Prince of Persia Warrior Within XBOX Review

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is a third-person fantasy video game. It is a sequel to the famed Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, a critically applauded game released in the year 2003. The game was developed by Ubisoft, and hit the markets on December 2, 2004 for the all the major gaming platforms.

As expected, it picks up from where the first installment, The Sands of Time, left off. However, it also adds new features to the gaming, specifically the options in combat. The Prince can wield two weapons simultaneously and can even steal his enemies’ weapons and throw them. The Prince’s combat moves have been evolved and can now be combined into various strings that make for powerful visual experience compared to the previous game. The game has a distinguishably darker undertone than its predecessor and there are instances when one can even see the violence in the Prince’s moves. Apart from the carryover abilities that come from the previous game, like the various uses of the Dagger of Time (slow, rewind, etc.), the prince has also got a new sand power: He can blast a ‘wave’ of sand that knocks down all enemies in a circle around him.

With the astonishing success of the first Prince of Persia game, the sequel was made, continuing the story arc that started with The Sands of Time.

Seven years following what happened in The Sands of Time, the Prince finds himself being hunted by the Dahaka (who is the guardian of the timeline). The Prince, having come into contact with the Sands of Time after opening it, was supposed to die like many others before him had. The Dahaka is a minion of the forces behind the Sands sent to ensure that the Prince does not get to escape his fate. Seeking advice from an elder, the Prince learns comes to know of the existence of the place where the Sands of Time were created, which is ruled by the Empress of Time.

Resolute in his decision to attempt to prevent the Sands of Time from being created by traveling backwards through time, the Prince sets sail for the Island of Time. On the island, he saves a woman named Kaileena, in the process traveling back through time. Unable to get an audience with the Empress of Time, the Prince does not know what to do. At this point, Kaileena reveals to him that activating two towers will grant him passage into the throne room where the Empress lies in hiding. The Prince ultimately does activate both the towers, and then returns to the throne room to look for the Empress, only to come to learn that Kaileena is actually the Empress of Time. The Prince kills Kaileena and travels forward in time, in belief that he had succeeded in cheating fate. Soon he discovers that the Sands of Time were created from Kaileena’s remains, so in reality, he created them.

The Prince begins to lose hope, but soon rediscovers it in his finding of the Mask of the Wraith, which is said to hold the power to let its wearer coexist in the same timeline as his former self. The Prince dons the mask, transforming into the Sand Wraith, and travels through time. Making for the throne room, he encounters his other self, who is killed by the Dahaka, thus allowing him to remove the Mask. The Prince decides that though killing Kaileena in the present will create the Sands, but they will not be found by the Maharajah (who is in the past), and thus, he will never have released them in Azad. The Prince brings Kaileena into the present, where he kills her. Sailing back to Babylon, he finds the city burning and under attack from a foe, he does not know.

The true ending, which can be reached by obtaining all the life upgrades hidden strategically throughout the levels and then wielding the Water Sword, shows the Prince forcing Kaileena into the present, but he beseeches her not to attack him. The Dahaka then materializes, but the Prince is no longer the target – Kaileena is, being out of place in time. With the power of the Water Sword, he then slays the Dahaka, leaving the Empress alive and the sands uncreated. The two set sail back to Babylon together and find the city in flames.

The game was applauded for its sound track. The visuals and the beauty of the combat sequences obviously remain to be the punch of the gaming experience. The game has an intriguing story line and does not fail to satisfy anyone: be it a newcomer or a fan. Though it did not get as much acclaim as its predecessor, as always happens in such series, the game is still highly praised and has even received several awards.