The Avatar
15-04-2006, 09:37 PM
Single player games have fallen on hard times lately. With multiplayer gaming being the trend for the future, the video games that are geared towards one player campaigns have to work harder and harder to capture the consumers interest, once you have played the game through, what else it there to keep you entertained? Prince of Persia: Warrior Within manages not only to capture your attention, but also staples you to your seat for hours on end with this amazing follow up to Sands of Time.
It follows directly after the first game, with the hardy Prince being chased by a mysterious uber demon of time that wants to kill him. Now the Prince will have none of this, and so begins your adventure to stop the dahaka(uber demon) from killing you. You must use your time powers wisely to defeat all the people who stand in your way and find the empress of time, only she can help to save you.
I was very wary of buying this title as I have found that old 2D games never really translate very well to 3D. However Prince of Persia is an exception here as Ubisoft have clearly gone to great lengths to make this game addictive as hell. Not only do you control a prince who can kick serious ass with his swordplay, but also a super monkey who can do some crazy stuff like running up walls and sliding down huge banners to land safely. This is a puzzle game, a fighting game, and a movie all in one. The storyline is very entertaining with much twists and even multiple endings!
GRAPHICS Score:98%
Fantastic! The graphics in this game are astounding and very detailed. Warrior Within graphics are not only beautifully rendered, but also very well designed. Each character is easily recognisable from a distance (especially the brutes!), and even the type of weapon they are using can be seen.
The backgrounds are also breathtaking, sometimes you just have to stop and admire the view, and then wonder at the sheer craziness of what your doing and how high up you actually are! This game is not for those who suffer from vertigo. The backdrops are so detailed that it's amazing that the game doesn't slow down in performance through rendering it all.
Beyond that Warrior Within gets extra credit here because of it use of time. As you jump in and out of the past and present the surroundings change dynamically. You can still tell you're in the old ruins, but once they have been restored as you go back in time, you get to see so much more detail in the design of the level. But, the developer has kept the specifications of the level the same as you zip forwards and backwards in time, you don't just go to a new map location that is meant to be the same place in the past, you actually stay in the same place.
So much effort has been put into the development of the levels and the castle that the quality of the pre-production comes through. You will be amazed at the graphics and detail which only comes from a game that has had much effort and planning go into it.
SOUND/MUSIC Score:82%
The music was a bit buggy at times because it seemed to go away for no reason, then come back again in just the same fashion. I often found myself wondering about the silence, whether something big was about to happen, only to find the music come back on again with nothing happening.
Other then that the music and sound was just fine. The voice acting was rather funny and it seemed a little out of character, I mean the "Prince of Persia" not only spoke in flawless English, but also without any accent to speak of! But then again, I found this amusing rather then annoying and it really didn't detract from the overall storyline.
MULTIPLAYER Score:N/A
No multiplayer here, not even a split screen side game, but its easy to understand as games which make use of "bullet time"(the slowing down of gameplay) are rather hard to translate into multiplayer, the logistics of it would be a nightmare.
(RE)PLAYABILITY Score:92%
I've finished this game already (as I played it pretty much non-stop) and am still playing it, looking for all the hidden life power-ups and unlocking all the weapons to use. With multiple endings to make replays less monotonous, secret areas, video replays, and artwork galleries, Warrior Within does very well and gives you value for money.
The ability to manipulate time is so much fun to mess around with. Now, when you stuff up a jump and kill yourself, you can rewind time and make it like it never happened. This is such an awesome feature, especially when you stuff up just before a save point! You can also slow down time to attack enemies, take that you bastard zombies! There were some problems with rewinding time, for example after running along a plank platform that collapses with your weight on it, when you rewind time sometimes the planks don't come back to their original positions.
I found this to be a little annoying, but overall it just made that level more challenging knowing that maybe I couldn't use time to my advantage.
Still, it would have been even better with some sort of multiplayer. I gripe at this a little as I think Prince of Persia would be great in multiplayer.
CONTROLSScore:99%
With the super complicated moves that you can do in this game it is amazing just how easy it is to do them. Button combos can be learnt with the game tutorial and are enough to get you through the game. However, stronger combos and weapon based attacks are very easy to pick up later in the game once you have established the basics.
Running, jumping, grappling all these tasks are done so easily with the controller, and can make you look like such a super star in front of your friends when showing off. Just don't ever give them a go at the game because then they will realise how easy it is to look like a professional. That why it lost one percent in its score as there should be some fail-safe button you can press to make the controls become really crazy so your friends will end up looking like tools and you can laugh at them forever!!!!
ATMOSPHERE Score:98%
Looks like tonnes of effort was put into the storyline and it shows. This game reminds me of Eidos's Legacy of Kain games with the level of detail that is put into the storyline.
It also comes together really neatly with the graphics and music to give a wonderful feeling of actually being there! When the dahaka turns up to attack you the adrenalin will start to pump as the whole gameplay changes instantly.
WEB INTEGRATION Score:90%
The website is really well done for this game. It offers message boards, all game info, a tonne of downloads, and also mobile phone versions of the Prince of Persia games. It would really be nice if they were free, but alas you must pay money to download them. Unless you have some sort of peer to peer network file sharing application installed, but that would be immoral, and you would be funding terrorism.....somehow. Shame on you, shame on you for even considering that horrible idea!!! Shame on you for even thinking that WinMX which can be downloaded from http://www.zeropaid.com/ would do the trick.
ScreenShots
http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/6/1/6/warriorwithin01_thumb.jpg (http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=17544&c=209) http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/6/1/6/warriorwithin02_thumb.jpg (http://www.zgeek.com/forum/gallery/showimage.php?i=17545&c=209) http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/6/1/6/warriorwithin03_thumb.jpg (http://www.zgeek.com/forum/gallery/showimage.php?i=17546&c=209)
Are you feeling lucky, punk? Well, are ya?
OVERALL Score:93%
This game is great fun to play, the story is entertaining, the manoeuvers the prince can do are amazing to watch, and finally manipulating time to your advantage is so much fun to do!
Get this game, right now. It would be a classic addition to your GameCube collection. Even more worth a purchase if you have played any of the other Price of Persia games. This game will keep you entertained for many months and will probably have you coming back to it years later to reminisce about the "good ol days".
Developed by:
Ubisoft[/url]
Official Site: Prince of Persia Site (http://www.princeofpersiagame.com/uk/home2.php)
Genre: Action
Memory Blocks: 21
Players: 1
Release Date: Nov 30, 2004
It follows directly after the first game, with the hardy Prince being chased by a mysterious uber demon of time that wants to kill him. Now the Prince will have none of this, and so begins your adventure to stop the dahaka(uber demon) from killing you. You must use your time powers wisely to defeat all the people who stand in your way and find the empress of time, only she can help to save you.
I was very wary of buying this title as I have found that old 2D games never really translate very well to 3D. However Prince of Persia is an exception here as Ubisoft have clearly gone to great lengths to make this game addictive as hell. Not only do you control a prince who can kick serious ass with his swordplay, but also a super monkey who can do some crazy stuff like running up walls and sliding down huge banners to land safely. This is a puzzle game, a fighting game, and a movie all in one. The storyline is very entertaining with much twists and even multiple endings!
GRAPHICS Score:98%
Fantastic! The graphics in this game are astounding and very detailed. Warrior Within graphics are not only beautifully rendered, but also very well designed. Each character is easily recognisable from a distance (especially the brutes!), and even the type of weapon they are using can be seen.
The backgrounds are also breathtaking, sometimes you just have to stop and admire the view, and then wonder at the sheer craziness of what your doing and how high up you actually are! This game is not for those who suffer from vertigo. The backdrops are so detailed that it's amazing that the game doesn't slow down in performance through rendering it all.
Beyond that Warrior Within gets extra credit here because of it use of time. As you jump in and out of the past and present the surroundings change dynamically. You can still tell you're in the old ruins, but once they have been restored as you go back in time, you get to see so much more detail in the design of the level. But, the developer has kept the specifications of the level the same as you zip forwards and backwards in time, you don't just go to a new map location that is meant to be the same place in the past, you actually stay in the same place.
So much effort has been put into the development of the levels and the castle that the quality of the pre-production comes through. You will be amazed at the graphics and detail which only comes from a game that has had much effort and planning go into it.
SOUND/MUSIC Score:82%
The music was a bit buggy at times because it seemed to go away for no reason, then come back again in just the same fashion. I often found myself wondering about the silence, whether something big was about to happen, only to find the music come back on again with nothing happening.
Other then that the music and sound was just fine. The voice acting was rather funny and it seemed a little out of character, I mean the "Prince of Persia" not only spoke in flawless English, but also without any accent to speak of! But then again, I found this amusing rather then annoying and it really didn't detract from the overall storyline.
MULTIPLAYER Score:N/A
No multiplayer here, not even a split screen side game, but its easy to understand as games which make use of "bullet time"(the slowing down of gameplay) are rather hard to translate into multiplayer, the logistics of it would be a nightmare.
(RE)PLAYABILITY Score:92%
I've finished this game already (as I played it pretty much non-stop) and am still playing it, looking for all the hidden life power-ups and unlocking all the weapons to use. With multiple endings to make replays less monotonous, secret areas, video replays, and artwork galleries, Warrior Within does very well and gives you value for money.
The ability to manipulate time is so much fun to mess around with. Now, when you stuff up a jump and kill yourself, you can rewind time and make it like it never happened. This is such an awesome feature, especially when you stuff up just before a save point! You can also slow down time to attack enemies, take that you bastard zombies! There were some problems with rewinding time, for example after running along a plank platform that collapses with your weight on it, when you rewind time sometimes the planks don't come back to their original positions.
I found this to be a little annoying, but overall it just made that level more challenging knowing that maybe I couldn't use time to my advantage.
Still, it would have been even better with some sort of multiplayer. I gripe at this a little as I think Prince of Persia would be great in multiplayer.
CONTROLSScore:99%
With the super complicated moves that you can do in this game it is amazing just how easy it is to do them. Button combos can be learnt with the game tutorial and are enough to get you through the game. However, stronger combos and weapon based attacks are very easy to pick up later in the game once you have established the basics.
Running, jumping, grappling all these tasks are done so easily with the controller, and can make you look like such a super star in front of your friends when showing off. Just don't ever give them a go at the game because then they will realise how easy it is to look like a professional. That why it lost one percent in its score as there should be some fail-safe button you can press to make the controls become really crazy so your friends will end up looking like tools and you can laugh at them forever!!!!
ATMOSPHERE Score:98%
Looks like tonnes of effort was put into the storyline and it shows. This game reminds me of Eidos's Legacy of Kain games with the level of detail that is put into the storyline.
It also comes together really neatly with the graphics and music to give a wonderful feeling of actually being there! When the dahaka turns up to attack you the adrenalin will start to pump as the whole gameplay changes instantly.
WEB INTEGRATION Score:90%
The website is really well done for this game. It offers message boards, all game info, a tonne of downloads, and also mobile phone versions of the Prince of Persia games. It would really be nice if they were free, but alas you must pay money to download them. Unless you have some sort of peer to peer network file sharing application installed, but that would be immoral, and you would be funding terrorism.....somehow. Shame on you, shame on you for even considering that horrible idea!!! Shame on you for even thinking that WinMX which can be downloaded from http://www.zeropaid.com/ would do the trick.
ScreenShots
http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/6/1/6/warriorwithin01_thumb.jpg (http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=17544&c=209) http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/6/1/6/warriorwithin02_thumb.jpg (http://www.zgeek.com/forum/gallery/showimage.php?i=17545&c=209) http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/6/1/6/warriorwithin03_thumb.jpg (http://www.zgeek.com/forum/gallery/showimage.php?i=17546&c=209)
Are you feeling lucky, punk? Well, are ya?
OVERALL Score:93%
This game is great fun to play, the story is entertaining, the manoeuvers the prince can do are amazing to watch, and finally manipulating time to your advantage is so much fun to do!
Get this game, right now. It would be a classic addition to your GameCube collection. Even more worth a purchase if you have played any of the other Price of Persia games. This game will keep you entertained for many months and will probably have you coming back to it years later to reminisce about the "good ol days".
Developed by:
Ubisoft[/url]
Official Site: Prince of Persia Site (http://www.princeofpersiagame.com/uk/home2.php)
Genre: Action
Memory Blocks: 21
Players: 1
Release Date: Nov 30, 2004