Prince of Persia: Warrior Within Preview

Last year’s Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, was a masterpiece of a game, allowing gamers to manipulate time as a means of defeating enemies and returning from death.  However, the sequel is setting out to give gamers even more control over time itself, not just in the realm of combat but also in problem solving and puzzles.  Prince of Persia 2 (working title) will give the prince a much darker, more violent look and feel as well as a revamped combat system and some cool new time control features. 

The storyline is much darker than the first game as is the overall aesthetic of the game.  The prince, having used the Sands of Time to restore the world back to the way it was at the beginning of the first game, has now found himself chased by an undefeatable enemy.  As it turns out, he broke the laws of the universe by turning the world back and now must either flee across the world or suffer the dire consequences. 

The combat system has been reworked, and as a result the prince has some cool new moves at his disposal.  He can now throw bad guys, use them as human shields, and perform finishing moves like beheadings.  You can also steal enemies’ weapons and use them against them.  

More moves using the Sands of Time have been added, as well.  The prince can now use delayed finishes for a cool ninja-like effect, and you can now slow down your enemies while you move in normal time, kind of like a bullet-time effect.  You can also run along a wall and decapitate an enemy as you run by. 

The graphics were much darker, keeping with the game’s new atmospheric direction.  The prince character model has been rebuilt from the ground up, now sporting a full head of raven black hair and a mean scowl.  The environments looked excellent and had some great lighting and shadow effects, as well as improved water effects, like light diffraction. 

The Sands of Time ranks with many (myself included) as one of the best games released last year, and Prince of Persia 2 looks to even improve upon the first.  Look for it Fourth Quarter 2004.

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