The prince is back, and this time he's formidable.
The first thing I’m going to say is that I don’t want to give too much away as far as the story goes. Prince of Persia is heavily based on a fantastic story and I’d rather you play it to unveil it for yourself. Needless to say, the basic concept is the prince is trying to stop the sand from ever being created, while being pursued by a dark sinister creature named the Dahaka. The plot is full of twists and turns that should keep you on the edge of your seat the whole way through.
The graphics in the game are very well presented; in fact they are nothing less than awesome, including the phenomenal cut scenes. The textures are smooth and the whole world that you’re in is very believable. There is definitely an improvement from the first game, not a massive improvement but enough to be able to notice. It’s just amazing how nice everything is, I felt like a tourist half the time taking in the sites, all I needed was my camera and I would have been sorted. The fact that a game can come from one of Nintendo’s third party developers and still look so great is also very encouraging.
Ubisoft have taken the prince of Persia series in a whole new direction with this installment by incredibly changing the combat engine. They have done this by adding a variety of combo attacks at the prince’s disposal. The prince has always been acrobatic when it comes to navigating through a level, well now he is just as acrobatic when it comes to his fighting style. At times I thought he was break dancing in sort of a Run Dmc kind of style. It really does look great when you pull off these combos just at the push of a few buttons, which adds to the whole pick up and play aspect of the game. Another cool addition is the slow down effect that randomly happens when you pull off a combo. Watch in slow motion as you slice through an enemy’s neck; watch the head fly into the air followed by a cloud of blood. Which is another new thing about the game, blood has replaced the sand, which means you should prepare yourself for a much more gory and gruesome playing experience. Once again I don’t want to go into to much detail about what the actual moves entail, but a taster would be saying you can steal enemies’ weapons and perform neck snapping strangulations.
The prince also has a few sand focus attacks which are very effective against multiple enemies. One of these is an explosive attack you can use when knocked over to clear some space to ready yourself; the other is far more exciting. When under extreme pressure from multiple enemies you can do this. Hit the R+L buttons together and the screen turns deep red, and the prince goes into a crazed frenzy with his sword. The only way I can describe how fast he is actually going is if you imagine a bat going through hell. This move is absolutely awesome, and is nothing but flawless design from Ubisoft.
Unfortunately there is something that Ubisoft have changed in the game which isn’t so good. They have changed the personality of the prince from being a polite, courageous hero, to a person with somewhat of an audacious attitude. Recurrently grunting and shouting battle chants throughout the game. I mean you would expect him to make an angry comment when under attack, but not when you smashing a stand to get a weapon. Something else that also warrants a mention is the ratio of puzzle elements to fighting. Warrior within concentrates a lot more on combat than puzzles, unlike the first game which was more puzzle based. Although saying that, there are great puzzle sections based throughout the game to break up the action. You should also prepare yourself to become an acrobatic master when attempting to gain the life upgrades. (You have been warned)
As far as replayability goes, you will be playing through this game at least twice in its lifespan. There are three different difficulty levels to play through, easy, medium, and the hard mode which will test even veteran gamers. Ubisoft have also added lashings of artwork and animations for you to collect during your quest. You do this by breaking open the wooden boxes hidden throughout the game. The animations are so good that you will want to go back again and again until you have them all.
The sound in the game is very similar to the first game in that is very good and really fits with the setting. As usual there is no music during puzzle elements, however, when the action is about begin the music kicks in and creates that heart pounding atmosphere.
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is nothing less than a great game. It has been conceived with delicate and precise care throughout which really shows. The question is, ‘Does this game do enough to warrant a place next to its forerunner’, and the answer being quite simply, yes. This game is nothing more than an epic, and lives up to all expectations that have been set for it. The way that your control of the prince isn’t just matter of thinking about what you need to do, it just come naturally as if his abilities are part of your DNA structure. The idea of a game being able to do that to a player is just astounding. I wouldn’t recommend playing this game if you haven’t played the first due to the whole story factor. However if you have played the first and not this one, then to purchase this game is an absolute must. So there you have it locked, stocked and waiting for you to experience, the greatness of this Gamecube classic.