
	Platform Xbox Genre Action Publisher Ubisoft Developer Ubisoft ESRB M (Mature) Released Q4 2004

- Artistry in motion - Cool action - Addresses some of the problems of the original

- Time travel story is pure Back to the Future Part II

Review: Prince of Persia - Sands of Time (XB) Review: Chronicles of Riddick - Escape from Butcher Bay (XB) Review: Thief - Deadly Shadows (XB)
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Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

Score: 8.9 / 10

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (WW) goes where other games have gone before but with so much grit that you’ll likely feel it between your toes.

While the action has been pumped up, the story clearly takes its cues from Back to the Future Part II. The titular Prince has made the brainiac decision to further mess with Time after the events in the first game. The Prince may be an acrobatic badass with a sword and a goatee but he gets what’s coming to him! I won’t

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giveaway the ending – he’s sent back to the Wild West circa 1885 – but you’re probably not plugging through WW for a story. You’re playing for the action.

There’s action out the wazoo and moves a-plenty. The real surprising thing is that the choices and options available don’t become overwhelming. You can play through the game just pounding on the attack button but then

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you miss out of the artistry and wicked animation the development team threw into WW. Flipping off walls, hurling weapons, spinning around poles, catapulting off enemies all come across as realistic if somewhat unbelievable but more importantly it’s all easy to control and when you’re in the thick of things you’ll appreciate the tight control (and stellar collision detection).

WW takes PoP into gritty, evil country – your female nemesis wears a meal thong – and the level designs work around this principle. The world of WW is a dark, scary place. Some of the same mini-time traveling conventions still apply here. The Prince gradually gains access to more powerful weapons and techniques, but the most useful is still the ability to rewind time to erase bad jumps or enemy encounters that ended badly.

Is Prince of Persia: Warrior Within fun and a worthy follow-up to what many considered to be a Game of the Year winner in 1993? Surely is, and with the refinements and enhancements the team has made it’s definitely worth a look if you missed the previous title.

- Omni
(January 9, 2005)