Last year's Prince of Persia: Sands of Time was the kind of superb, purist gameplay experience that defines everything great about the medium. The game flawlessly combined a well-written storybook narrative with some of the greatest platforming action to ever grace this generation of consoles. The result was an experience that, by all rights, was 2003's Game of the Year.
However, for all its greatness, Sands of Time didn't sell half as many copies as it deserved to. Because of this, Ubisoft decided to go for a more mainstream audience with this year's sequel, Warrior Within. As a result, the storybook charm has been largely replaced with a dark, brooding tale of the prince's fate after the events of the first game. A greater emphasis has been put on the combat, which seems strange, since that aspect of the game was the one universal complaint that most gamers expressed with Sands of Time. The prince does have many more moves and combos available to him this time around, but these sections arguably remain the least enjoyable part of the title. Don't misunderstand: The combat isn't bad, it's just that, like in Sands of Time, there's simply too much of it.
Warrior Within is at its best when it returns to the platform adventuring that made its predecessor so memorable. The prince has a few extra time-shifting powers for his new adventure, but on the whole, the basic gameplay hasn't changed much at all. This is a good thing. He's still one of gaming's most nimble characters, and watching him jump from ledge to ledge, run on walls, and swing on bars is still an effortless delight. Hands down, this stands with Ninja Gaiden as some of the finest action/platforming of the year.
While there's nothing wrong with the visuals from a technical sense, many of the hardcore types who enjoyed Sands of Time's storybook art direction may be taken back by the darker, grittier tone. It's no dealbreaker, especially when the underlying game is so good, but the move towards making the sequel more "adult" seems quite unnecessary throughout much of the game. A bigger offender is the sound – the lovable, charming prince has turned into a unlikable jerk, and generic rock has largely taken over the first game's excellent original score. Regardless of matters of taste, it can't be denied that nu-metal poster boys Godsmack have no business doing music for a Prince of Persia game.
What's most amazing about Warrior Within is that for all its problems, it remains a worthy follow-up to Sands of Time. It's a short romp with too much backtracking (thanks to the new time-travel gates), and it definitely tries way too hard to be "edgy," but the underlying gameplay experience is still something that should be enjoyed by just about any gamer. A must buy for most, a rental for those who are expecting Sands of Time to be met or beaten in quality.
-George
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