Prince of Persia: Warrior Within Q&A - Free-Form Combat

Currently scheduled for release in November, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is the upcoming sequel to Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, which was released in November last year. The new game promises to improve upon its predecessor with more-detailed graphics, more-varied enemies, a darker storyline, and a completely reworked combat system, which was what we recently discussed with Bertrand Helias, lead producer on the game.

GameSpot: When conceiving Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, why did you choose to work primarily on the fighting system?

Bertrand Helias: When defining the vision of Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, we initially started with a set of strong emotions we wanted to provide. Essentially, we wanted this game to feel like a thriller--to generate a sense of fear and oppression. In this game, the Prince has to fight for his life. So we made him more powerful, more determined, and more aggressive. He is a master warrior with deadly skills. We've placed him in a darker, more mysterious, and more oppressive environment, with fiercer and more-frightening enemies.

As a master warrior, the new Prince must be able to use new techniques, and we really think the new combat system we've designed will bring a new meaning to the action combat genre. Each fight will be unique, and players will be able to defeat enemies in their own ways.

Additionally, when making a video game, you always try ways to provide players with entertainment, strong emotions, and rewards. When designing the game, we all came up with the conclusion that allowing players to use more-diversified fighting techniques will bring them all these elements.

GS: And the free-form fighting system is actually related to a lot of the different innovative aspects of the sequel?

BH: As a master warrior, the Prince is able to perform a great variety of advanced and deadly fighting techniques. He is now able to fight [while] taking advantage of the environments around him (ladder, pillars, walls, ropes, and so on), [so he can] grab enemies, take their weapons and throw them, or use them as secondary weapons. In fact, there are dozens of possibilities.

The Prince can also use his superior agility to gain the upper hand on his enemies. For each action, you'll have a choice of several new actions so that you can create custom combo chains throughout the fight to defeat enemies your own way.

Each time you press the jump button, for example, you will have the opportunity to trigger an additional attack (like a sword attack, a kick, a rebound, or a weapon throw). Each time you press the grab button, you will be able to combine a grab attack with one of four other ones (grab and throw, grab and cut your enemy in half, grab and rebound, or grab and strangle). It's actually a "tree" of choices that develops as you fight.

This combat system allowed us to make a game that is at least as rich as the most famous 3D combat games, but we have a lot more to offer players, [because] PoP:WW is still an action adventure game with equally good platform and puzzle sections.

Eventually, each player will be able to define his own style--[though] this might actually make the game tougher than Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. The fighting sequences will be really unique but very exciting!

GS: How many weapons will you find in the game? How does each weapon affect your fighting style?

BH: The Prince is now able to use a vast array of deadly weapons [that are] split into four main classes. Each class generates a different experience, as they [each] force the Prince to fight with a different strategy. Each weapon can sustain a certain number of hits before it breaks; [each] has a specific rate of attack; and [each] deals different amounts of damage. Additionally, each class has one specific "special attack." Finally, the most talented players will be able to find "fortune weapons." Oops! I wasn't supposed to tell you that.

GS: Tell us more about the enemies in Warrior Within and how they'll be different from the enemies in other games.

BH: Actually, the design of the enemies is part of the new combat system. To make combat in PoP:WW deeper than all other combat action games, we wanted to define a large variety of enemies with different skills and behaviors for each. In doing so, we actually force players to develop a new strategy for each enemy. In fact, we've designed the enemies to force players to master the new fighting system.

Different enemies fight in different ways [by] taking advantage of their physical characteristics and using either short-ranged or long-ranged attacks. Hordes of creatures will join forces and use various strategies to try to destroy the Prince. In order to defeat these enemies, you have to exploit all the possibilities of the combat system.

GS: And how will you make sure that players can master the sequel's different combination attacks without having the game become frustrating?

BH: Actually, the new combat system will be very intuitive and easy to master. Moreover, the very first levels are designed as tutorials to teach players how to master all the moves and fighting techniques.

GS: Fair enough. Thanks, Bertrand.

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is scheduled for release later this year. Be sure to browse GameSpot's gamespace for exclusive new movie footage and new screenshots of the game.