Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is a video game that consists of 9 releases
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One of the most obvious aspects of Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is its departure from the bright visuals of its predecessor. Inspired by the gritty aesthetics of games such as Silent Hill, it presents a much darker artistic style and story. An additional controversial change to the franchise is the Prince himself, having adopted a harsher, rougher tone and conduct.
Always on the run and desperate to cease its pursuit, the Prince learns from an old man about the Island of Time, birthplace of the Sands of Time. The Prince sets sail; his mission: to prevent the Sands of Time from ever being created, altering the timeline and undoing all the Prince's mistakes so that the Dahaka will have no quarrel with him. Unfortunately, the Prince's ship is attacked by Shahdee and a small group of soldiers. When the Prince faces her in combat, he is thrown overboard. The Prince manages to drift ashore and follows the woman into the Palace of Time. During his pursuit, he discovers magical, time-manipulating portals.
After activating the towers, the Prince is attacked by the Dahaka and is almost killed, but the dark creature from before appears and is killed in his place. Immediately afterwards, the Dahaka inexplicably leaves.
Still on the Island of Time, the Prince discovers the Mask of the Wraith, an ancient artifact that allows its wearer to coexists with his past self in the same timeline. Placing the mask on his face, he transforms into a sand wraith, the very creature the Prince witnessed die at the hands of the Dahaka. Travelling back into the past through the sand portals, the Prince returns to the moment when he witnessed the sand wraith's death. Instead of rescuing the Prince, however, he allows the Dahaka to kill his past self. The Dahaka appeased, it vanishes, and the Prince removes the mask, returning to human form.
The Prince kills Kaileena again. The Dahaka reappears and takes Kaileena's body since it is now she who is out of place in the timeline. It also claims the Prince's medallion, another relic of the Sands, and then fades into nonexistance. The Prince sets sail for Babylon.
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is the the second chapter in the Sands of Time trilogy. Adopting a much darker tone, Warrior Within follows the Prince to the Island of Time as he attempts to change the past in order to end the Dahaka's relentless pursuit.
Overview
A very different tone from its predecessor
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is an action adventure game. Like Sands of Time, it has a strong emphasis on platforming and combat against numerous opponents. Both of these aspects of gameplay exemplify the Prince's reality-defying strength, agility, and acrobatic ability.
One of the most obvious aspects of Prince of Persia: Warrior Within is its departure from the bright visuals of its predecessor. Inspired by the gritty aesthetics of games such as Silent Hill, it presents a much darker artistic style and story. An additional controversial change to the franchise is the Prince himself, having adopted a harsher, rougher tone and conduct.
These stylistic changes are justified by the story progression of the game. For years, the Prince finds himself hunted by an unstoppable force, and the stress and strain have taken its toll on the Prince's charm and goodwill. What's left is a grim determination to survive.
Gameplay
Combat
Prince of Persia returns with a greater emphasis on combat. Throughout the game, the Prince will pit himself against groups of enemies and the occassional one-on-one boss. In order to dispose of these opponents, the player uses special input sequences to perform combos. He is now able to dual wield and throw weapons. Additionally, the Prince may utilize the environment to his advantage, attacking while running along walls or swinging around pillars.
One of Ubisoft's primary concerns was to improve the combat system, which was often perceived as repetitive and simplistic in Sands of Time. New moves and abilities facilitate far greater variety in how players can deal with multiple enemies in more complex combat arenas. When the Prince ends an enemy is a particularly grizzly fashion, the game will slow down and the camera will adopt a more cinematic angle.
Puzzles
Warrior Within's puzzle elements are not particularly difficult but do rely on a lot of movement within the environment (which involves tiresome repetition). Also like its predecessor, puzzles are usually relegated to the switch, lever, door variety: push a button to open a door then run to the door before it closes.
Plot Synopsis
Seven years after Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the Prince finds himself hunted by the invincible Dahaka, the Guardian of the Timeline. By manipulating the Sands, the Prince was able to cheat death and avoid his fate, something the Dahaka will not tolerate.
The Prince's ship attacked
Using the portals to travel into the deep past, the Prince encounters Shahdee attempting to murder a mysterious woman in red, Kaileena. The Prince kills Shahdee, and the rescued Kaileena explains to him that she is a servant to the Empress of Time. She also explains to the Prince that to gain an audience with the Empress of Time he must activate two towers, which will open the doors to her throne room. Kaileena aids the Prince by giving him weapons which are used to activate the towers. Mysteriously during his quest, the Prince encounters a dark creature that vanishes into the shadows.
The Prince and Kaileena
The Prince eventually succeeds in reaching the throne room only to discover that Kaileena is actually the Empress of Time. She has foreseen her death by the Prince's hands and has been trying to avoid her fate by killing him. They engage in mortal combat, and the Prince kills Kaileena. He returns to the present, satisfied that Kaileena will never be able to create the Sands of Time. To his horror, he discovers that Kaileena's body has spawned the Sands. The Prince in trying to change his fate became an intrument in the Sands of Time's creation.
The sand wraith
Still in the past, the Prince continues his quest to undo the creation of the Sands of Time. Instead of killing Kaileena, he forces her through a sand portal into the present. It is at this point the game diverges into two alternate endings:
Without the Water Sword
The Dahaka
With the Water Sword (canon)
The Prince spares Kaileena's life. The Dahaka reappears to claim her life since it is now she who is cheating fate. The Prince, however, defeats the Dahaka using the magic of the Water Sword. The Prince and Kaileena set sail for Babylon together.
Reception
Many existing fans of the franchise, series creator Jordan Mechner included, have found the changes in tone and character unappealing. The Prince is often accused of excessive baditude and even alienating fans of preceding games. Many of these complaints were addressed in the game's sequel, The Two Thrones.
Controversy over tone aside, the gameplay is generally held in high regard, though opinons differ on the game's stronger emphasis on combat.
| Game Name | Prince of Persia: Warrior Within |
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| Genres |
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| Original US Release |
Nov. 30, 2004
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| Original US Release |
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| Aliases |
Pop WW Prince of persia 2 |
| CERO |
CERO: D
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| ESRB |
ESRB: M
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| PEGI |
PEGI: 16+
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