I found a game over the weekend that really surprised me. I saw the commercials on TV for this game Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (PPWW). I was like "What kind of candy-ass game could that be?" All I could see was Aladin flying around collecting coins and bananas. The commercial, however, said the contrary. I figured it was just a marketing ploy to make a lame game with a lame title look cool.
On Saturday, curiosity got the better of me and I gave it a try. Holy crap am I glad I did. The game itself is the complete antithesis of it's fruity title. Mind you, it's not for small kids or those that don't like a lot of blood. If you do enjoy violent and bloody swordplay, however, this one is a gem.
I don't know if the style of gameplay has a label. I suspect it's like Devil May Cry, but I've never played that game. Whatever it's called, it works great and it's easy to get used to. You can of course just start hacking and slashing and/or blocking, but what gets my blood pumping is the mind blowing combat moves. While in battle, you can for example leap onto the shoulders of your enemy and either slice him to ribbons as you dismount or bounce off him and take a piece out of another enemy unlucky enough to be standing close by. Also, if you happen to be close to a wall, you can spring off the wall and send your body hurdling through the air in a spiral doom. Oh, and if you see a pole close to your prey, you can swing around the pole, sword extended, slashing as you go. There is also something to be said about having a sword in each hand. There are so many combos to choose from. Which such a long list of moves, it will be a long long long time before the combat becomes old or boring.
Even when the combat dies down, the game holds it own on a set of puzzling rooms where it's not obvious how you to get from point A to point B. You have a host of different maneuvers to get the job done. You can run up a wall ninja style and then grab a ledge and shimmy where you need to go. You can also run horizontally along vertical surfaces (for a short time). You can grab onto drapes on the wall and slide all the way down or bounce at the last moment to find a platform and avoid death.
I've only stated the game and have really yet to see everything that's in store. I trust that what I have not yet seen is as polished as what I have. Everything flows, looks beautiful and fits the theme of darkness and bloody doom that the game exudes. Oh and the sound track is killer too. I guess if you dig blood and violence, chances are you dig righteous riffs and hard hitting beats as well. My only regret about the music is that it doesn't play all the time.
To say the least, this game has really taken me by surprised. I fully intend to play it to it's completion. That per se says something. The only titles recently to be blessed with such devotion have been Fable and Halo 2. I didn't expect this game to be this good.
On Saturday, curiosity got the better of me and I gave it a try. Holy crap am I glad I did. The game itself is the complete antithesis of it's fruity title. Mind you, it's not for small kids or those that don't like a lot of blood. If you do enjoy violent and bloody swordplay, however, this one is a gem.
I don't know if the style of gameplay has a label. I suspect it's like Devil May Cry, but I've never played that game. Whatever it's called, it works great and it's easy to get used to. You can of course just start hacking and slashing and/or blocking, but what gets my blood pumping is the mind blowing combat moves. While in battle, you can for example leap onto the shoulders of your enemy and either slice him to ribbons as you dismount or bounce off him and take a piece out of another enemy unlucky enough to be standing close by. Also, if you happen to be close to a wall, you can spring off the wall and send your body hurdling through the air in a spiral doom. Oh, and if you see a pole close to your prey, you can swing around the pole, sword extended, slashing as you go. There is also something to be said about having a sword in each hand. There are so many combos to choose from. Which such a long list of moves, it will be a long long long time before the combat becomes old or boring.
Even when the combat dies down, the game holds it own on a set of puzzling rooms where it's not obvious how you to get from point A to point B. You have a host of different maneuvers to get the job done. You can run up a wall ninja style and then grab a ledge and shimmy where you need to go. You can also run horizontally along vertical surfaces (for a short time). You can grab onto drapes on the wall and slide all the way down or bounce at the last moment to find a platform and avoid death.
I've only stated the game and have really yet to see everything that's in store. I trust that what I have not yet seen is as polished as what I have. Everything flows, looks beautiful and fits the theme of darkness and bloody doom that the game exudes. Oh and the sound track is killer too. I guess if you dig blood and violence, chances are you dig righteous riffs and hard hitting beats as well. My only regret about the music is that it doesn't play all the time.
To say the least, this game has really taken me by surprised. I fully intend to play it to it's completion. That per se says something. The only titles recently to be blessed with such devotion have been Fable and Halo 2. I didn't expect this game to be this good.
