A lot of games can identify with the fast thrills of vaulting terrain; Crackdown, InFamous, Prototype, et al, yet it’s The Sands of Time that sacrifices the aimless free-spiritedness of those former titles for a more realised and composed platforming adventure. In the same way that Modern Warfare’s orthodox, linear structure capitalises on prescribed set-piece beats, The Sands of Time’s scripted and staged events form a tighter piece of platforming craft.
I only recently completed TSoT and felt compelled to play through once again; a rarity for someone who treats titles as disposable – completion leading to another eBay listing. It’s not just the mechanically solid gameplay and considered level design but the light and airy atmosphere that compliments the game’s tone so well, not to mention the characterisation. The Uncharted games are often praised for their dialogue and script that mould protagonist Nathan Drake, particularly the self-referential lines shared exclusively between himself and the player. That charming narrative technique is present in TSoT, so it felt surprising to see the game’s approach to storytelling and characterisation still effecting games today.
After around four to six hours with the game, I’ve now decided to give up on it. After all, most would consider that I’ve hit the stride of the series by the first iteration. Once the game starts, the stark shift in tone is immediate. The colour palette is darker, the protagonist more generic with an obligatory angry American voice and the dialogue shallower than ever. Still, it only seemed like a change that would give the marketing men something easier to work with. If gameplay was just as solid as last time, these side-effects could go ignored. Instead, it’s created a shopping list of problems that The Sands of Time never had. Perhaps due to time constraints (Warrior Within was released merely a year after TSoT) the game features lots of backtracking through its endless, bland corridors. Most damning of all though is the combat which grows to become as equally laborious as in The Sands of Time but is simply broken. At least with its predecessor, its combat could be eventually mastered; all that was expected was a sense of rhythm for controlling the crowd of enemies. Warrior Within offers new moves with some great animations. It starts to become painful however when finishing moves don’t meet enemies even though they’re still acted out and scripted animations clash with others, glitching the Prince a few feet to the side. When other games since have all but mastered combat (Bayonetta), the game unfortunately starts to show its age.
I’m still pleased that I got to experience The Sands of Time though, all the more impressive that it was released years ago. Even if games are poorly received, it’s still better to make your own opinion of them. In fact, for the first few hours of Warrior Within, I was enjoying the game. It added some new platforming ingredients, building upon what TSoT had already established and experimentation still remained unpunished thanks to the ingenious rewind time mechanic; its effects now being felt in racing games. I just wish I could now rewind back to when I finished Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Not because I wouldn’t have played Warrior Within. Rather I would have known last weekend’s lottery numbers.
