WW (Warrior Within) takes place 7 years after the events of SOT (Sands of Time), it is the 2nd game in the Sands of Time trilogy. The Prince is now a shadow of his former self: he hasn't shaved in ages, he sports tattoos, curses "bitch" at a scantily clad woman who tries to kill him and screams when he kills enemies. The Prince is not out to save the world, he's out to save himself at the cost of anyone who gets in his way.
The reason: Dahaka. A mythical beast who is the Guardian of the Timeline is trying to kill him because of the events of SOT – in the end, the Prince altered the Timeline making sure that events of SOT never took place at all (he remembers everything though). The Prince reasons that if he journeys to the mysterious Island of Time and stop the Sands of Time from ever being created, the Dahaka will leave him alone.
Similar to SOT, WW takes place in confined environments where you as the titular Prince use acrobatic skills to navigate the environment from A to B. Unlike SOT however, WW is a semi open-world, there is no linear path and you have to backtrack quite a lot.
While this may sound boring, due to the time portals scattered throughout the island, you travel between the past and the present, the familiar areas change and become more challenging and interesting. WW's platforming is more slower and requires more patience in some sections especially with the discs of death and sword and spikes from the ground. However the sepia toned Dahaka chase sequences are superb and bring the much needed thrills, as you free-run for your life to escape the seemingly immortal beast who has chased you throughout the years. The dark environment fits the game perfectly. However the camera still acts funny sometimes.
The biggest change however is the combat system. I love it. The new free from fighting system has you hack and slash, block, counter attack, throw and strangle enemies who attack you simultaneously in groups. You can even wield secondary weapons (temporarily) by stealing from enemies and acquiring them by destroying weapon caches. There are around 50 secondary weapons and many hidden ones too (not sure of the number though). You can even use your acrobatic abilities and the environment to your advantage in combat. The variety of enemies is amazing and it is satisfying to kill them all. Also great are the boss fights which require you to use all your tactics. The game doesn't shy from violence, all fights are bloody gorgeous.
And you of course have the Sands of Time to undo your mistakes should you make too many. You also gain new Sand Powers such as the Sandstorm which can instantly kill enemies but deplete all your Sand Tanks. NOTE: compared to SOT, you only have 6 Sand Tanks, you cannot upgrade for more.
The game has two different endings depending whether you have all the health upgrades and obtained the Water Sword or not. Both are pretty good but only one of them is canon and continues into the Two Thrones.
Technically the game is superb, I liked the soundtrack, heavy metal guitar with Arabian sounds in between. It suits the game. The graphics are good (though some glitches and pop-ups occur) but the cut-scenes are bad, they look as if they were made in the 1990s.
The story is much darker than SOT, but also full of plot holes. The character Kaileena, is pretty annoying at first but not bad to look at(Monica Bellucci was the character's model and voice actress), you eventually warm up to her, though I don't understand why the Prince would fall in love with her.
1. Dahaka's weakness is water, yet it manages to arrive at the ISLAND of time!
2. How the hell the Prince not know this and survive for 7 years?!
3. If Kaileena created Shahdee, why does not she destroy her if Shahdee tries to boss around and even tries to kill her?
4. If Shahdee is out of time, why does the Dahaka not try to kill her too?
5. The Prince uses the Mask of the Wraith to become the Sand Wraith and travels back in time to stop his past self from killing Kaileena. The Dahaka then kills his past self, how is he still alive?
6. In the "bad" ending, the Dahaka kills Kaileena and takes the Medallion of Time from the Prince's breastplate. Therefore preventing the Sands of Time and the Artifacts of Time from ever being created. But Kaileena's death was supposed to activate the Sands of Time, that would mean that the events of SOT never happened (again). But when the Prince travels back to his home he sees war. What the hell is going on?!
7. If the Sands are created because of Kaileena's death, how is the Prince able to use the Sand Powers in the past where Kaileena isn't dead?
Anyways to conclude this review, the game gets an 8/10 for superb combat, platforming, graphics, and kick-ass soundtrack. Try not to think too much about the story and cut-scenes though.
The reason: Dahaka. A mythical beast who is the Guardian of the Timeline is trying to kill him because of the events of SOT – in the end, the Prince altered the Timeline making sure that events of SOT never took place at all (he remembers everything though). The Prince reasons that if he journeys to the mysterious Island of Time and stop the Sands of Time from ever being created, the Dahaka will leave him alone.
Similar to SOT, WW takes place in confined environments where you as the titular Prince use acrobatic skills to navigate the environment from A to B. Unlike SOT however, WW is a semi open-world, there is no linear path and you have to backtrack quite a lot.
While this may sound boring, due to the time portals scattered throughout the island, you travel between the past and the present, the familiar areas change and become more challenging and interesting. WW's platforming is more slower and requires more patience in some sections especially with the discs of death and sword and spikes from the ground. However the sepia toned Dahaka chase sequences are superb and bring the much needed thrills, as you free-run for your life to escape the seemingly immortal beast who has chased you throughout the years. The dark environment fits the game perfectly. However the camera still acts funny sometimes.
The biggest change however is the combat system. I love it. The new free from fighting system has you hack and slash, block, counter attack, throw and strangle enemies who attack you simultaneously in groups. You can even wield secondary weapons (temporarily) by stealing from enemies and acquiring them by destroying weapon caches. There are around 50 secondary weapons and many hidden ones too (not sure of the number though). You can even use your acrobatic abilities and the environment to your advantage in combat. The variety of enemies is amazing and it is satisfying to kill them all. Also great are the boss fights which require you to use all your tactics. The game doesn't shy from violence, all fights are bloody gorgeous.
And you of course have the Sands of Time to undo your mistakes should you make too many. You also gain new Sand Powers such as the Sandstorm which can instantly kill enemies but deplete all your Sand Tanks. NOTE: compared to SOT, you only have 6 Sand Tanks, you cannot upgrade for more.
The game has two different endings depending whether you have all the health upgrades and obtained the Water Sword or not. Both are pretty good but only one of them is canon and continues into the Two Thrones.
Technically the game is superb, I liked the soundtrack, heavy metal guitar with Arabian sounds in between. It suits the game. The graphics are good (though some glitches and pop-ups occur) but the cut-scenes are bad, they look as if they were made in the 1990s.
The story is much darker than SOT, but also full of plot holes. The character Kaileena, is pretty annoying at first but not bad to look at(Monica Bellucci was the character's model and voice actress), you eventually warm up to her, though I don't understand why the Prince would fall in love with her.
1. Dahaka's weakness is water, yet it manages to arrive at the ISLAND of time!
2. How the hell the Prince not know this and survive for 7 years?!
3. If Kaileena created Shahdee, why does not she destroy her if Shahdee tries to boss around and even tries to kill her?
4. If Shahdee is out of time, why does the Dahaka not try to kill her too?
5. The Prince uses the Mask of the Wraith to become the Sand Wraith and travels back in time to stop his past self from killing Kaileena. The Dahaka then kills his past self, how is he still alive?
6. In the "bad" ending, the Dahaka kills Kaileena and takes the Medallion of Time from the Prince's breastplate. Therefore preventing the Sands of Time and the Artifacts of Time from ever being created. But Kaileena's death was supposed to activate the Sands of Time, that would mean that the events of SOT never happened (again). But when the Prince travels back to his home he sees war. What the hell is going on?!
7. If the Sands are created because of Kaileena's death, how is the Prince able to use the Sand Powers in the past where Kaileena isn't dead?
Anyways to conclude this review, the game gets an 8/10 for superb combat, platforming, graphics, and kick-ass soundtrack. Try not to think too much about the story and cut-scenes though.