Prince of Persia: Warrior Within review:4 stars (A Darker "Prince," Not a Better "Prince") - "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" was a phenomenal game, and delivering a follow-up in just under a year is always a tricky proposition. However, that is exactly what developer Ubisoft Montreal did with "The Warrior Within," a mostly worthy successor that unfortunately takes about as many steps forward as it takes backward.

In a strange turn, "Warrior Within" trades in the storybook style of its predecessor for a hard-edged vibe, denoted by the series' switch from a "Teen" rated game in "Sands of Time" to its current "Mature" verdict. The prince continues his adventure as a darksome pirate, less boyish and more sinister, haunted by his past and the beast his actions unleashed. This beast, known as the Dahaka, pursues him relentlessly, it seems, giving him not a moment's rest. It devours everything in its wake, and the only way it can be stopped, the prince decides, is to find the mysterious Empress of Time... and kill her. It's an interesting switch in tone from the first game, but not an entirely successful one. The mood of "Sands" was considerably more original than what's offered up here, and the absence of Farah as a pivotal character is a sad loss to the franchise. Still, it suffices even if it's easy to mourn the alteration.

Gameplay remains much the same, which is a great thing. The prince still has all the same nifty moves at his disposal (plus a few more), and is as nimble and easy to control as ever. In a curious plot hole, the character now lacks the dagger of time but can still rewind it provided he has enough sand in his possession - which is welcome, because this was the stand-out feature of the game's predecessor, and given the harder difficulty of this follow-up it's more useful than ever. Whether or not it makes logical sense from a story perspective is relatively moot. In any case, more time-shifting abilities crop up as the game proceeds, most of them aimed at helping the prince survive in battle.

Speaking of battle, this is an area of "Warrior Within" that has seen much improvement, as combat was the weakest link in the "Sands of Time" chain. The new blood and dismemberment options still seem remarkably out of character, but the action itself is integrated much more skillfully into the gameplay - which is good, since combat plays a noticeably larger role this time around. The moves at the prince's disposal are much more effective than they were previously, allowing for more interesting combos and environmental attacks that sometimes prove necessary in surviving some rather challenging fights.

Boss encounters are another new addition in "Warrior Within," as there are several interspersed throughout. These are interesting in that while they are, for the most part, a welcome feature, the majority of combos are discouraged thanks to each boss's uncanny ability to block these kinds of attacks. Instead, defeating these nefarious characters basically involves lots and lots of rolling and flipping while occasionally coming in for a simple stab or slash, then repeating the process until they eventually die. These could have provided a great opportunity to rely on the game's new, more complex maneuvers, but instead they dissolve into a stick-and-move routine that's only so exciting.

Perhaps the coolest addition to the game, however, is the Dahaka itself, which periodically pops up and forces the prince to flee for his life, usually over lots and lots of obstacles that get in his way. This provides a nice change of pace, adding loads of tension when it works at its best. Unfortunately, sometimes the camera's positioning during these sequences works against you, cropping out the dangers you're fleeing towards. Mostly, though, it's a rush of intense gameplay that shakes up the experience in a positive way.

But despite the new and improved combat and the occasional Dahaka-haunted obstacle course, "Warrior Within" is a mere shadow of its predecessor's former glory, thanks in part to the shift in tone, but more importantly to its overall less impressive design. The hub system in the game artificially lengthens the experience, and not in a good way. Lots and lots of backtracking is required, and prepare to see the same environments over and over again during the course of the journey. What's more, sometimes it is extremely unclear what you are supposed to be doing, and where it needs to be done at, and given the massive environment, which you can roam almost freely, it can become rather mind-boggling and out and out aggravating. The first game just felt tighter, like a well-oiled machine. Not so with regards to the sequel.

All in all, "Warrior Within" is certainly a very good game, but a disappointment as well. Hopefully a third installment will find a happy medium in terms of its tone, but more importantly add the much improved combat to a game that is less confounding and sharper in its design. In the end, though, "Sands of Time" is a tough act to follow, but, for the most part, its successor does its job admirably.
5 stars (Overall, a worthy sequel) - Prince of Persia 1 is one of the best games of this generation of consoles. Warrior Within may not be as good, but is still a great game.

If I could, I would give this game a 4.75 stars. It is a great sequel to an incredible game. I would say this game is better, but the story is not as good as the first one. It is still good, but it takes longer for the story to develop.

The graphics in Warrior Within are breath taking. Really, they are so much better then Sands of Time its incredible. The Cut scenes are some of the best to appear in video games. The facial animation in game still sucks but is better then the first.

The sound is easily the low point. Some of the one-liners are bad and very few will like the heavy rock during the game, although I actually liked it.

One of my main problems with the sands of time was the combat. Needless to say, it is MUCH better is WW. This is the only sword fighting game where you can actually dual weild. You can perform combos with the enviroments help. It is just so much better and is actually fun this time around.

Overall, if you liked the Sands of Time, you will like Warrior Within.

Concept- Bring back the Prince, but make him more mature and pissed off.

Presintation- 9.0- The box art is awesom and the menues are good as well.

Graphics- 9.4- So much better then the first, though facial animation is still bad in game.

Sound- 7.5- Easily the low point of the game. Some one liners suck and few like the rock music. (as I sad before) Though the battle sounds are good.

Playability- 9.3- Still has the wonky camera, but combat is easier.

Entertainment- 9.4- Great sequel, though not Game of the Year material like the first.

Replay value- 8.5- You will want to go through the story again and there are xbox live features that extend the life of this title.








(Xbox live features are NOT multiplayer features) 5 stars (Great Action/Adventure Game for Xbox) - This game is very fun. The graphics are very good though can be fuzzy at times espeically during the fighting sections. The fighting styles and moves are very easy to grasp within the first few minutes of gameplay. The tutorial is built into the storyline which makes it fun to get through. The storyline is very good, though the cutscenes are used far too often. Overall, I highly recommend this game.
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within Features:
Video Games
Xbox (x box)
Microsoft
Action
Adventure
Xbox
RP (rating pending)
Adventure

Prince of Persia- Warrior Within is the Video Game version. The full version can be purchased by clicking on the "CLICK HERE TO ORDER" button below for around 29.99USD.