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WHEN PRINCE OF Persia: Sands of Time released in 2003 the standard for modern action games was raised immeasurably. While a little weak in its combat sections, the platforming that made up most of the game was pure gaming excellence. Barely a year later and Ubisoft released the sequel, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, but any concern it may have been rushed can be put aside right now. Warrior Within is a fully formed game that extends the best parts of Sands of Time and improves on its weaknesses.
At the start of Warrior Within the Prince learns that his fate is to die as a result of unleashing the Sands of Time. He resolves to oppose the fate that has been written for him and travel back in time to stop the sands being created. The resulting story is set mostly in the large castle complex of the Empress who created the sands, and is played in both the past and the present with players switching between the two periodically.
Warrior Within has a decidedly darker edge than the rather more sanitary Sands of Time. The environments are dirtier and black seems to feature quite a bit in both the environments and the characters. Time has not treated the Prince well, either, and he appears to have just returned from a heavy night on the town, older and more unkempt. Even the soundtrack has a much harder edge, with a preponderance of heavy rock tracks and less of the more melodic tracks. While there was a little doubt when we first saw this new look, our worries have been allayed.
One of the main areas of Sands of Time that needed a little improvement was combat, which never quite felt satisfying. While the Prince retains largely the same fighting style in Warrior Within, he also has quite a few more attacks and combos available. Both single- and double-weapon attacks are now available, each with multiple combos available to learn. The Prince's ability to use the Sands of Time has increased as well. He retains skills such as reversing and slowing time, but also gains combat abilities for tight situations.
Most of the enemies have increased their skill as well, with each type of opponent fighting using differing tactics. Boss fights also feature in Warrior Within, and these can present some quite exciting battles where players' use of fighting skills and the Sands of Time will be well tested. The result is that combat is much more satisfying and fun, and much more an integral part of the game. The combat has become more about the skill level of players rather than mindless button mashing and for that it improves the experience immeasurably.
As if to balance the threat that the combat could overshadow the platforming core of the series, level design has taken a step up as well, with much more difficult areas to traverse. Even veterans of Sands of Time may find their skills pushed at times. Adding to the difficulty is the increased obtuseness of the levels, with a much more organic approach. Features such as trees or building parts are used more, replacing the more obvious designs of Sands of Time, and these make figuring out where to go quite tricky at times. The linearity that characterised Sands of Time still exists to a certain extent, but the path is not always so obvious in Warrior Within, with quite a few hidden areas to find.
Breaking up the almost leisurely pace of most of Warrior Within are the Dahaka chase sequences, where all the player's experience and skill is needed to outrun a speedy opponent. These sequences require quick thinking and speedy reflexes, and are unforgiving in their need for precise action. While the rest of the game allows players to contemplate their options, the Dahaka chases suddenly throw players into edge-of-the-seat action, and Warrior Within is all the better for it. While the boss battles bring out the best in the player's fighting ability, the Dahaka chases bring out the best in players' skill with moving the Prince around. Unfortunately most are all too infrequent and short. |
