Reviewed: February 7, 2005
Reviewed by: Mark Smith
Publisher
Ubisoft
Developer
Ubisoft Montreal
Released: December 2, 2004
Genre: Action
Players: 1
ESRB: Mature
10
10
7
9
9.0
Supported Features
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
It used to be that only death and taxes were the only sure things in life, but I think we can all agree that if a game achieves any type of relative success that a sequel is inevitable, which is how we find ourselves exploring the dark and sinister world of Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, the latest installment in the unnamed Prince’s adventures that picks up a few years after the Sands of Time ended.
Apparently Dahaka, the guardian of time is not entirely happy about the Prince tampering with the timeline and has committed himself to tracking down and killing our hero. We join the Prince as he is once again being pursued by the shadowy guardian, and after a daring escape he resolves himself to traveling to the Island of Time where he hopes to travel back and stop the Sands of Time from ever being created. Confused yet?
The story is definitely more complex, which only begins to hint at the new vision Ubisoft has taken with the franchise. This is a much darker Prince, more moody, more violent, and definitely loaded with more action than ever before set in a much darker atmosphere. For loyal fans of the series, this might just be too much to handle. Rather than playing a hero you end up playing a self-centered jerk, looking out for number one, and taking crap from no one.
Even though the story has sunk to new lows the gameplay has never been better. The designers have been listening to the criticisms and wishes of the people who played the first game and many of those ideas have been incorporated in this sequel.
The Prince has a whole new set of moves to complement his existing deadly repertoire. He can now vault on vertical poles twirling around with blades extended slicing anything within reach. He can now leap onto tapestries and slide down by using his blade – perhaps one of the most requested fan additions.
The prince can now also wield two weapons using them in deadly combos and fatality moves, plus in a pinch he can launch that extra blade as a throwing weapon. Suffice to say, the prince has a deadly array of combat moves to match his bad attitude. The Prince also boasts a “free-form combat system” that allows you to create your own combos on the fly by mixing dual blades or single-blade and grab moves.
The world of the Prince is now much more open and far less linear. After the first few levels you are free to explore the world and tackle the primary puzzles in any order you choose. You are free to retrace your steps and explore previous levels, perhaps to locate those cleverly concealed treasure chests that contain bonus artwork.
Another interesting twist is the addition of Time Chambers, rooms where the Prince can enter and travel to the past or back to the present. The transitional effect is simply amazing, reminding me of the room transitions in Legacy of Kain. Not only does the architecture change but so do the creatures you encounter. A structure in ruins during present day can instantly be returned to pristine condition when you travel back in time.
The levels are rather ingenious, which is a good thing considering how much backtracking is involved. Some areas are breathtaking like the Garden Tower and the intricate design of the Mechanical Tower. These levels are simply inspired and the environment puzzles are tightly integrated into the design.
Warrior Within delivers a perfect mix of combat, acrobatics, and puzzle solving with a new emphasis on environmental puzzles (traps). You’ll still need to master the wall run and the horizontal bar swings, climbing, balancing, and manipulating time to get past certain puzzles. The difference in the sequel is that the environments push you into action. Ledges will crumble or platforms will move around increasing the intensity of the action. There are even a few chase sequences where you are running from Dahaka that are almost pure arcade in nature.
Much like the music, I was not impressed with the graphics during the opening shipboard level. The graphics looked grainy and jaggy and the textures were dull and lifeless. I was screaming, “PS2 port” all the way until the next level when things took a turn for the better.
Warrior Within presents a convincing dark and sinister atmosphere; even the Prince looks more chiseled with a perpetually pissed-off demeanor pasted on his square jaw. And if you think the Prince looks good standing still just wait until you see the flawless animation when he goes to work slicing and dicing. Given the nature of the free-form combat, you are basically creating the combos on the fly and each of the Prince’s moves blend together seamlessly, even when you mix in acrobatics with the combat.
The levels are massive and visually breathtaking. My aforementioned favorite, the Garden Tower is something that looks like it was ripped from Myst for sheer architectural wonder than given a Persian treatment. All of the levels with the exception of the ship level all create a unified environment and the visual shift between time zones is handled with so much subtle detail you will want to explore almost as much as fight.
Throw in just about every special visual effect in the Xbox’s bag of tricks; particles, lighting, shadows, and rich detailed textures, and you have one of the best looking, albeit sinister and dark, games available for the system.
I have to say that for the first ten hours of this game I couldn’t stand the music. Gone was the rich Arabian flavor and delicate Persian instruments, strings, woodwinds, etc. and now we get this heavy metal track that turns the entire game into a commercial for MTV. Just because you can afford to hire Godsmack to do a song for the game doesn’t make it right. There are a few ethnic flavored tunes that make it into the game, but for the most part this is the Headbangers’ Ball.
But oddly enough, as the eleventh hour set in I actually started to find a comfortable groove with the music and it started to blend with my combat moves and even fit in with the darker image of Warrior Within. I’m still not convinced a rock and roll soundtrack was the way to go but at least I’m not as pissed off about it.
The voice work is pretty bad this time around, at least in the game, and the Prince and any of the enemies who talk have some really bad quips and jibes. I was amused the first time the Prince uttered, “You Bitch!” during the first sub-boss encounter, but that was the end of my enjoyment as far as dialogue. The movies are significantly better with both scripted dialogue and performance.
The sound effects are excellent when you can actually hear them above the droning soundtrack. Metal blades clanking together, stone scraping stone, and all sorts of environmental noises are presented in a rich Dolby Digital mix.
Fans and critics alike complained that the Sands of Time was too short, which is probably more of a compliment since the game was so good you never really wanted it to end. Anyway, Ubisoft has listened and Warrior Within is nearly 50% larger and when combined with the increased difficulty even experienced warriors can expect a solid 12-15 hours of gameplay.
As the final score might indicate, Prince of Persia has lost a bit of its charm, and not because of the bold decision of delivering a darker Prince with attitude, but more to the compilation of a lot of little things. Despite the new combat moves, traps, and enemies, the game did run just a tad too long for my taste, and while I don’t mind a robust adventure, there was just to much repetitive backtracking in Warrior Within.
And even though I have come to terms with the music, it shouldn’t take anyone ten hours to get comfortable with the soundtrack of any game. Most people would have just turned it down or off and many likely will. If designers are going to make bold musical choices at least offer custom soundtrack support in case you screw up.
Obviously, if you played and enjoyed Sands of Time then Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is a no-brainer. You will love the action, new weapons, moves, monsters, and locales. This is definitely a worthy additional to your Xbox library but comes up short in the sheer originality and wonder of the original.