Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is the most unfortunate of sequels. It's the sequel that gets right everything its predecessor got wrong, and gets wrong everything its predecessor got right. Without series creator Jordan Mechner in tow, the franchise, for the 2nd time, forgot its strengths and fell into the realm of cliche. The game got backlash for its flaws and lame aesthetic, but anyone who played it could still attest to Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time being buried under it all. Without Warrior Within, we would have one less disappointing game in the franchise, but we also wouldn't have the best game in the franchise: Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones.

Just like its prequel, Warrior Within lets you know what the game is about from the moment of starting it up to the moment of launching into an epic battle on a sea-faring ship. A series fan could only feel his heart sink when seeing the material dealt with in such a crass, lame way. The entire game reeks of Mortal Kombat fan art scribbled on the back of a 4rd grader's history exam, with obscene gore and edgy dialog. Let's not mention the music, which had me putting the game on mute and listening to a podcast instead. That also solved the problem of having to deal with the game's inane story and the Prince's angst-ridden quips. Before I tear down the game even more, let's look at what the game did right.

The fighting is still far from fantastic, but Warrior Within implements a fighting system that Sands of Time could have used a year before. Between a more in-depth combo system and the ability to pick up an enemy's weapon, PoP:WW made the fighting sections flow a lot better. There are other little details that improved on the prequel. Not having to unequip your weapon and having a map were welcome additions. It's ironic that the map, as an idea, is a great thought but the execution ties-in with the game's greatest flaw.

PoP:WW lacks the previous game's pace and design -- tragic since these are the traits that made Sands of Time memorable. Ubisoft Montreal, knowing they made a better fighting system, throw in 10x the enemies and lose track of expertly designed environments to navigate. I got lost so often that the game became a chore to go back to. As you return to the same locations in a different time period, it's easy to lose track of where you came from and where you are going. Even worse, the map does absolutely nothing other then tell you what section of the game you are in, which seems more of a self-congratulatory act on Ubisoft's part of making such a giant world rather then an effort to help the player navigate these confusing levels.

I could also gloat about the awful boss fights and stale art direction, but PoP: WW mildly succeeds because of one thing: it's more Prince of Persia! The fighting becomes a bigger chore then the first game, only because of poor implementation, but you still have some very satisfying puzzles and platforming. At twice the length of Sands of Time, Warrior Within spreads itself thin and it shows. Then again, it was twice the amount of time to spend with the Prince until the next game came out. The game's biggest enemy is now The Two Thrones, the massively successful sequel that combined both game's strong points and offered a classic action-adventure title that stood up to God of War in 2005. In retrospect, Warrior Within is a standard case of being a stepping stone in a trilogy, which is always preferable to being a sinking ship.