Perfection. Every once in a while, usually a looong while, a game bursts on the scene that causes gamers and reviewers alike to proclaim, “Perfection.” For me, the original Prince of Persia (Sands of Time) was one of those games. Here was a game that perfectly melded incredibly fresh, visceral gameplay, with some of the most breathtaking visuals ever seen in gaming, combined with an engrossing, compelling story holding it all together like industrial strength super glue. That isn’t to say that some didn’t find fault with it. Some complained about the lack of boss battles, while others griped about its length, while more yet found the combat to be somewhat repetitive. With that said, in gaming there are degrees of perfection and ultimately, POP was of a degree rarely seen. Ubisoft could have easily been forgiven for pumping out a sequel that rested on its considerable laurels, offering gamers the same game with a new story, but they didn’t. They took the complaints of gamers to heart, as they attempted to raise the Prince to a higher degree of perfection, resulting in Warrior Within.

The game opens some time after the events of The Sands of Time, with a decidedly changed Prince. No longer the fresh faced, lighthearted Prince of the last game, we find the Prince weathered and hardened, as he has had nary a chance for rest. A terrifying creature known as the Dahaka, unleashed to destroy the Prince, has been mercilessly hunting him since the end of the last game. Why would anyone want to hurt our Prince? Well, we’ve all heard the saying, “Fate is a cruel *&#@$,” as well as the warning, “It’s best not to tempt fate.” Both statements prove incredibly true and prophetic in WW. It seems that fate, or in this case, The Empress of Time, is plenty ticked at the Prince for defying his fate, which was for his life to end during the events of The Sands of Time. Obviously one not to let bygones be bygones, the Empress of Time has pulled out all the stops in her pursuit of bringing about the Prince’s belated demise. Unwilling to allow the Empress her way, the Prince sets out for the Island of Time, where he can travel back in time to stop the creation of the Sands of Time, his only chance for survival.

The first thing gamers will notice is the darker tones and look of the game. The story of the game is the Prince’s desperate pursuit of survival against a seemingly unstoppable force, and the look and feel perfectly illustrates these dire circumstances. The next thing gamers will notice is Ubisoft’s response to those complaints about SOT’s combat. The combat has been fleshed out considerably, giving the Prince an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the myriad ways with which he can dispatch foes. There are combos upon combos, further expanded by whether or not the Prince wields a weapon in each hand. If the Prince carries a single weapon, many of the combos revolve around various holds and grabs. The results of these combos range from the Prince using enemies as a shield as he chokes the life from their bodies to quickly separating their heads from their shoulders. Should you choose to wield dual weapons, the combos will then revolve around doling out more powerful attacks, usually on multiple enemies. Another new facet is the inclusion of attacks the Prince can pull off with the use of a pillar or column, spinning himself around the pillar allowing him to attack multiple enemies in quick succession. The game often throws an army of enemies at you, making this addition especially appreciated. In addition to these aspects, you still retain the ability to literally bounce off the walls in the midst of combat. Like the last game, the combat is incredibly stylish and eye pleasing, with an unheard of amount of creativity placed squarely in the hands of the gamer.

While the increased attention that the combat has received has headed a wealth of depth to the gameplay, this wouldn’t be a POP game without the puzzles and WW delivers. You’ll rarely enter a situation or scenario that doesn’t require the use of your brains, your creativity, and the Prince’s considerable gymnastic-like prowess. The way you go about solving the game’s puzzles is in effect the same as the last game, with you figuring out how best to take advantage of the Prince’s physical skills, but the puzzles do seem to be much more involved and a tad more devious. A lot of this comes from the fact that the game no longer gives you an almost point-to-point fly-by of the route you need to take through an environment. You are now forced to take advantage of the game’s different camera angles as you try to decide what your next move should be, which does result in more trial-and-error than the last game. Despite this, the puzzles remain some of the very best and most enjoyable available in all of gaming. The cool factor of the Prince pulling off gravity-defying moves as he traverses the environments remains completely intact.

One of the most innovative and integral features from the last game was the Prince’s ability to manipulate time; which also returns here, virtually unchanged, save for the increased importance. With the combat and puzzles being more difficult than the last game, you’ll find yourself doing a whole lot of rewinding to erase a misstep here or a fall there. You’ll still fill slots by defeating enemies or by busting open the various pieces of pottery lying around. You can also use your time-altering powers to slow enemies or doors (hint, hint) to a virtual stand still while you continue to move at full speed. This ability is incredibly useful when you feel overwhelmed by the number of enemies caving in upon you. In addition to this, you can also use your time slots for incredibly powerful attacks that swallow multiple slots. With only a small collection of slots available and the increased reliance on rewinding time, gamers must be ever mindful of conserving these slots at all costs.

Taking a page from Raziel’s time-traveling ways in Soul Reaver, the Prince will also find himself exploring areas during two different time periods. And like Soul Reaver or Zelda’s Ocarina of Time, you’ll clearly see the effects that time has had on your environs. Paths and rooms you crossed during one time period are inaccessible in the next and vice versa. The changes from one time period to the next are impressive, but you can’t help feeling as if you are doing some serious backtracking. The reasons for this are explained in the story, and the reasons do seem logical and fitting, but it does feel at times as if this aspect were added as a means of extending the time you’ll spend in WW. However, as you’ll find out, there is a good reason for this so it doesn’t prove too damning.

Finally, the last issue of the gameplay that needs to be addressed is the inclusion of boss characters. While I thought it a bit odd that the original featured no boss battles, I also found it somewhat refreshing that the game focused on being defined by its gameplay and story, rather than by the strength or originality of its bosses. With that said, the bosses included this time are well conceived and mostly worthy of “boss” status. They’re usually big and challenging, often leaving the gamer with a real sense of accomplishment after defeating them. They fit well into the story and the structure of the game, feeling as if they belong rather than having been added just to appease critics, so I would consider their addition a plus. All in all, every facet of the gameplay returns bigger and better than before, albeit a bit more difficult. The perceived problems of the original have all been addressed successfully giving gamers precisely what they had asked for.

Graphically, as I mentioned earlier, this game is much darker in every way, perfectly illustrating the serious nature of this quest. I must admit that at first, I was a bit put off by the new look. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m generally the type of gamer that revels in games with a darker edge, but this is the Prince of Persia. Sure there were monsters in the last game and so on, but it was so damn charming and enchanting to look it. The graphics of that game were of such quality as to create the most believable living and breathing world in gaming. The environments of that game were a character in and of themselves, creating a fairytale world that even the most jaded of us gamers loved to get lost in. But as I spent more time with this game and considered the events within, the more I found myself buying into the change. It is a necessary evil of the world that the Prince now finds himself in. It’s dark, dreary, oppressive, and ultimately, wonderful. The graphics are every bit as stunning as those of the last game, with incredible lighting, shadows, particle effects, and so on. The darker styling of this game perfectly illustrates the world and mood that the Prince must now live within. Without a doubt, like its predecessor, this game is a visual tour-de-force effectively creating a character out the environments. And that’s all before we’ve even considered the character models.

As has already been established, this isn’t the same Prince we all knew and loved from SOT. This Prince has been hardened by a life on the run from something decidedly not of his world, something intent on righting the wrong of his survival, and it shows. He’s shaggy and unkempt, clothed in black, completely looking the role of gaming badass. This is a more grown up, toughened Prince, which is captured perfectly in his character model. One of the many strengths of the last game was the silky smooth animation of the acrobatic Prince in action, which continues to be a strength here. With all of the new animations for the expanded moves, attacks, and combos available to the Prince, Ubisoft would have been forgiven had they fallen short of their previous effort, but each movement looks as impressive as the last. There is also a wider array of enemies that must be overcome, which is also appreciated. All of the enemies, from the common minions to the bosses, are rendered with an incredible amount of care and detail. Another impressive aspect of the game’s graphical prowess is the way that, like the last game, the game slows when the Prince is pulling off an especially powerful attack. The camera zooms in, time slows, and you see the combat in painstaking detail as dust flies, blood spurts, bodies flail, and The Bearer giggles maniacally to himself.

The sound is also of impressive quality, especially the music. Great music that fits not only the theme of the game, but also the action on the screen, adds layer upon layer to our gaming experience, increasing our immersion into the world, of which WW does in spades. The music is fitting of a game set in the ancient Middle East, but with a modern slant. You’ll be hearing wailing guitars, pounding drums, and hypnotic chants expertly mixed into the more traditional music, creating a unique, but great soundtrack to the game. Thanks to the sound effects tied to the Prince’s weapons you get a real sense of the weapons weight and the power with which the Prince swings them. You’ll hear his various blades “swoosh” through the air on their way to either slashing bad guy flesh or clanking against stone. You’ll hear different footfalls depending on what sort of surface the Prince is running across. Save for a few minor instances, the voice acting of the game is equally as strong, with the actors infusing a great deal of life into the characters. The only gripe is some of the “heavy” dialogue the Prince spouts at times. It’s not that it’s overly bad; it just comes off as a bit awkward. There is an outstanding level of attention paid to all the details, no matter how small, or seemingly insignificant, that helps to create a world as immersive and real as they come in gaming.

In closing, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is a very worthy sequel to not only one of the best games of last year, but of all time. The fact that everything that we loved about the original has returned, bigger and better, combined with the “concerns” that Ubisoft addressed with the combat, bosses, and length, easily makes this one of the best games of this year, which is a year crowded with huge, well-loved titles. Initially, some of the charm of the original seems lost with the shift towards a darker story and game world, but it is the logical continuation of the story and in time it proves every bit as impressive and immersive. The other big difference of note is the fact that the game is markedly more difficult than the last, even on the easy setting. While there are parts that can border on frustrating, the quality of the game and the desire to get the next piece of the story will prove motivation enough to fight through. With that said, fans of the original or those gamers looking for a challenging and compelling gameplay of a quality rarely seen, you owe it to yourself to play this game. The only group of people I would caution is the parents of younger fans of the last game. Unlike SOT this game carries an M rating, mainly for blood and violence.

Gameplay: 9.5
There is no character in gaming more fun to control than the Prince. He’s capable of so many different moves and actions that it is often fun just to run him around an empty room. How many other characters can we say that about? The combat system is much deeper this time around, but it is easy to pick up and learn. The puzzles are also a bit more devious this time around, but they’re still a blast to figure out and then overcome.

Graphics: 9.5 
Bar none, this is one of the most impressive-looking games on any system. I don’t know what Ubisoft is doing, but when one looks at the POP games and the Splinter Cell games, there is no question that they’ve figured out ways to get more out of the consoles than anyone else. The environments, the characters, the animations, and the special effects are all top notch.

Sound: 9.4
The music is excellent and fitting of the action and story, the sound effects are crisp and varied, and the voice acting for the most part is top notch. Overall, the technical aspects of the game are some of the best around.

Difficulty: Med/Hard
I struggled with whether or not to rate this game as Hard. It is more challenging than the last game, as well as many of the games available today, but in reality, in my opinion, it’s just right. Too many games these days are devoid of challenge, amounting to little more than an interactive storybook. Games were meant to challenge us and like the games of old, you’ll have to put a little work into being successful with WW. The reward is the sense that you’ve really accomplished something as you progress, plus it helps to make your emotional investment a little bit more significant. Veterans of old will enjoy the old school like challenge.

Concept: 9.0
As far as innovation goes, not a lot has changed from the last game, but then again, that game was incredibly innovative. Ubisoft gets points for expanding the combat and the creativity it had to take to design the environments and the puzzles. They also get points for the time travel dynamic. I know that it’s nothing all that new, but it has serious potential for disaster if not handled right, both in gameplay and story. They handle it in such a way that it fits into the storyline and the gameplay seamlessly, without it becoming too unbelievable or too big of crutch for careless gamers.

Multiplayer: N/A

Overall: 9.4
It’s a rare thing that I gush so much about a single title, but then again, it’s rare that we are blessed with a game of such quality. The original proved to be one of my all-time favorites and Warrior Within has managed to do the same. As we are all too painfully aware, high expectations often prove to be lethal for developers. They try so hard to meet the lofty hopes and goals of the fans that they are often crushed under the pressure, making this title all the more impressive. Everything that fans loved about the original is here, bigger and better; creating a game that proudly carries the torch of this storied franchise. The gameplay is visceral, fast, and fun, the graphics and sound are incredible, and the story is so well conceived and written that it’ll keep you coming back for more. Simply put, this game will quickly have you wishing that you could control time like the Prince so that you could make up for all the time you’ll lose playing it.