Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
Score: 88% ESRB: Mature Publisher: Ubisoft Entertainment Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 Genre: Action
Graphics & Sound: Prince of Persia: Warrior Within ramps up the graphics from the first game. The tone of the entire game is much darker, which is reflected in the game's main character, the Prince, and the environments he travels through. This darkness is helped in big part by the game's excellent use of lighting effects. Torches light narrow paths and dim sunlight breaks through thin cracks, producing an eerie feeling throughout. While the still screenshots look impressive, they look even better in motion. Animation is one of the game's true high-points. The Prince can pull off a wide variety of moves, each of which flow seamlessly into one another. This helps to generate an almost movie-like feel during fights. Sound is an area where you'll either love it or hate it. A good part of the game is spent in a restless silence, with a few chords or other ambient sounds trickling around the area as you try to solve puzzles. Music does kick in to help push the action. Most of the game's score consists of guitar-heavy rock that doesn't seem to fit the Arabic theme. A few Middle Eastern influcences find their way into the game, which turned out to be some of my favorite parts of the soundtrack. Voice work is top-notch, at least during cinemas and cut scenes. During gameplay, characters will make comments that get really lame and boring after you've heard them for the tenth time in a row. Even some of the Prince's smart-ass comments, which really helped to set his character in the first game, are gone. Instead they've been replaced with cynical boasts, reflecting the "new" bad-ass Prince.
Gameplay: As punishment for tampering with the Sands of Time, fate’s avatar, Dahaka, wants the Prince dead. Not one to bow to fate, despite the warnings that he can't escape it, the Prince devises a plan to travel back in time and stop the Sands from ever being created, thus lifting the curse. His journey takes him to the Island of Time -- the Sand's origin. As was the case in the first game, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within doesn't focus too much on story, opting to instead focus primarily on gameplay. The major focus of the game is the prince's abilities to walk on walls, jump super long distances and pull off all kinds of acrobatic feats. Levels once again revolve around dodging blades, crossing wide chasms and pulling off other gravity-defying maneuvers. Each level is a mind-job of obstacles, forcing you to look at every option and think about every little factor. Jumping to another ledge is rarely as easy as just jumping, and usually requires a few vaults from poles, a quick dash up the side of a wall and maybe a few back flips. Puzzles seem very daunting at first, but are paced in such a way that they're never too overwhelming. Through careful camera control and by only showing players what they need to know, the game allows you to focus on one part of the puzzle at a time instead of wondering how to navigate the maze of poles, walls and other obstacles. Exclusive to the Xbox version are Time Attack and Arena Survival modes. As the name suggests, Time Attack finds players completing levels as quickly as possible. Arena mode has players traveling from room-to-room, facing waves of enemies and a timer. As players complete rooms, a timer is reset and the whole thing starts again. Scores from both of these modes can be shared online over Xbox Live. While not a true online mode, some gamers will still get a rise out of the bragging rights both of these modes present.
Difficulty: Pacing puzzles in small, easy to digest bites certainly makes things easier -- but not by much. Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is still a tough nut to crack and can lead to some rough gameplay for those without patience. Trial-and-error gameplay is a big part of problem solving and the game as a whole. Finding just the right times to jump is a difficult task. While it is made easier through use of the Sands of Time, which allow the Prince to reverse time (provided he has sand stored in the amulet), there are still some really difficult parts that could warm up even the coolest of heads.
Game Mechanics: Combat was a major flaw in the first game, prompting a revamp of the system. The new, free-form combat system allows for more combos and gives players more options for dealing with enemies. The Prince can now wield two weapons, one of which is a sword he is always armed with and the other is one he can pick up from fallen enemies. Weapons acquired from enemies have a limited use and will eventually break, but pack quite a punch while they last. These weapons can also be thrown at enemies for a little more power and some ranged defense. Each weapon comes with its own set of combos, and benefits in combat. The new system isn't as cut and dry as the option to use two weapons. Now the Prince himself is just as dangerous as the sword he carries. He can vault off enemies just as easily as he does walls, as well as swing around poles and launch himself into enemies. Also at his disposal are the options of using enemies as shields or performing quick kills. Learning to use all of the Prince's combat abilities is as important as learning to wall jump or slide down a pole. While fundamentally the same game, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within isn't as good as the original. Much of the charm that made the first one enjoyable has been taken out. In its place is a dark, brooding game that comes off as generic in feel. Some will like the new twist, others won't. I'm of the latter opinion.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
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