Prince of Persia: Warrior Within Comments by Tom Bramwell

All 7 and we'll watch them fall
They stand in the way of love
And we will smoke them all
With an intellect and a savoir-faire
No one in the whole universe
Will ever compare
I am yours now and u are mine
And together we'll love through
All space and time, so don't cry
One day all 7 will die

This is an amusing thread when you block the un-registered rabble :)

I didnt like the rock music, Rock music arrived in the 1950's not 1050's (or whenever this is set)
Otherwise, the reviewer has got it spot on.
Removed the charm and style from the first.

Was expecting an "EA Trax" logo to appear at the bottom corner during combat.

I never played the first one - only the PS2 demo - I was so put off by the framerate that I didn't bother. I was planning to get this on the X-Box - but after what people have said, what was the framerate of the original like on the X-Box? Maybe that's a better purchase.

"framerate"



shakes head sorrowfully

"This one seems closer to....Devil May Cry... "

Without capturing an ounce of DMC's magic, unfortunately.

I've been playing it for a couple of hours and this is is no way a 'shit' game, but then the seven score doesn't imply that (which some of you seem to have missed). I was a huge fan of the original by the way. There's a couple things that don't really fit in this; the princes voice and his general character, and the rock music. Apart from that, so far, I've done more platforming than fighting. The fighting, however accomplished, I would happily lose, just like the first game. But the platforming is excellent as ever with a couple of new additions like the curtain tear.

Most of us loved the first game not because of the fighting, or particularly because of the puzzling, but mainly because of the atmosphere and story - which, according to the review, they've ballsed up. Remember that a 7 means that this is a much better than average game, just not a magical game like the first.

Guys (and gals)This game earned a SEVEN. That is right, five plus two, seven. That means it is very good. The only problem is that there is a shitload of NEGATIVES that burden down the positives, so its would be rather like: Atmosphere + Graphics = 10, grisly combat + vulgar boss sluts + atrocious score = -3. Geddit?

I think it earned its 7. The problem is, it's going to be nigh-on impossible for anyone who played the first game NOT to make comparisons. If you can play it and take it as a new game in an entirely different franchise to POP, you might enjoy it. If you constantly compare it to POPSOT, you are going to hate its tits off..

C'mon, it does feature one of the most impressive female video game arses of all time!

Peej

Gamespot's review (8.8) mentions the XBOX Version has sound issues, and the PS2 version has graphics issues.
From the Review:
Some technical flaws in the Xbox and PlayStation 2 versions of the game also mar the experience somewhat. The Xbox version is prone to audio glitches. Certain sound effects get stuck, and, at other times, scenes that should have voice in them are cut off completely. This is a shame, because the sound effects in the game, aside from some ham-handed voice acting from the prince, are excellent and impactful. Meanwhile, the PlayStation 2 version's flaws are graphical. As a result, the game has a slightly choppier frame rate than the other versions. While it's not enough to hinder gameplay or combat, it does detract a bit from an otherwise beautiful-looking game. We didn't notice any sound or frame rate issues with the GameCube version of Warrior Within, however.

" "framerate"
shakes head sorrowfully"

Bloody pedant. Ok, frame rate. I don't mind simple graphics, but I hate juddery movement. 30/25fps is acceptable, less isn't. I let GTA get away with it though because the game itself is one of the few good enough to rise above such flaws.

At anyrate (... ;) I picked up the original for the Xbox last night - it's much smoother than the PS2 demo was, very pleased and don't think I'll bother with the new game, at least until it's lurking in the second hand bins.

it's got negatives, but tbh, i'm playing it. which can't be said about ea lames.

i just picked my copy up despite the reviews, i'm still hoping some of the magic is there :S

Penny Arcades review:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/news.php3?date=2004-12-03

Much the same as EG, but I especially like this:
There's a new combat system now, but there's also way more combat, and it takes place all over, so whether or not it actually ceased being repetitive I couldn't tell you. Just as in the first one, I traverse the combat oriented areas so I can arrive at the next perfected, genre defining platform section. It is like getting a ordering a pizza and getting a free walrus. Even if the walrus were excellent, I mean truly exemplary, I'm really not in the market for it and it's not why I ordered the pizza.

Don't know if this has been posted yet but thought I'd give the link because I found it so funny.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3

Gotta love that line the Prince gives. :D

I was looking forward to this, but it seems from various reviews that a lot of the charm from the first game has been surgically removed and a lot of "angst" has been improperly stitched in it's place.

I think I'll have to rent it first.

femmy, pudgy, alcoholic losers with bad teeth weren't very marketable.

OK, I'm going to ignore the rest of your bizarre xenophobic discharge and assume you were being facetious, but I've heard this particular thing said before and I'm hoping someone can tell me where on earth it comes from. Bad teeth? Huh?

>(Have any of you half-wits actually played the game? Or have you based your opinions on a short demo and crap review? I've read all the comments posted here, and am disappointed that you people can even call yourself gamers. I've got the full game, and have to give it 8/10. The style of the game has changed, but it's changed for a reason. The reason is called the games PLOT. All you people seem to want to do is pick holes in something most have you haven't even played yet! Here's an idea...rent the game if you're unsure about buying it, play it through, then make some intelligent comments on the game itself, not about your hatred of "casual" gamers.)

Do you really think the plot changes dictated the look of the game or the other way round? Be realistic. SOT had charm, and style. It was enchanting to all those who played it and watched others play it. This game has scantily clad women saying things like 'ooh..it feels so goo..ood' during combat, and a woman in a Jessica Rabbit outfit.

The gameplay is as good as it ever was but everything else is just so... inferior? inappropriate? charmless?

Little things that made the original so endearing, like the game over: "no no no, that's not how it happened" has been replaced with unskippable splashing blood which makes you wait several seconds before you can try again.

I will say that the story progressing cut-scenes do tie the dark look in very well, but they've gone so far over the top with the actual game that it lacks credibility.

I'm getting into it a bit more now. 35% in and it's beginning to feel a bit more like the game I wanted it to be. It's still no "Sands of Time" but it's got some damned amazing jaw dropping moments that have made me actually change my mind slightly about how "mainstream" it has become (actually I seriously doubt this will appeal to mainstream gamers as some of the puzzles actually require a bit of a brain!)

Now I've stopped purely fighting and am getting more into the puzzley side of it, there's a chance to stop and admire the graphics, the scenery and some of the more subtler animations in the game. Sure, the fighting is still more or less a case of "block, stab buttons, block" but I'm liking it!

Peej

I was very weary about buying this game after I read a few 'so-so' reviews.

Then I read the Games TM review and got confused. On Saturday I bought it (XBOX version, after owning the NTSC Cube SoT ) and played it.

I didn't quite like the first bit on the ship, but then when the prince gets to the island with the castle things started to pick up at bit.

Based on reviews I was expecting..... not enough platforming/puzzling, too much combat, a complete (worse) change in style etc...

What I got was something very similar to the first ( much more than I had feared ). It's not a million miles away from SoT in style, it still has a dream like quality to it, and although there are some very 'rock' bits ( almost like devil may cry ), there are also moments of moody, incidental music that pleased.

Also the platforming is every bit as inventive as it was in was in SoT. I'm not sure why there's so much anger about this game, but I quite like it, and felt no need to throw my joypad down.

i think roy walker of catchphrase fame could have summed this one up:

'it's good, but it's not right'

The Fell = Best post of the thread.

Though I'm liking it, it has something missing (or something extra it shouldn't have!)

S'like diving into a piece of shortbread only to find it's soda bread instead...

Peej

Finally got round to renting this and initial impressions are basically as follows:

Theres a good game here, it's just covered in a lot of crap. Dark and dreary level design, unlikeable Prince, horrible heavy metal soundtrack (and this is from a bloke who likes heavy metal.) The combat, while improved, is still boring.

Platforming bits are still mucho fun.

After HATING the demo, reading poo reviews and loads of negative comments I was basically going to leave this one.....however I got 'Call of Duty - Finest Hour' as a *gift* (obviously someone didn't like me all that much) so I took it back to GAME and spent an hour trying to decide what game to swap it for.............POP WW was the only thing that looked even remotely interesting.

After playing for about 6 hours I can say that it's not THAT bad.....I loved POP SOT and this is a different game...darker and far more action based.

Music is horrible, combat gets to be a bit of a pain and the 'open ended' level design makes for some rather irritating moments of being unsure what to do.

But, saying that, it's better than 99% of the crap that's out there at the moment (hardly a reason to buy, I know) and once you get past the first 3 or 4 hours it actually gets pretty good.

I think 7/10 is a fair score........

Funny thing is, if you hated the first one you won't find anything here to change your mind, but if you loved the first one then this will also turn you off as the game is so different..............

Just get past the first impressions and there is something worth playing here.........even if it won't be at the top of your game pile in a month (MP2 Echoes will be there for me at least :) )

it looks nasty!

Aargh

After playing this more, I'm liking it more. All the complaints about how "platforming is no longer the focus" seem to be crap. There appears to be just as much platforming as in the last game, and it's a bit tougher - the fact that the fighting system is deeper seem to make people think that it's the "new" focus, when really it's just moved a bit more into the spotlight without taking up any of platforming's space. Really though, all the fighting combos and moves and tricks seem totally unneccessary - SoT had plenty and I loved the simplicity and awesome fluid controls in pulling off these sweet moves. WW is considerably less intuitive, though it gets a bit easier as you get more comfortable. Honestly though, I would've been fine with them keeping the original fighting system and just adding more complex bad guys rather than tacking on all these crazy double wielding moves and combos and mid air steals and what not. I don't want to have to think about what button does what, just give me a sword button and a dodge button, make them context sensitive, and throw in some complex fighting patterns in the bad guys.

Again though, the game did become much more fun as I became more comfortable with the controls... it all feels just a bit too complex for a Prince of Persia game.

Also, complaints about the music appear to be overdone. There's still plenty of good ambient music. The heavy guitar rock does actually have some little ethnic overtones to it, which sounds kind of interesting. The problem is that these songs in particular are the ones that stand out the most and they repeat way too often. Also, they'll occasionally pop in and fade out at the worst times. I can understand metal playing when I'm fighting a hoard of tough bad guys, but not when I'm pushing a crate.

review from rottentomatoes.com

Oh and I joined the site so if you want to ignore me now you can. Happy?

Oh one last thing(I think...) I acctually don't normally like rock I just found that the soundtrack to it was ver endearing to the game and it fit it well. I acctually like new age music allot better, but what can I say im a sucker for a good game soundtrack. Although I will admit that SoT did have a very good soundtrack as well so I like them both.

Oh I thought of something else! Have any of you ever seen the garden tower and it's beautifull look, and the music to that place is great to boot. I bet you guys have only seen the ship! once you get to the Castle of time the game really takes on it's true form. THIS IS ALL SLANDER YOU'VE ONLY SEEN THE GAME WITH YOUR EYES AND NOT YOUR HEART ^_^ beauty is more than skin deep!

Another thing (I got sick of saying one more thing^_^) I just wanted you to know I have read all of the review and all of the comments so you cant say I havent

I have finished this game for 4 times. It's interesting because the first time I wanted to finish him. The 2 time I wanted to see all the image. The 3 thime I want to be the most dangerous to make all the combos. And the last I wanted to be perfect, and perfect it was. This game is interactive butI think that the Ubisoft can make the POP 3 KB multiplayer, because it's so funny. And multiplayer can be moost funny, I think. And I will open a web site with all screenshots that I have with Prince of Persia Warrior Within, they are ±200. That will hapen in 1-2 mounth, I hope in july it will be finished.That's all, play Prince of Persia to see a great warrior!