Prince of Persia: Warrior Within Updated Hands-On

Prince of Persia is back, and newly rechristened as Warrior Within. Click "Stream for Free" for higher resolution.

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is the upcoming follow-up to last year's impressive multiplatform reimagination of Jordan Mechner's classic platformer. Besides building on the engaging mix of adventuring and puzzle-solving that was an integral part of the previous game's appeal, Ubisoft's Montreal studio is making some significant tweaks to the experience to ensure Warrior Within is more than just a by-the-numbers sequel. A new, darker story, deeper fighting system, and more uses for your time powers are just some of the additions Ubisoft Montreal is hoping will offer an organic experience that is richer in every way than that of its predecessor. We had the chance to check out a new work-in-progress version of the game, this time on the Xbox, to get a sense of how close the game is getting to its lofty aspirations.

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within's story, which finds the prince racing to deal with the repercussions of his victory in the last game, lends itself to a more open-ended structure that won't be as linear as last year's game. You'll find several objectives to choose from as you progress through the levels. The game will also reward your progress with the opportunity to upgrade his princeliness with new combos, a new sword, and enhanced time powers.

We got a sampling of how this will work by playing several different levels in the game. While the sequel is similar in spirit to the first game in terms of enemies and puzzles, there were some nice, new tweaks that we observed. Our current favorite is the way in which you can use the environment to your advantage. While this obviously applies to the way you'll use the walls and structures around you as you battle enemies, Warrior Within will also let you use booby traps in certain levels to help even the odds when facing off against enemies. For example, you'll find pressure pads that trigger spikes to come up from the ground, which will impale and kill your foes.

The combat system is an accessible, flexible system that lets you go from single- to dual-wielding ass-whipping modes smoothly. One of the slickest touches is the ability to lock onto and hack a single enemy or to simply attack on a larger scale, focusing more on wide swings when dealing with mobs. You'll be able to pick up primary weapons, such as swords, maces, axes, and daggers that all have their own unique attacks and combos. But, if the need arises, you'll be able to make use of more than 50 secondary weapons that have their own attributes, such as vampiric effects that leech energy from your foes. The only catch to the secondary weapons is that they all have a certain amount of durability, meaning they won't last forever. You'll also be able to grab and throw certain foes, or just strangle them--a perfectly fine solution if ever there was one. Despite this rather lengthy list of attack options, you'll find that the disparate killing methods all work well together, thanks to the game's solid control.

The presentation in the work-in-progress version we played was looking good--it had strong visual and audio elements. As is apparent from the new screens, the graphics are shaping up well. The PlayStation 2 version of the game that we played looked good, and at this point, the Xbox version of the game is looking even better than its PS2 counterpart, as there is a higher level of detail and texture that gives the visuals a nice bit of polish. This is due, in part, to a new rendering engine that will allow for bump-mapping and specular lighting effects. The prince looks sharp in his new outfit and he moves smoothly, and there are new bits of animation that tie in nicely with the expanded fighting system.

The enemies you'll face, aside from being a more varied bunch of foes, will feature equally impressive detail that's more than just cosmetic. Some of the foes we encountered experienced a color change when they took enough damage, which alerted us to the fact that they were ripe for a finishing move. The environments in the game have a hefty dose of variety, featuring a good range of indoor and outdoor locales that are heavy on the brain-twisting puzzles. The final element in the visual mix is the game's camera system, which is undergoing some work to make it more agreeable during the fast-paced action sequences. Despite being in the early stages of the game, the frame rate was pretty solid.

The audio was probably the roughest element of the version we played, since some music and effects were still being implemented. The prince's basic effects for running and jumping, as well as for his time powers and combat, are complete in varying degrees and sound appropriate. Effects for some of the new foes and actions weren't always there, but what was there certainly made you keenly aware of your surroundings. The music tracks we heard were of the understated and ambient variety, in-line with The Sands of Time's approach.

Based on what we played, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is coming along fine on the Xbox. The core gameplay mechanics are solid, with the new fighting system and the new uses for the time powers standing out as marked improvements over last year's game. The graphics are being beefed up and they feature a great deal more variety, thanks to the wider range of locations for you to explore as well as the aforementioned polish to the prince and the rest of the characters in the game. We appreciate the diversity of environments on offer, such as the jungle and cave environments on display in the newly released screenshots. Is this all going to add up to be the ambitious game Ubisoft is touting it as? Quite possibly. The game already feels considerably different from its predecessor and handles nicely to boot. If Ubisoft Montreal can continue to keep heading in this positive direction, Warrior Within should be a worthy follow-up to the original game. It will almost certainly be one to watch for when it ships this fall for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, PC, and Xbox.