After the wonderful experience that was Prince of Persia Sands of Time, I had high hopes and bigger expectations for the forthcoming sequel, Warriors Within. There were some promises made, such as improving the battles, and taking the engine and it’s intricate puzzles one step further than it’s parent. As development continued, concerns were raise due to the commerical failure of the first game, that compromises would be made to make the game a commercial success.

Those concerns were well founded, as the final product is nothing short of disappointing. Playing the game on the PC, it’s obvious the developers decided to opt for style over substance, as the game openly parades a much darker and grittier realisation than the beautiful majesty of the Sands of Time.

Gone are the beautiful and intricate levels and puzzles designed to test the skill of the player. Gone too are the wonderful and sublime graphics. Everything is replaced with what can only be described as Quake’s mud effect. Everything is brown or very dark, with splashes of colour simply to distinguish individual items. It looks worse on the PC and barely tests the graphics card. This is down to the game seemingly being a straight port from the consoles, with no regard for optimisation or improving the overall game.

Warriors within runs at a moderate frame rate, but it isn’t altogether smooth. The graphics seem more angled than the original, with AA and AF offering smoother graphics, but the in game engine seems to have taken a step or two back on the PC platform. It’s disappointing to think that Ubisoft would provide such a lazy conversion simply to meet their commerical deadline and to rip people off. Because that’s what this game is: a rip off, and a low quality and inferior product to the original.

Gone are the beautiful and intricate levels and puzzles designed to test the skill of the player. Gone too are the wonderful and sublime graphics. Everything is replaced with what can only be described as Quake’s mud effect

The story is also lacklustre and fails to inspire or interest. It seems the Prince unleashed the Dhaka during his previous escapade. The Dhaka is, for all intents and purposes, Death and wishes to reclaim the Prince’s soul. The world the Prince knows has completely changed, and with it he is now confronted with the keeper of the sands, and whether to kill her after falling for her. The plot is weaved with the CGi just like the first game, but unlike the first game you simply don’t care what happens to the characters as the game is so uninvolving.

There are new moves but there is also a feeling of repetition and lack of inspiration of new ideas. The level design is far more basic than the first game, offering very simple puzzles that rarely require the use of the sands of time. The great thing about the first game was that sands were weaved intot he plot, whereas here they’re simply given to you. There is a twist, in that portals exist between a dark and a light world, which eaves in the story of the Dhaka. If anyone cares that is.

Overall I’m sorely disappointed with this more than average, but less than stellar sequel to one of the finest platforming games ever to grace any system. The graphics have taken a turn for the worst, and the wonderful and clever level design and story have taken a dive towards monotony and boredom.

Verdict: Poor, commerical sequel to an excellent original. Disappointing.