Prince of Persia: Warrior Within Review

All in all, I am proud to say that Warrior Within is a very addictive and fun game to play. It looks good, and the fighting feels great, especially because of the fact it feels free and you are able to use the environment to your advantage, like spinning around a pole while decapitating several enemies.

Catfight!

Man, I'm pissed.

Moreover, unlike its predecessor, Warrior Within is quite long, so it gives you the prospect of spending many hours solving the puzzles and wielding your sword. The only thing I enjoyed almost as much as the fighting were the puzzles, which sometimes really succeeded in confusing me. This is a linear game, meaning you'll have to perform certain actions under predetermined conditions, but the fact you are supposed to do some time-traveling tends to complicate things a bit. As the castle from the past differs from the castle in the present, you will often get that Déjà vu feeling of "I've been here before," and it will sometimes be difficult to figure out which way you should go (especially because your map is no help at all). Although the game offers plenty of useful pointers if you look close enough, it won't always be that easy. Still, despite the crappy story and the fact it does not develop in a highly satisfying manner, this game still has a great atmosphere and gives you plenty of incentive to keep playing. No matter how many times I got killed or knocked down the beam, I would always go back and do it all over again. I was excited as a little kid, climbing the walls, fighting that unbelievably aggressive girl on the beam and sliding down the curtains. What I didn't like though were the in-game sequences that I found impossible to stop. If you have found a way to interrupt the cut-scenes, please let me know. Thank you.

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within certainly has some downsides, but they do not mar significantly the beauty of this game. I have always stuck to the opinion games were supposed to be fun. Well, this one certainly is fun, and although it sometimes drags about a bit, it does not get boring, nor does the fighting get repetitive - mostly due to the great combat system. Of course, it is advisable to play Warrior Within with the game pad, as this makes the game more enjoyable: still, I'd like to stress that playing with the mouse and keyboard is rather comfortable, so I had no issues with that.

I like this game for taking the darker tone and being full of blood that spurts as your enemies' heads and bodies fly around, and when they fall to the ground, you give them the last, violent blow, piercing their powerless bodies with your mighty sword...

And the proverbial whip? Oh, yes. The truth is this game beats around the bush from time to time, and it has some minor faults that prevent this title from being truly awesome. Still, the latest PoP excels at what it should do best, and that is to provide you with hours of fun game play.