On November 30, 2004, it was released on PC and all current consoles. Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, which is known in Russia as ‘Prince of Persia: Fight with Fate’. The game cleverly developed the ideas of The Sands of Time, while still looking fresh with its new dark visual style and brutal brutality. In this article we will remind you why fans of slasher films liked this project so much and whether it is worth continuing with it today.
Early parts of the Prince of Persia series
Original Prince of Persia was released in 1989 on Apple 2 computers and was later ported to other platforms. Development was done by Jordan Mechner, who would later release a great interactive film The last one on purpose. The first “Prince” is a platform game with a good combat system and puzzles. Unlike other games of that time, you can die as many times as you want during the passage, because there are no restrictions on the number of lives. However, each death takes you back to the start of the level. It is important to stay within the timer (60 or 120 minutes depending on the platform). In the finale you must defeat the villain Jaffar and save the princess.
By modern standards, Prince of Persia seems simple, but in the late 80s it was a real breakthrough. Four years later, a direct sequel was released with the subtitle The shadow and the flame. In it we saw a more detailed picture, several traps and a new plot. The problem is that the concept was no longer exciting in 1993. However, the game has maintained a certain level of quality.
But the same cannot be said about it Prince of Persia 3D, which was released six years later. The game was called a Tomb Raider clone with a clunky camera, unresponsive controls and poor graphics. The project had advantages in the form of an oriental fairy tale setting, smooth animation and a pleasant soundtrack. However, they did not save the third ‘Prince’ from failure. It is worth noting that the transition to the three-dimensional dimension was not easy for many series. Some of them could not recoup their investments and were frozen for years. But Prince of Persia got a second chance.
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Save sand of time
If Ubisoft is now in a deep crisis, then in the early 2000s the company actively experimented with concepts and released one hit after another. Then the first parts came out Splinter cell and Far Cry and also Beyond good and evil. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was the fourth game in the series, but it felt like something completely new.
First of all I want to mention the genre. This is not a platform game, but a third-person action game with nuances. Almost all the fights here are simple, with the exception of the elevator fight at the end of the game. But the emphasis is mainly on acrobatics. The prince learned to run on vertical surfaces, jump from one column to another and much more. Plus, parkour episodes only get more complicated over time. The player must remember all the main character’s abilities and use them in time.
You can correct the error using the time rewind mechanism. The sands of time allow you to go back a few seconds and try again. You can go the other way and slow down time to complete the desired sequence of actions without rushing. All of these skills can be used during battle.
The plot of The Sands of Time is simple: during the invasion of India, the Persians open a reservoir of magical sand, resulting in the release of an ancient evil. Only the prince himself, the Indian Farah and the traitor vizier, who acts as the main villain, are saved. He also serves as the final boss. But the story keeps you glued to the screen because of its unusual presentation. Essentially we have the story of the prince being told during a conversation with Farah. What happens is accompanied by comments from the main character, and when he dies he says something like “everything was wrong.”
In the case of The Sands of Time, however, it is not the script that is important, but the thick atmosphere of an Arabic fairy tale in the spirit of One Thousand and One Nights. This feeling is created by the decor, costumes and pleasant music, which combines rock and oriental motifs. All this fits well with the complex gameplay and story, resulting in a unique work.
Development is currently underway remake of The Sands of Time. The release date is set for 2026.
Favorite part of the Prince of Persia series?
Warrior Within as one of the most unusual sequels in history
It is not without reason that we have paid so much attention to The Sands of Time. Although Warrior Within was released a year later and it turned out to be a very non-trivial sequel. On the one hand, the basic mechanisms have remained unchanged. We still run along vertical walls and fight monsters with two swords. New acrobatic tricks have appeared and the fights themselves have become more difficult. This is especially noticeable during battles with bosses, where you have to remember the order of their actions and counterattacks in time. Today, battles with them would be compared to a series Dark souls. However, all these innovations are expected.
But it’s unlikely that fans of The Sands of Time expected a radical change in the game’s visual style. Warrior Within is no longer a cute fairy tale, but a dark fantasy. Gloomy environments and creepy-looking opponents combine with serious themes of inevitable death and desperate attempts to change your fate. And brutal fights involve blood and severed heads. Moreover, they are accompanied by heavy metal.
All of this looked unusual for the series and fresh for the industry as a whole. Let us remind you that first is the likeable thing God of War is released just four months later, in March 2005.
The plot of Warrior Within. Prince against his own fate
In the finale of The Sands of Time, a happy ending awaited us: the prince corrected his own mistakes and stopped the invasion of India. However, the sequel showed that it is impossible to change the course of history and remain unpunished. Now our hero is chased by the immortal monster Dahak. To save himself, the Prince goes back in time again, this time to prevent the Sand of Time from appearing. But on the island where they were created, they know about the arrival of the uninvited guest and are already preparing for the meeting.
The plot can hardly be called excellent. Moreover, you will have to rush between the past and the present, which makes it easy to forget where it all started. However, the outcome of the story will at least be remembered. Furthermore, the game has two endings. In addition to the standard version, there is a secret version that only opens if you collect all the upgrades on the vitality scale. In this case, the final boss will be different, and the prince himself will not return home alone. It is notable that this is the alternate ending recognized as canonical and is the beginning of the next part of the series. This is rare in the sector. For example, indoors Max Payne 2 had the ability to save Mona Sax if you beat the story mode on maximum difficulty. However, in the third game we found out that the girl died, as was the standard ending.
Seductive villains
If Princess Farah in The Sands of Time was responsible for the feminine charm, then in Warrior Within we were looking at luxurious villains. The game wasn’t shy about focusing on Shadi’s bare bottom and showing off the cleavage of Kaileena, the Empress of Time. Note that she was voiced by Monica Bellucci, who was considered one of cinema’s most beautiful actresses in the early 2000s. Not surprisingly, both heroines are still popular in fan culture, especially in cosplay.
Dahaka
One of the major gameplay innovations in Warrior Within concerns Dahaka. Until the end of the game you will not have the opportunity to kill him, so you will have to run away from him. The peculiarity is that the monster moves quickly and you urgently have to make decisions about which wall to run, which beam to grab and where to jump. In this case, the image becomes black and white, making it less visible than normal, and the slightest mistake could cost the prince his life. Similar episodes occurred a few times during the game, but were remembered forever.
Backtracking as the only serious drawback
Although Warrior Within remains a linear game, you will occasionally have to go back in time and play through the same levels, but in new circumstances. Thus, broken mechanisms work again, all buildings are in place and there are no obvious signs of destruction. This may be impressive at first, but can become annoying later. You have to run through locations several times to try to understand what has changed this time. Many players gave up halfway through because they were confused by the time jumps. The other two parts of the sand trilogy had no such problems.
However, in our opinion, this feature of ‘Fight with Fate’ can be forgiven. At the time, the developers were experimenting with the concept, and with such a bold approach it’s easy to make mistakes. If you are confused, you can always use the manuals. And they will be needed for those who want to immediately go to the canonical ending. It’s easy to skip a health upgrade, and after a while you won’t be able to go back for it.
Sequel and prequel to Warrior Within
A year after the release of Warrior Within, a direct sequel with the subtitle appeared on store shelves The two thrones. The prince’s story reached a logical conclusion. Our hero returned to his native Babylon, again killed the Indian vizier and continued to rule Persia together with Farah.
Released in 2010 The Forgotten Sands, prequel to Brawl with Fate. The action took place after The Sands of Time. Theoretically, the game should show how the prince turned from an oriental handsome man into a ruthless warrior. However, in practice we got a series of not the most interesting levels, a boring plot and poorly implemented battles with masses of monsters. “The Forgotten Sands” wasn’t interesting to anyone when it came out, and years later it has no value at all.
Is Prince of Persia: Warrior Within worth playing today?
A lot has changed over the years. We’ve seen some great fights God of war, Devil May Cry 3 and Bayonetta, good parkour in the early days Assassin’s Creed and oriental landscapes were found in, for example Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. However, the sand trilogy still remains a unique miniseries. Therefore, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with three parts at once: The Sands of Time, Warrior Within and The Two Thrones. While the outdated graphics may be annoying at first, the gameplay is just as engaging as it was twenty years ago. Tested by personal experience.
Have you played Prince of Persia: Warrior Within? Or did you miss this game? Share your thoughts in the comments!
What do you think of Prince of Persia: Warrior Within?
Source: VG Times
Christina Moncayo is a contributing writer for “Social Bites”. Her focus is on the gaming industry and she provides in-depth coverage of the latest news and trends in the world of gaming.