The innovative plot, dark environments, intriguing combats and a lengthy campaign make Warrior Within an amazing play.
Plot:
After the Prince used the Sands of Time to turn back time and rewrite history, he finds himself being chased by the Dahaka, the Guardian of the Timeline, who is sent to ensure that the Prince dies and thus restore order to the Time line. The Prince learns about the existence of the Island of Time - Birthplace of the Sands of Time, governed by the Empress of Time, from an old wise man. Full of pride, anger and thinking only about himself, the Prince leaves for the Island of Time to prevent the sands from being created and hence destroying the reason for Dahaka to chase him...
Gameplay:
The Gameplay has gone though some major changes this time around. The Prince can wield two weapons and can perform several combos and some pretty useful sand attacks. The Prince can use the environment around him to his advantage and attack multiple enemies at the same time. The sand tanks in this game have been reduced to six and many new traps have been introduced to make this game a little bit more challenging. The life upgrade challenges are now full of intelligently laid down traps. Ubisoft has concentrated alot on combat this time around and the toughness of the
combat sequences has been increased and is much superior and more complicated than any other Prince of Persia title out there. The number of boss fights in this game have also been increased and are more exciting, which is another plus for this game.
There are time portals in the game using which the prince can travel through time and hence the game has to be played both in the past and present. While playing in the past, the traps are the main problems, while the present being more scary, has dangerous enemies and the fast and furious Dahaka chases. The game is no longer linear as well. There are some areas that are accessible only after acquiring certain abilities. There are many twists in the game, the most surprising one coming after seventy percent of the game is complete. This last section of the game has alot in store, is very interesting and is definitely the high point of this game.
Graphics, Sound and Techinicality:
Unlike Sands of Time, the environments in Warrior Within are dark and gory rather than being subtle and calm. This is a good and refreshing change in my opinion. The architecture in some areas is just amazing, like the towers in the Garden area and the dark mechanical tower which is full of levers, gears, and pendulums. The game is vastly different from Sands of Time, but it's still a great, great game. But, there are certain similarities (good and bad) as well - The soundtracks are again brilliantly composed which adds to the greatness of this game, but are exact opposite of the Sands of Time ones. They aren't soothing but definitely set your pulse racing as they are full of rock guitar.
There are some technical flaws in the game that ruin the experience somewhat. The camera angles are still a big problem specially during combat sequences. This is one area Ubisoft really needs to work on. Voice synchronization is another problem, for example, in certain cut-scenes, the audio lags behind the lip synching which is disappointing. There is a bit of stuttering in the game as well but this is very minor flaw.
Summing up:
Other than the many new elements that have been introduced in the game,
there are collectibles to hunt for this time out and an alternate ending.I've always been a fan of the Prince of Persia franchise and, Overall, I think Warrior Within is a great sequel to Sands of Time and lives up to its expectations brilliantly but those who are looking for the same charm in the game may not find the game that amazing, but still Warrior Within is easily recommended for any action adventure fan.
Pros: Great gameplay, visually stunning, lengthy campaign, awesome combat, amazing soundtracks.
Cons: Camera angles, voice synchronization and some other minor technical flaws.
This game gets an 9.3/10.