Reviews// Prince Of Persia: Warrior Within

Sequelitis: a good thing?

Posted 17 Dec 2004 14:32 by
2004 has been the year for sequels, for there have been many. In fact, most of this year's best games have been sequels. GTA3.2: San Andreas, Halo 2, Burnout 3, Pikmin 2, Metroid Prime 2, Half-Life 2, Outrun 2 and such, the list goes on. And generally speaking, these have all been a step-up from their prequels. They've all done the same thing, but better. So if you'd never tried the originals, you'd generally be well advised to opt for the freshest iteration. Of course, there have been exceptions, but we were looking forward to evidence of the same phenomenon when we tested out Prince of Persia 2: Warrior Within.

The first game won critical praise partly because it had created a stunning contemporary translation of an old school favourite. Plenty of jumping, plenty of puzzles, and a quiet, calm pace pleasantly distinct from its peers. So we expected the same vibe from this. Alas, the new, much-heralded, emphasis on combat has changed the character of the game. Gone is the hapless young Prince as we knew him, and in his place is a bit of a bastard with a sword in each hand. This time round he's even got an American accent; although in the circumstances, that's quite acceptable because one normally expects increased evil to warrant an increasingly English accent, with the Prince bellowing Alan Rickman/Jeremy Irons style laughter as he decapitates another foe.

The general setting has changed too. Instead of the delicate Arabian backdrops seen before, which took the player to places they would genuinely like to visit, Warrior Within’s setting has been heavily moodified. It’s all become quite macabre, with a much darker tone and lashings of blood at every available opportunity. Although there’s nothing wrong with this shift per se, it does make this sequel feel distinctly less charismatic: there are plenty of other titles that operate in a not dissimilar world. When you find WW’s first outdoor garden environment, for instance, you’ll be wondering why there couldn’t be more like that. In short, the first PoP game lived in a world straight out of the pages of Conde Naste Traveller magazine, whilst the Warrior Within destination would fit nicely into an episode of Holidays From Hell. We know where we’d rather be.
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Comments

SPInGSPOnG 17 Dec 2004 14:49
1/9
I haven't played PoP, though I've been meaning to since it came out. And reading this review makes me want to even more. But the PoP -> WW transition sound to me like that between Devil May Cry and DMC2.

The second game just seemed to steam in there without any introduction, in the asumption that anyone who was playing it had been waiting with the CD tray extended hungrily since they finished the first installment.

Thing is, where Prince of Persia is concerned, this doesn't seem to have hurt sales any. The first game fell on its ass, but the new one seems to be selling well.

kid_77 17 Dec 2004 15:11
2/9
I played Sands Of Time and found it an extremely charismatic and entertaining game. The narration provided by the main character is engaging and humorous, and you genuinely care about the relationship he develops with his lady accomplice.

By all accounts the sequel has taken a backwards step. It's lost a lot of the charm of the prequel, and apparently even the game play has lost some edge.

As I haven't played it, I can't give a personal preference. But I'd definitely recommend Sand Of Time.
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Dan Dare 19 Dec 2004 23:48
3/9
no worries guys, this is still a really good game.

I admit, the atmosphere really does blow at times, a massive step back from the soft focus wonderland of sands of time but this is still worth getting for several reasons:

It's hard: so few games are challenging now this comes as a nice surprise.

the story: its about time travel! its got paradoxes! twists! yay!

Its still the wicked prince: hes still the wall jumping badboy of old and I still love the sheer magesty of watching the fella move around...

...the map: this. looks. amazing. i got the x box version and its qualitah =)

just my two cents.
Kaxxx 12 Jan 2005 14:25
4/9
I was a huge fan of Sands of Time. Ive had this title for about a week now and put about 7 hours in so far. Its a quality title and is better than 90% of games released at the moment.

Sure, its not the epic that Sands of Time was but its still a fantastic game and oozes quality in so many areas.
MST 14 Feb 2005 13:11
5/9
Was a big fan of this game. I liked the darker tone than the SoT, I felt it gave the Prince a darker edge which fleshed out his charachter a bit more and contary to the previous poster thought this created a more clostrophobic atmosphere. I especially enjoyed the beautifully realized charachter models. More specifically the female ones.

Has anyone got any links to fanservice/porn, depicting Kaileena or her sexy mate? Hard lesbian stuff would be good, but nudie drawings will suffice.

(I originally registered for the UK:R forum, but I'm just looking about at the moment)
Dork 14 Feb 2005 16:54
6/9
Rod Todd wrote:

Thing is, where Prince of Persia is concerned, this doesn't seem to have hurt sales any. The first game fell on its ass, but the new one seems to be selling well.



Personally, I wanted back the 50 cents of DVDR space that the iso took up.

MST 17 Feb 2005 07:38
7/9
Just fecking buy a game for a change and stop spending the money on f**king pies. You fat c**t.
DeepFraught 17 Feb 2005 16:11
8/9
I was round at the Ubi dev studio the other day and managed to get this sneak photo of one of the artist's rude pencil drawing of Kaileena. Camera phones are jsut great. You should see the pics of the hotties from down the gym ;-)



MST 21 Feb 2005 13:41
9/9
Cooorrrr! Is she rubbing one off there?

More of this please!!!!! RRRggggnnnngggghhhhh.
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