Hardware Used:
- TV - PANASONIC VIERA 37” Plasma TV
- Home Theather System - YAMAHA Cinema DSP Digital Receiver
Last Christmas Prince of Persia: Sands of Time was one of the games to own for any console. A year later, and one new sequel, we’ve got a title every bit as good as the original. Prince of Persia: Warrior Within refines everything in the original, adds a much darker tone, and guarantees you’ve got yet another title to buy this holiday season.
In last years game the Prince opened up the sands of time (hence the title), but unknowingly he also unleashed a monster whose sole purpose is to bring him down. The story essentially revolves around that, and does it by using a much darker tone then the original game. Whether gamers who fell in love with the much lighter feel of the original fall in love with this new story remains to be seen.
The gameplay in Warrior Within has changed quite a bit from Sands of Time. The core of it still remains the same, but many additions have been thrown in. The fighting engine feels like it’s been overhauled. More combos, dual wielding, new weapons, weapon specific combos all combine to insure that you’ll be playing long into WoW before you completely master all of its moves. Although you’ll have all these new moves at your disposal, some may be frustrated at their lack of use during boss fights. The most devastating combos available in the game do not work against many of the bosses; which means you’ll be relegated to using the same basic stuff to whittle the bad guy’s health down.
One thing that has also changed from the original is the difficulty. Prince of Persia Warrior Within is every bit as hard as Sands of Time. In fact we’ll go on record and say the game has actually gotten harder. This may be as a result of the story impacting the gameplay. In WoW you explore the same settings in both the past and the present. Traps, obstacles, and even the way you navigate the environment changes depending on which time frame you’re in. An unfortunate reason for the increase in difficulty is the map which is meant to navigate you through environments and time. The map, besides telling you which area and time you need to be in, has a complete lack of detail on how you should get from point A to point B. Gamers may find themselves wasting 10 minutes heading the wrong way before the in game map is able to adequately tell them they’re actually not where they’re supposed to be.
Environmental puzzles still take time to solve in Prince of Persia Warrior Within. Running, climbing, jumping, bouncing off walls, are but a few of the things gamers will have to do to tame their environment. As was the case with the original, players have the option to ‘rewind’ time by pressing one button. The rewind feature allows you to back up time several seconds, which is really useful when you miss-judge how to move forward through an obstacle. This gameplay element allows for a little trial and error with many of the puzzles, but it’s not usable all the time. Players have a limited number of Sands Slots which determine the number of times you can perform the life saving maneuver. Be forewarned about the environmental puzzles though: at certain points in the game the mystical bad guy tracking you down, Dahaka, will show up and a super fast sequence will play itself out where you must navigate the environment as quickly as possible. Camera issues plague these encounters, and coupling that with the increased difficulty in having to solve the environmental puzzles quickly, you may find yourself dying in frustration over and over.
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Prince of Persia Warrior Within was released on all 4 major platforms, and it seems the Gamecube version is the one to buy. The PC version will require you to buy an analog controller, or it’ll be unplayable. The Xbox version has some sound sync issues, and the Playstation 2 version has a few graphical flaws. None of those issues show up on the Gamecube, so it’s something to consider when purchasing the game (if you own multiple platforms).
The Xbox version does support Xbox Live, albeit in a very limited way. You’ll be playing through obstacle courses (by yourself) online, and your high scores will be posted. Although not that impressive, it is an extra feature not found on any of the other releases.
Prince of Persia Warrior Within is a game every bit as good as the original from a technical standpoint. It’s up to gamers to decide whether the new dark tone of the title (it’s rated M for Mature), suits them well. The game’s tone may have changed drastically from Sands of Time but we personally still love everything it has to offer -- Definite recommendation.
