Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

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.