Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

The Good
In Prince Of Persia: Warrior Within you once again play as the prince this time much darker being hunted by a time creature called the Dahaka for his actions in the original game goes to the island of time in hopes to destroy the sands of time before they were created and his ship on the way to the island is attacked by Shadee the bodyguard of the empress the creator of the sands of time.

The combat is much approved from that of the first one with a whole roster of moves at the princes use fight are much easier in the one against the lumbering hulk you have to fight throughout the game.

There are new parts in the game in which you are chased by the Dahaka and must run and evade him which changes the pacing a little and truly gives you the feel you are playing a different game than the first one for better or for worse.

The game has too endings getting the best requires you to get all the life upgrades and defeat a different final boss who is harder.

The Bad
The game has many bugs some Gamestopping and too much back tracking through past and present and because of this you fight the giant boss like eight times throughout the game and makes it that you see the same areas.

The darker look and feel of the feel makes it hard to believe that this is a sequel to Sands Of Time and some even hate this new direction but the third game the Two Thrones brings back the lighter theme.

The Bottom Line
If the new dark feel doesn’t bother you and you enjoyed the Sands Of Time or didn’t because of the combat since the game fixes that you should get this.

The Good
Warrior Within, the sequel to the groundbreaking and excellent action-platformer Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, sees the franchise returning with a much darker, mature, moodier and harder edge episode - this time the prince is out to save himself, no matter the cost.

Starting with the biggest change, we'll start on the visual appearance of the Prince, obviously designed to 'sex him up' a bit. I like this new version of the prince compared to the wet and foppish younger Prince from the Sands of Time, you'll see this Prince brooding and 'tough guy' strutting his way through multiple levels of heart pounding action utilising all the leaps and acrobatics of the first game, plus featuring a vastly expanded 'free-form' combat system. In the combat system, combos can be performed using not one but two hand weapons allowing a sophisticated and very satisfying slash n' cut 'em experience. You'll awe in amazement as you slice your enemy in two, complete with a nice shade a red blood. :D The sands power is present, allowing a couple of special powers (rewind time, slow down time etc) that can be VERY handy.

Graphics are excellent all round, similar to Sands of Time but with a darker, sombre tone to it. Cut scenes look brilliant, will faces on the characters showing the right facial expressions. Note also that pretty much all the female characters have very revealing attire!

Music and sound are top notch, as you spar with your enemies, the Prince and enemies will utter tough guy quips - some can be unintentionally humorous ("Can you hear it? .. My blade calls for you..") and this is what makes the game a keeper for me. Great hard rockin' tunes from Godsmack complete the experience. I like the musical direction taken in this game compared to The sands of Time, at least it certainly appealed to my headbanging instincts!

The Bad
To be honest I can't really find a fault with this game. Everything blends into a seamless, easy to play action game. The difficulty in spots can be frustrating and I try to not swear in fury at these moments, but this could be construed as a positive for this game.

The Bottom Line
With this game being part of a fantastic trilogy of PoP games to revive the legendary Prince of Persia franchise, this is a must for any fan of action games. Its more violent, grittier, no-nonsense incarnation of a Prince is a great character as well.

The Good
I'm not sure to what extent the original game's design team had a hand in this game, but it is a solid entry. As much as I enjoyed playing "Sands of Time," there seemed to be something painfully repetitive about the combat, excellent graphics and sound notwithstanding. "Warrior Within" overcomes those problems by making combat into a decision tree -- the sequence of buttons pressed, up to six-in-a-row, determines the finesse (or lack thereof) in the prince's fighting style. The excellent sound and graphics from Sands of Time are back, along with the riveting cut scenes, so if you like a game that truly feels like an interactive movie, this is it.

The Bad
Decision tree-based combat is better, but combat is still largely about button mashing. The only question that remains now is, "Which buttons should I push?" The cut scenes may be astonishing, but there can be long puzzle-solving interludes between them.

The Bottom Line
If you didn't like "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time", this one may be worth a look. If you did like PoP:SoT, then "Warrior Within" is a notch above in almost every respect.