- Fight against an entire island of most brutal, unrelenting monsters who exist only to torment mankind
- Manipulate the environments and use your enemies against each other, for a new kind of fighting
- Use the Sands Of Time from the first game in all-new ways — create devastating new combos you create as you battle enemies
Prince of Persia Warrior Within is a sword-slashing sequel to the hit game, Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time. This time, our Prince is hunted by Dahaka, an immortal incarnation of Fate. The spirit seeks retirbution against the Prince, but he is wiser and deadlier than he was. To avoid his preordained death, he’ll travel to the infernal core of mankind’s worst fears.
Rating: 
(out of 226 reviews)
List Price: $ 19.99
Price: $ 16.75
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Review by T. Sparks for Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
Rating:
I was pleasantly suprised by Ubisoft’s other Prince of Persia offering–the Sands of Time–when I picked it up on clearance several months ago. The game had an undeniable charm, and, while the level structure needed some work, it was a great game.
The Warrior Within, however, takes a drastically different approach, both graphically and story-wise. Gone are the magnificent towers and palaces that filled Sands of Time, replaced instead with dank, gritty dungeons and fortresses. The game is much more dark, reflected in the voice acting, the music, and the overall story. I, for one, don’t mind this change as much, but I know that it’s a sticking point with some other gamers.
Graphics–I was actually slightly disappointed by the character models when I first started the game–they seemed a little bit too stiff for my liking. Perhaps it’s because the FMV sequences are truely excellent. However, I became used to the graphical style quickly. 4/5 stars.
Gameplay–the game really shines here, as it’s possible to pull off insane combos. I was worried that I would be relegated to simply mashing buttons, but I picked up on the “free-form fighting” system relatively quickly, and before I knew it, I was swinging around posts, bounding over enemies, propelling myself off of walls, and chopping off heads with the best of them. 5/5.
Sound–this is where Warrior Within suffers. The soundtrack is bearable in most locations, although industrial music is a very weird partnering for a game set in ancient Persia. I happen to like industrial music, but I can see how this would irritate some. Voice acting is OK, but the Prince has a new voice actor this time around. Some of the lines–particularly where the Prince curses–seem forced. 3/5.
Story–the story is interesting, although Ubisoft seems to have gone off the deep end. Sands of Time offered a very satisfying story that wrapped up neatly. But with Warrior Within . . . BOOM, just like that the Prince is running for his life. The story isn’t bad, it’s just that it doesn’t jive with the previous game like I think it should. 4/5.
Well worth the $50 I spent on it, I’m hoping that Ubisoft continues the Prince of Persia series.
Review by sporkdude for Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
Rating:
Prince of Persia, the Sands of Time was a unique and revolutionary game that relied on intuitive and slow paced gameplay with increased emphasis on thoughts and visuals as opposed to button twitching action. This game, the sequel, moves the game more towards the ordinary action, cliched video game, with increased annoyances from large fights, backtracking, and bosses. Original games shouldn’t move back towards the standard, formulaic game, but unfortunately, this does.
The first thing everyone is probably wondering is how different is this from the Sands of Time? Well, the puzzles, the intuitive and graceful controls and the fun movements are all there. Many of the same elements of gameplay still exist. Just getting from point A to point B in a large room with pillars, ledges, running on walls, swing on ropes, sliding down drapes, it’s all there. Still the same reliance on thinking, visuals. In fact, there is actual improvement. The last game had jumps that were questionable and jumps were made blindly. This game has eliminated much of that. Other improvements include the fact that you traverse the same palace within two different time periods, meaning that the same rooms will have different traps or different lighting. A very interesting and unique concept.
The other changes are more dramatic. The videos and styles are a little darker, they’ve added chase scenes, and most drastic of all, they changed the fighting system and added a lot more fighting.
First off, the videos, audio, and visuals of the enemies are of a slightly darker nature, which is pretty much the only reason why it’s a mature rating. It’s worth noting that they fixed the sound problems from SOT and added subtitles. They changed some of the music. While still ambient, fighting scenes switch to guitar riffs from Godsmack (I think). While I like Godsmack and I own a few albums of theirs, the guitar music is annoying and does not fit well in this game. The story is decent, and CGI is pretty good though. Unfortunately, I have no idea why they made it rated mature. Just removing a few lines, and removing the blood, and making small changes would make this rated T or E. It’s pretty pathetic when a video game feels it needs to add sexual connotations and needless blood just to increase sales. All it does is embarrass anyone who sees the game (polygon half-naked woman are just lame) and alienates a large group of players.
Secondly, they added more time-based schemes, most notably, chase scenes. Basically, a monster comes in and chases you and you have a limited amount of time to move from one room to another. Now, unfortunately, this does not work. The main reason is that the camera angles switch so often that orienting yourself takes a second, a second you cannot spare. What’s worse is that sometimes the cutscenes themselves ruin the momentum and cause you to lose you life. The chase scenes are basically just a sequence of run to room, get caught, start the scene over, run to the next room, get caught, repeat. Just boring, iterative, and badly designed. What’s worse is that some controls, noticeably swinging on ropes are poles, are not intuitive when timing is concerned.
Thirdly, there are also other cliched things that just annoyed me. Backtracking is slightly annoying, but the lack of balance is huge. The backtracking means that you’ll actually go through many of the same rooms a few times. One time I got really lost and had to refer to a walkthrough in order to get my bearings straight. It didn’t help that the map is absolutely useless, and it’s one big picture with two markers. Not too fun, and a large step backwards in gaming in my opinion. When I say lack of balance, I talk about the distribution of save points and life regeneration points. To reach one point will be dirt easy, then next would require tons of enemies, tons of timed jumps, and a chase scene, which would sometimes takes forever. Also of note is the fact that life upgrades are harder to find. If you want the “good” ending, you’ve got to get all the life upgrades. This either requires you to get lucky (good luck with that), follow a walkthrough, which isn’t fun, or backtrack a lot and do a lot of random searching. Either way, it’s boring and I didn’t even bother.
Fourthly, and most obvious is the “free form fighting system”. This is another name for superfluous and unneeded combos. While the first game had enemies that were easy to kill with a few moves, this game is a bit more complicated. It’ll take some time to figure out the way to kill an enemy, but once you do, it’s pretty much the same repetitive motions over and over again, just more buttons. Unlike the first game, the enemies are not a minor annoyance, but a huge annoyance. There are so many that just to traverse between save points requires you to kill tons of the same enemies for no reason. Many times you can pass by them, but a flaw in the system means that the prince will be in combat mode when an enemy is close by. This means that many of the Prince’s moves are not available until you kill the enemies, even though there is no need to kill them in order to move on. Sometimes, especially near the end, enemies just keep coming up. They are relatively easy to kill, but you might mess up once in a while. This is fine, except when there are about twenty enemies to kill, and all it takes is a few snafus ups to die, meaning that killing the enemies is very meticulous, but very, very monotonous. It’s just the height of tedium and time wasting. The bosses are also an unneeded cliché. For example, the last enemy takes almost a half an hour to kill. I encountered a bug when I was about twenty minutes into the last boss, which required me to restart the fight. Talk about boring.
Finally, there are some huge glitches. One caused me to lose about twenty minutes or work, and another would have forced me to restart if I didn’t keep multiple save games on my memory cards. Two huge bugs discovered in my first try. Talk about a rushed game.
All in all, it’s a pretty good game, but a little too much like every other game out there. A bad direction for the series, but it still has a bit of the Sands of Time magic to make it very enjoyable.
Pros:
Incredible atmosphere
Controls are still pretty intuitive for the puzzles
Great concept of travelling the same Palace in two different times
Good Videos
No walkthrough or guide needed for most of the game
Cons:
Repetitive, dull, and an unnecessary large amount of fighting
Cameras angles still lacking, especially during timed action
Unbalanced game
Needless backtracking
Needless Mature rating.
Useless Map
Huge glitches
Guitar Riffs don’t work well
Time to complete: 20 hours
Difficulty level: Medium/Low (on Easy)
Frustration level: Medium
Review by Robb Roberts for Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
Rating:
I couldn’t agree more with the last reviewer comparing Sands of Time(SoT) to a “Disney movie with an edge”. Even if you hated SoT you HAD to respect it for it’s integrity to be itself and do what it did so well, and for standing out in a sea of titles. However we now have a sequel… and no matter how well you do on a sequel there’s going to be criticism comparing it to the original. So here’s the ordeal, do you rehash the first one, and have critics complain about it being more of the same, and not trying anything new… or do you try new things, and have critics complain about you ruining what was good about the first?
Warrior Within (WW) seems to be catching a lot of criticism for stepping too far away from it’s predecessor… and although I am a HUGE fan of SoT, AND WW, I have to agree. The fighting system has been revamped, and blows away everything else out there… the sheer numbers of combos you can perform is mind-boggling, and being able to use your environment (spinning around poles, and rebounding off walls, as well as other characters) is more than welcome… it’s just plain cool. I’ve more than once replayed an area just because it was “just TOO cool!” I can’t say I ever did that during SoT. Although the cutscenes are done pretty well (that’s saying a lot) the voice sync does lack (but aside from the Soul Reaver series there’s not a lot of good out there) and the camera angles annoy. However those are small prices to pay for such a great game. And you can actually HEAR the voice overs in this one… (and just in case you still can’t, there’s subtitles) On it’s own, people would surely give it better reviews, but since it is a sequel to it’s wonderful older brother, it has A LOT to live up to.
WW does everything that SoT did wonderfully, only the feeling has really changed. I feel like I’m playing a totally different series. I have to agree that it strays too far from the great formula that MADE SoT. Overall, to play this game, I don’t feel like I’m playing a Prince of Persia game. Do you want to feel like you’re playing SoT again? No. You DO want to feel like you’re playing a PoP game though. WW is a lot faster paced than SoT, and the fighting doesn’t slow the game down like it did in SoT. I used to want to get through the fighting to get to more wall climbing and rope swinging. Now, I want to get through the wall climbing and rope swinging to get to more fighting.
All of the climbing and light puzzle solving is back, and welcomed, but running into a huge group of opponents doesn’t have you saying “Come on, hurry up and die”.
I don’t like WW because it’s the sequel to SoT, I like it because it’s a great game… and I’m picky when it comes to games. I can’t say “If you liked SoT then you’ll LOVE WW.” I can’t say you’ll hate it either.
I guess I’m just not too helpful.
Sands of Time is Coca-Cola. Warrior Within is New Coke. It’s just up to your taste.
Review by Abhilash.R for Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
Rating:
If you enjoyed playing Prince of Persia – The Sands of Time, then you will be spellbound by its sequel “Warrior Within”. This game no doubt, ups the ante of the previous rendition by a huge scale. Since I am not in a position to review it yet, let me state my first impressions of the game in the context of the videos and files I’ve gone through.
Firstly, the protagonist. The Prince in the first game was an up-and-coming warrior of immense skill and heart. Though naive, he had the courage to set things right . But he had no clear idea of what to do except restore the order of time.
In Warrior Within though, the Prince is 10 yrs older. And more mysterious. He is the ultimate warrior, having experienced countless battles since restoring the Sands of Time. He is dark, broody, independent and utterly dangerous to the point of being manic. And he knows exactly what to do now.
Sands of Time has a very brightly-lit atmosphere to it. All the surroundings are visually breathtaking and there is a soft aura of appearance to it, probably showcasing the transient beauty of the Arabian landscape.
POP-Warrior Within is the exact opposite in appearance. It has vivid and awe-inspiring landscapes, no doubt, but it is creepy, foreboding and unforgiving. It rather showcases the effect of the Sands of Time’s disastrous effect on the world. It also has a completely re-worked graphics engine which looks terrific. The terrain and the characters looks extremely realistic and fluid in movement.
I wish to state that if there is any reason POP:WW might have a fallout with you, it could only be the environment itself. Take it for granted that the game will have a very dark, menacing look to it, all through. It will be gorgeous to look at, no doubt, but somehwere down the line, we might start asking “Why is it SO dark in concept?”. This could turn us off quite a bit coz’ we would want to relate this game to the fantastic feel of Sands of Time. Let’s face it. Sands of Time had the most uplifting level design to date. I surely hope Ubisoft has not taken the word ‘bleakness’ to the extreme.
I also noticed that the Prince is not the same naive, likeable guy we know off. Hopefully he doesn’t have a total makeover in his personality.
Neverthless, POP:WW has a lot more to offer…..
Sands of Time had the bubbly Farah as your companion. In Warrior Within, you seek no one’s aid in combat. But a few new mysterious characters do help you at times, in achieving your objective. Variety is one thing you can expect.
In Sands of Time, the Prince has only a few but effective combat moves to his repertoire. In one hand he held the Dagger of Time and in the other, he had a Scimitar to deal primary damage and he could piece together a few combos to deal some effective damage.
In Warrior Within, the combat is truly groundbreaking. Just like Ryu Hayabusa in Ninja Gaiden, the Prince has some amazing combos to showcase his skill. Not only can he dual-wield weapons this time around, but he can also grab his assailant’s weapon and counter target his enemy. He can also contextually use his environment to good effect, for instance, latch onto a pole and revolve-slash multiple enemies. The effect, I tell you, is something to be seen. Warrior Within is the first game to introduce ‘free-form’ combat, meaning, you can create your own combos and latch them together to deal some truly unique and incredible attack manoeuvres. Imagine. Think of all the weapons that he gets his hands on and the combos you can attach them to. The though itself is whetting my appetite.
Sands of Time had a sense of grandness that not many games could even think off, particularly the level design. Even Halo cannot compare itself to it. But Warrior Within is very similar to its predecessor. Though darker story-wise, it has the same sweeping sense of scale the first rendition enjoyed and provides a lot more than that. Ubisoft has been clever not to expose everything just yet but it is safe to say that Warrior Within is much bigger than Sands of Time.
The enemies in Sands of Time were few and all of them were zombies. With some understanding, they could be easily disposed off. Not so in Warrior Within. I believe there are all-together 9 types who range from the fast Executioners who attack in co-ordinate pairs to the massive Brute who can crush you with one swipe. There is another creature called the Griffin that could put even some Ninja Gaiden bosses to shame. All sounds exciting.
Phew !. If I go on, this preview would probably never end. Since this is just a general description of what you can expect in Warrior Within, I’d be hard pressed to discuss its finer details. It is astonishing how Ubisoft has managed to change the game completely in just over a year after the first game. I would be very surprised if you aren’t impressed with its technical aspects. They are truly Next-Gen and among the three consoles supporting it, the XBOX version undoubtedly looks and feels better. But it is safe to say that Prince of Persia : Warrior Within will be a must-buy for any console.
PS: Thanx for going through the preview. If you are interested in my review , you can check it out in the Playstation version of the game.
Have a nice day.
Review by D. VELLKY for Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
Rating:
As I read over the other reviews here, I find mixed reactions over several aspects of the game. I’m here to offer my own opinions if anyone really cares. First off, I stepped into WW understanding the tone was going to be much darker than Sands of Time. I accepted this, realizing the Prince wasn’t likely to be the same character we met in SoT. After all, living on the run for several years from a mythical beast one cannot kill has a tendency, I would think, to ruin one’s spirit and outlook on life. However, while I accepted the darker tone and understood the reasoning behind it, I found it hampered my ability to really enjoy the game. At times, it just felt downright depressing … but then again, I think that was the point. And while the storyline was still intriguing, it lacked the coherency of SoT. Some parts just made me go huh, what the heck was that about? In addition, I missed the Prince randomly talking to himself and I missed Farrah, though it’s unlikely her presence would’ve made any sense in WW.
Okay, storyline aside, let’s talk about glitches – another big complaint in WW. Honestly, I didn’t run across a single one with the exception of the voice audio dropping out on some cut scenes. I don’t know if there was something special I did to avoid the game stopping glitches I’ve read about or what. Bottom line, glitches weren’t a problem for me … thankfully.
Background music was another aspect that seems to have drawn mixed reactions. Though I enjoyed the Middle Eastern compositions of SoT, the metal music in WW didn’t bother me. I like Godsmack, and “I Stand Alone” is an appropriate theme for the game despite it being obviously out of place for the time period. So again, the music was not so much of a problem for me.
Okay, let’s move onto gameplay and combat. Platforming wise, the puzzles are still great and still an integral part of the game. There is a lot of backtracking, which can make some parts confusing, but, overall, I didn’t find the backtracking tedious. In addition, the Dahaka chase scenes add intensity to the game, though some of the longer chase scenes are definitely a lot of trial and error. You don’t have room for mistakes when the Dahaka is right behind you, so expect to run through these sequences a few times – at least – before getting it right.
Combat has been significantly upgraded from SoT as many people have already pointed out. The Prince can wield duel weapons, and he has numerous combos at his disposal with which to dispatch enemies. And what’s even better, you don’t always have to fight the enemies if you don’t want to, which is a great thing considering they pop up all over the place and get really annoying. In keeping with the darker/sadistic overtone of the game, Ubisoft decided to have our enemies become rather vocal … repeating the same few lines such as the sadomasochist women ninjas who continuously say such classic lines as “There’s so much pleasure in pain,” “Hit me harder Prince,” and “Can’t we just talk this out?” Gag me. And let’s not forget the freaky, doughy looking half naked leather clad men all dressed for some whips and handcuffs fun who bark at the Prince … yes, they bark. At least, I think that’s what they were doing. Aside from that, there’s just a lot of yelling and screeching period, so yes, it’s nice that combat can just be avoided at many points during the game.
Boss battles have been upgraded significantly, which is a nice addition seeing as how the final battle with the Vizier in SoT was rather anticlimactic in the combat sense. In WW, the boss battles aren’t throw-your-controller-across-the-room annoying difficult, but they are a nice touch. If you move around, use the sand tanks wisely, and know when and how to attack the bosses, it’s never too difficult.
Lastly, I would just like to address the mature rating for the game. In my opinion, if you’re going to make it a mature rating, then give it a real reason to have a mature rating. The aspects that gave the game that rating were forced and could’ve easily been edited. Edit a few cuss words that served no purpose, throw some more clothes on the women, and eliminate the ridiculous sayings used by some of the enemies.
Overall, WW is a four star game. It’s not nearly as enjoyable as SoT or Two Thrones, but it’s still a good game despite the darker tone, the annoyance factor of some of the enemies, and some minor flaws. Especially at twenty bucks, the game is worth the price.