, because if you pick the wrong way the game will pretty much just help you to your demise. The storyline is an entertaining one that includes some plot twists. There are two endings, though I can't imagine anyone playing through a second time just to see a different ending in this game. Art chests are scattered throughout the game for you to find that will reveal... artwork. There are also life upgrades that are nearly impossible to find without the help of a guide. They can be gotten anytime by backtracking through the free-roaming levels, but it has been reported that games have been lost due to saving in a bad spot and losing a mission objective that the player once had. And there are a few special weapons to be found that provide a good laugh and some extra help in combat. All in all, PoP:WW is a fun game, but nothing that breaks any barriers. A couple of weekend rentals and long nights should see most gamers beating the game and not feeling bad about refusing to spend $50 on it. Warrior Within is a decent mix of battle and puzzle solving that most action gamers will enjoy, but perhaps a little more time in development would have done the finished product some good. 
