Prince of Persia The Sands of Time was one of the best games of 2003, and the defining game in the adventure genre. The control was as tight as it could possibly get, the stunts were crazy, and combat, while tedious after a while, was very cool and unique. What held it back was the fact that the platforming and fighting were kept very separate. Brutally long fights awaited you at the end of each platforming segments. The game kept moving back and forth, so the pacing was a bit off. Warrior Within is the next obvious step for the series, as it makes a noticeable evolution in both platforming and fighting, and tries to draw the two of them into the same world. And boy, does it ever succeed. If you thought the first was a dream come true, then Warrior Within is... beyond your wildest dreams.
I'm sure you've heard about how much darker the game is, so I'll spare you the cliched remarks about grittiness and whatnot. In The Sands of Time, The Prince did a fair amount of messing with the fabric of time. Let's face it, people really don't get the choice to reverse disasters of epic proportions and walk away completely unscathed. He let out those Sands, and he's going to pay for it with his life. Enter the Dahaka, an unstoppable beast who only exists to capture The Prince and kill him. The Prince is ragged, desperate, and for the first time in his life, afraid for his life. With nothing to lose, he heads for the Island of Time, where the Sands of Time were created. Perhaps if he can travel back in time, he can stop the Sands from ever being created! The Dahaka will no longer need him! Ah, if only it were that simple.
What an acrobat The Prince is! Sure, most people will tell you that his moves are impossible, and real humans can't run along walls or bounce of walls to reach higher ledges. They'll tell you that real humans can't vault from ledges, swing from a pole and then roll underneath a huge blade in order to escape certain death. But The Prince laughs at us real humans, as he can do pretty much anything you can think of, including dropping off ledges and stabbing his sword into banners to slow his decent. At the bottom of the banner, he can of course flip off onto another banner, or ledge or whatever there may be waiting for him. He can also grab strands of rope as he wall runs, which he can use to extend his wall run even further. Not much was added to The Prince's repertoire, but considering his already heft list of moves, this can easily be forgiven. The traps are far more devious than the first game, some you shudder at just by looking at them. Some will take some time to figure out, while others can be just run through if you're quick enough. But fear not, because you won't find any game that controls better than this one. The best new addition to the platforming are the chase scenes. At certain points in the game, the Dahaka will show up and give you a run for your money. This forces you to just go, and think on your feet, which is something the first game never really tried to do. One wrong step, and the Dahaka will have you. Good thing those nifty Sand powers are back.
Some combat can be found during the platform segments, such as numerous instances where your wall run will turn into a wall charge as an opponent is coming right at you. If you get hit first, you're off the edge. Combat is usually in large chunks like the first game, but there are oftentimes fights right in the middle of platform segments. Fortunately, The Prince has quite a few new moves at his disposal to keep the fights short and to his advantage. He can now hold a secondary weapon, which can be thrown when no longer needed, but more importantly, it creates some brutal combination attacks that generally leaves your enemies missing half of their body. These two-handed moves are great for clearing crowds, and will often tear up your enemies before they can even make a move on you. He's still just as dangerous when fighting single-handedly. Here, he can grab an opponent, and then have his way with him. This could include strangling him, stealing his weapon, lopping his head straight off, throwing him into a group or vaulting him right over the edge of the cliff. It's up to you really, whatever style you're more adept with. I found it easier to clear out the crowd with two weapons, then picking off the stronger enemies with grapples. Most enemies killed will leave Sands behind, which automatically fill your gauge.
The Sands of Time work exactly as they did in the first game. When you screw up, or die, just hold down the L1 button, and time will rewind and you can try it again. It alleviates frustration, and they're good for practice runs. The Prince can also slow down time, unleash a few magic attacks, and even send himself into a hyper-fast mode, allowing him to slice and dice dozens of times before the enemy can even raise his sword. He gains sand tanks as the game progresses, so you'll be able to hold more and more. But once you exahust them all and die, you're dead.
The graphics are quite a bit better than the first game. While the Mechanical Tower is a tad drab and dark, the rest of the game will definitely have you reminiscing of Sands of Time. That soft lighting is back, and it still creates a very ornate, otherworldly feeling. The Prince's world really is one of fantasy and high adventure, and the graphics illustrate that perfectly. One of the coolest things about this game is that The Prince travels to the past and back to the present several times. That means we get to see how the architecture used to look, and what it looks like now. The transformation is incredible, but it always makes sense. There's always a reason for something. The character models are cool, although I did prefer The Prince from the first game. Here, he looks beat up, cut up and tired, but I guess that happens when you live your life being chased by a horrific monster. The monsters are fairly well detailed, and look fantastic when they break down into the sands. I also must note that the CG is very well done, and a remarkable improvement over the first game. They did away with the original voice actor for The Prince, which means no British accents. This is forgiveable, but as a whole, the actors aren't overly impressive. There are a few good lines here and there, but nothing like the first game. He doesn't even talk to himself anymore! A lot of the sections in the game have a heavy metal riff, which is odd, but can be overlooked, as the rest of the score is quite good. Godsmack just doesn't do it for me.
So except for the sound department, Warrior Within improves on Sands of Time in every single aspect, which is quite a task. There are two endings, and loads of hidden extra's throughout the game that will keep you coming back for more. It's not a particularly hard game, though there are difficuly levels this time around. I honestly didn't expect this game to be a whole lot of anything special, just another rehash, but it truly is a great game that can't be missed. If Ubi Soft can find a way to mesh the platforming and fighting just a little bit more, they will have their masterpiece. As for now, they'll have to settle for "just another awesome game."
I can live with that.