Gamecube Preview: Prince Of Persia - Warrior Within

I pasted this one, ' cause it came from GameSpy...and you would need to register to read it otherwise.

Amazingly fluid acrobatics, serviceable action and an enjoyable storyline all helped Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time single-handedly revive what was once a dead franchise ... and I guess it was a great game, too! Ubisoft Montreal' s dedicated developers have been working feverishly since that landmark release, and now, just going on a year later, the fruits of their labors are finally, err, becoming edible. With the new Prince of Persia: Warrior Within set for a November release, Ubisoft recently invited Bay Area journalists over to its scary, cubicle-free office for a solid ninety-minute playtest. What I played and saw there were highly encouraging, as it became evident that there' s more to the new Prince of Persia -- perhaps even a lot more -- than Ubi has been willing to divulge thus far.

For starters, it looks as if Warrior Within' s story actually has a chance of living up to that of its esteemed prequel. Despite The Sands of Time ending on a relatively upbeat note, the Prince' s life since has been anything but happy. The mythical but all-too-real guardian of time is furious that a mere mortal has tampered with the temporal flow, and regards the Prince as an messy paradox that must be destroyed. The Prince is well aware that his time on Earth is quick running out, and he' s only got one good lead: the Empress of Time, the creator of the Sands of Time, might just be able to offer a solution. Thus he sets out on a trouble-filled voyage to her remote island; if he survives it, his adventure will have just begun.

To be frank, The Sands of Times' biggest problem was its combat, which was somewhat simplistic and often crept towards tedious. It' s well-known that the development team has acknowledged this flaw, and much of the press coverage generated about Warrior Within has predominantly focused on how improved the new combat system is. And it is. However, what hasn' t been getting out as much is that Warrior Within will offer a substantial helping of the fun running, jumping, climbing and puzzling gameplay that made the first game so worthwhile. If you think about it rationally for a second, then it' s obvious that Ubi would retain the elements that worked so well before. But, well ... you know us video game fans, cynical and paranoid to the last.

What' s more, Warrior Within will actually offer a lot more freedom of movement within (and around) its castle. You' ll be able to revisit previously explored areas to uncover missed secrets, or to use newly acquired powers to reach areas that were inaccessible before. From the sounds of it, the Prince will have fairly free run of the castle, and for a good portion of the game. Starting to sound like Castlevania, just a bit? It should, as the developers have cited IGA' s games as a strong influence for the gameplay structure of Warrior Within. The game will also strike a few additional blows against the forces of linearity by letting you choose your objectives at certain points. You' ll probably end up doing ' em all sooner or later, but sometimes you' ll be able to decide which and when.

Outside of its endgame, it' s surprising to consider that The Sands of Time featured next to no time-travel elements. Ubisoft is not missing that train again, so time portals will be another interesting aspect of Warrior Within. Apparently there' ll be ten in all, which, once found, can be passed through at your leisure. The past version of the Empress' castle will be much more regal and, well, intact. In contrast, the present will be a crumbled, decaying ruin. If this past / present aspect is pulled off properly, it' ll be like having two different castles to conquer. Also, some puzzles will require you to effect changes in the past to affect the present; for example (and I think I might be buthering this, my notes are unclear), diverting a waterway in the past could lead to the location of climbable plants changing in the present. Something like that. You get the idea.

The time portals will also have a secondary function, in that they' ll bequeath various time-control powers to the Prince. The first portal will bestow the famous death-rewind that worked so well in the last adventure, while the subsequent nine will be a mixture of old and new. One new power creates a shockwave that pushes enemies back; another slows down time (or speeds up the Prince, depending on the vantage of the observer) so the Prince can get an edge in combat and solve timing-sensitive physical challenges. From the looks of it, the time powers will get a greater, more diverse workout than before.

Perhaps the best new aspect of the level design actually has to do with combat -- the endlessly respawning hordes that populated the first game have gotten the proverbial axe. Now, most enemies will come in small groups, and won' t stall the game for five minutes at a time. Clearly, the people at Ubi are listening to fan feedback, as the endless, dreary combat was the single biggest complaint about The Sands of Time. Good form.

So finally, let' s talk about the new combat. Ubisoft is justified in saying it' s improved; it' s actually a hell of a lot better than before. Yes, one whole " hell" ! That' s a lot where I come from. For starters, the Prince has been gifted with a multitude of new maneuvers and attacks; one of the most important is the new flip, which puts him behind the nearest foe and ready to launch into a bunch of other moves, such as a throat cutting, a throw (forward or backward), or a " hey jerk, you' re my hostage" hold. The throw is particularly useful, since you can just toss your foes off the nearest cliff. Of course, then you won' t get the mystic sand that powers your time amulet, which is only available when using finishing moves like the aforementioned throat slice or the old " ground stab." Vexing!

The Prince will also be able to disarm enemies, stealing their weapons for use in his other hand. These weapons will include swords, maces, axes and daggers, but most of them will break after a certain number of hits. (The game will have a few well-hidden legendary weapons with no such limitations, as well as other powers.) The main thing that changes between secondary weapons is the special attacks that are possible, and if you tire of a weapon, you can just chuck it at the nearest foe, after which it disappears into their torso.

Warrior Within' s combat will also have a renewed focus on environmental interaction. The Prince can still run up walls, but now he can launch a number of crazy attacks off of them. The most dramatic one I saw was the swan dive; the Prince ran ten or so feet up, launched off, and came down head-first in a dervish of blades. He' ll also be able to " trick" (my term, not Ubi' s, thankfully) off objects in the environment, such as vertical poles. Give this guy a pole and he' ll swing into a 360 degree arc of death. Elizabeth Berkley would be proud.

Overall, the new combat system feels a lot more free-form and acrobatic than the last game' s. The designers have deliberately seen to it that the Prince will have two or more options at any given time, leaving it up to the player to improvise as they see fit. During my playtest, all of the combat and movement options felt a little overwhelming, as Warrior Within really packs a lot of maneuvers into a simple game controller (Xbox, in this case). I' m sure a little more time with the game would cure most symptoms of this complaint, though.

The Sands of Time was a lovely looking game, permeated with a dreamy glow that emphasized its fairy tale nature. Warrior Within will be a darker overall production, both literally and thematically. That said, there will of course be variation, and different areas will have different graphics filters to effect different moods. During the playtest, a bug caused one of these filters to turn off while I was exploring a library-like area. The brooding, foreboding environment suddenly looked a lot less brooding ... like all the flavor had been sucked out. I' m told other areas will be brighter and less moody, including a few outdoor jaunts around the castle grounds.

Other graphical effects have also been cranked up, sometimes according to the abilities of the host system. For example, the Xbox (and I' d assume PC) version will employ normal mapping to achieve more detailed-looking character models; it' ll also sport specular highlights on various surfaces. Obviously, PS2 will not be able to do all of this, whereas GameCube will fall somewhere in-between. Effects like the specularity are pleasingly subtle; Ubi is trying to go for realism, rather than the plastic-sheen effect seen in so many other recent, gloss-heavy games. Thus far, my only real complaint about Warrior Within' s look is that it' s only aiming for 30 frames per second. That' s sufficient, but a super-smooth 60fps is always welcome in my unwritten yet oft-referred to book. Perhaps the PC version will support that.

My short time with Prince of Persia: Warrior Within went a long way toward assuaging my preconceptions that it would end up a combat-heavy brawlfest. Instead, it looks to be well on its way towards becoming a true sequel to the first game, being larger in scope, more complex, and perhaps even more beautiful than The Sands of Time. To be clear, Warrior Within doesn' t seem to be going all edgy or dark for the sake of marketing and the like; it' s going dark because the story demands it. I' m glad to report that that story is sounding more and more like one I want to hear.

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