Last year's "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" has been a big critical AND popular hit for Ubisoft, thanks to it's innovative mix of intuitive controls and gameplay, satisfying combat action, smart puzzles and beautiful, enchanting graphics and environments. However, the folks at Ubisoft must have thought that there were still room for more sales, and some changes were made to the franchise for the sequel, entitled "Prince of Persia: Warrior Within".

The good news is that this sequel features more of the same satisfying combat mechanics (which were even improved a little), as well as even more puzzles and a much longer campaign, which now lasts roughly twice as long as the original, for an approximate 16 hours of gameplay. It's also somewhat more difficult than the first one, so you will most likely need a few tries to figure out puzzle and combat strategies.

The graphics are still as beautiful as in the first title, only this time, the environments are more gritty and much darker, going with the darker, more "gothic" theme that was adopted this time around.

As far as the gameplay is concerned, the campaign is not linear anymore. You can now walk around almost the entire environment (although you are obviously "guided" towards certain parts in order to progress), and thanks to your trusty sands of time, you can now activate portals throughout the world that will allow you to switch back and forth between the Past and Present times, which you will have to do in order to progress through the story, which has quite a few plot twists, by the way.

The Xbox version has a few Live-enabled extras, such as time trial and combat arena, where you can then post your highest scores online.

Now the bad news is that the game's environment is not as "enchanting" and unique as The Sands of Time, and actually borrows quite a few cues from Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, which is not a bad thing in itself, but it does feel like "yet another" gothic action game in that sense. The level of violence has also been raised, and there is plenty of blood and head-chopping this time around. Where the first one had earned a "T-Teen" rating from the ESRB, this one now bears a "M-Mature" rating, so parents beware. Finally, the soundtrack also leaves a lot to be desired: it mostly features the heavy metal sounds of Godsmack, which i feel totally ruins the atmosphere.

Another point keep in mind is that the game does have a few bugs and glitches, mostly in the sound department, but they do not actually have too much of an impact on the actual gameplay.

All in all, while it may not be as original as The Sands of Time, Warrior Within is definitely still as much fun, and at twice the length of the first one, it is definitely a great value, and a sure buy.

Recommended: Yes