Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

One Fate. One Million Ways to Defy It.

NA release: 30th November 2004
EU release: 3rd December 2004
JP release: N/A
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
NGC Magazine Score: 88%
Mods Used: Widescreen Code

After using the Sands of Time to erase the last game and prevent all the disaster, the Prince of Persia started getting chased by a horrifying beast that can’t die. He finds out where the Sands came from and travels there to try and stop them from being created in the first place. After his ship is destroyed, he washes up on shore.

In the first game, the Prince started out as annoying but grows throughout. While he erased the events, he still experienced them. Yet in Warrior Within, he’ll sacrifice countless offers for his own goal of saving his own life. I hated him here, and he only gets worse throughout.

The combat is a bit different this time. There’s more of so and holding a second weapon changes your attacks, these are picked up from enemies and only last so many hits. There is one really annoying attack I kept accidentally triggering where the Prince would jump far away (often over a ledge) but then there’s a throw that’s very handy for dealing with groups and extra handy when there’s a ledge nearby.

The platforming hasn’t really changed, although the camera is generally better. You can switch to a set camera, which can create some nice views but is useless to actually play with. The game features a fair amount of backtracking as you travel between two time periods and go down the same corridors multiple times. While it’s all interconnected, it’s still a linear experience and you just go forward until you reach a sand portal, then go back the way you came. Sometimes you’ll even backtrack to the same time period and there will just be a door that wasn’t open before. It’s quite tedious.

While I really enjoyed the first game. I didn’t like this much at all. The levels don’t look as nice – more muted colours throughout – and I the level design was quite dreary. Some people do like the darker atmosphere, but it’s just not for me.

Fine

At its best, this is a stunning platform game that offers more of the same. We don’t like the combos, we don’t like the Prince’s new habit of growling boasts while fighting, and we think the rock soundtrack ought to be taken out to a quiet field and shot. But we like everything else about Warrior Within.
Martin Kitts, NGC Magazine #102

Remake or remaster?

A collection would be good.

Official Ways to get the game

Prince of Persia Warrior Within is available on Steam.