Prince of Persia: Warrior Within review (PlayStation 2)

Despite the revamped combat, the strength of Warrior Within, as in the last game, lies in its environmental puzzles. As the prince, you'll need to rely on your vast array of acrobatic moves to navigate your way through many cleverly designed rooms and traps. You can still jump, wall run, climb, mantle, swing, and vault your way from ledge to ledge and from branch to branch. You can also now make swashbuckler-style controlled falls by sinking your sword into wall tapestries and then sliding straight down as you slice through them to slow your descents. Completing the game's fiendish puzzles and navigating your way through each room tends to be extremely fun and satisfying, and it's made all the more enjoyable by the well-animated moves of the prince and the beautifully designed levels. For the most part, the rooms you go through look quite natural and do not appear as big Rube Goldberg apparatuses. This natural-looking level architecture contributes greatly toward successfully immersing you in the game's world.

The developer has even found a way to add yet more intensity to the trap-and-hazard-laden rooms of Warrior Within. Several times throughout the game, you'll meet up with the mystical Dahaka. Each of these meetings kicks off an intense chase where you must navigate several sets of hazards quickly and without hesitation, lest the Dahaka catch you. The Dahaka sequences offer a nice change of pace, but our only complaint is that the camera angles used during these scenes seem to have been picked for cinematic effect rather than efficacy of control. Consequently, repeating a chase scene a few extra times due to less-than-ideal camera angles can be frustrating.

The biggest disappointment with Warrior Within, though, actually has nothing to do with its technical gameplay. With the new emphasis on combat, which has been spiced up with added blood and gore (and an M rating), the game has taken on a much darker tone. The new prince in Warrior Within is no longer the dignified, self-deprecating nobleman he was in The Sands of Time. Instead, he comes off as an arrogant brute who yells out conceited taunts during combat, such as "You should be honored to die by my sword!" and "Why do you even bother?" While the new attitude could be explained away by his desperation, it all serves to make the prince a much-less-likable character. Add in the soundtrack, which has some bass-heavy, heavy metal influences, and the wistful fairy tale style of The Sands of Time has given way to a game that feels like it's trying a little too hard to be edgy.

Some technical flaws in the Xbox and PlayStation 2 versions of the game also mar the experience somewhat. The Xbox version is prone to audio glitches. Certain sound effects get stuck, and, at other times, scenes that should have voice in them are cut off completely. This is a shame, because the sound effects in the game, aside from some ham-handed voice acting from the prince, are excellent and impactful. Meanwhile, the PlayStation 2 version's flaws are graphical. As a result, the game has a slightly choppier frame rate than the other versions. While it's not enough to hinder gameplay or combat, it does detract a bit from an otherwise beautiful-looking game. We didn't notice any sound or frame rate issues with the GameCube version of Warrior Within, however.

The Xbox version offers a bit of Xbox Live support, but you won't actually be playing with or against other players in real time. There are two "online" game modes, an arena combat option, and another mode that times you as you run through an obstacle course in the game. The highest score is posted online for each mode, but the interface for navigating the leaderboards on each mode leaves something to be desired. Overall, these features don't really add much to what's already a great game.

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is an excellent sequel to a game that caught many by surprise last year. Those who enjoy navigating through beautifully designed levels, complete with clever puzzles and traps, will definitely get their fill of them here. Moreover, the combat has improved greatly, although it's still not the principle strength of the game. However, those who primarily enjoyed last year's The Sands of Time for its original charm and subtle character development may not find quite what they're looking for in this sequel. But even with this caveat, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is easy to recommend for any action adventure fan, and its lengthier campaign should keep players busy for a lot longer this time around.