The C-E staff give their views on gaming's most important issues.

Well, Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within should be in stores now. We're fairly sure Ubi Soft haven't dropped the ball, but even so, one thing has been niggling at us. In contrast to the airy, clear feel to The Sands of Time, WW has went with the more common badass, "it's all in the eyes" kind of tone. Never really seemed right - have the developers caved in to those fickly 'market trend' things?

Darker, bloodier and with more action-hero poses than before. Has Prince of Persia's newfound 'attitude' come at the expense of its soul? Has Ubisoft sold the Prince out to satisfy casual gamers?

Jordan:

I was a huge fan of Sands of Time, it really took me by surprise at how fantastic it was. Sure it had a few drawbacks (terrible fighting, too short) but hell it had imaginative and fast platforming, which is what I love.

PoP2 seems to have lost its roots with this new dark feel. Sure Ubi Soft had to change it, it wasn't set in the same place again, there isn't a huge palace like last time. You do kind of expect it to have a Persian feel to the game, but instead they have gone for a game that feels too dark. I just hope it's as good in terms of platforming and they haven't pushed it too much on the "cool" battles.

James:

I honestly can't say until I've played it, but the Prince's gentlemanly, suave, charming character that we saw develop in SOT certainly helped people develop affection for the character, or at least a sense of bonding with the main man. If that is lost for the sake of 'maturity', then Warrior Within will have lost something that helped make the original game so fantastic and involving to play.

Dominic:

I managed to have a go on this game when I was down at EGN/Gamestars. It was the demo that was later released for the PC. The combat was done very well and the whole dark ship setting was really artistic.

I know it will upset some people that the series has turned to a more moody setting, but I think that the change to the series stops it from been stale. I've heard that the game still features about the same amount of puzzles that the Sands of Time had. So fans of the first game should still be able to enjoy it, even if it isn't as awe inspiring as the first one.

I look forward to getting my hands on the game, although getting it on release day is a no no for me (I'm already bone dry from getting so many games). I will certainly pick it up sometime in the future.

Ash:

I haven't played any Prince of Persia games to be honest but I must say, perhaps "selling its soul" a bit wouldn't be too bad. Yes if you do it to an extreme it does but with an increasingly cut-throat business companies need to find a way to make money, casual gamers are taking up a lot of the market now, and therin lies the money.

Iun:

What is it with developers these days, what is it about "darker" and "moodier" play mechanics and environments that is supposed to set these games apart from their prequels?

When A Link To The Past did it, it was done well and with some class, the darker aspect of Links' adventure was still tinged with humour and the same genius in design as the lighter aspects of the game. But many developers see adding a "dark" side as a get out clause from originality. They seem to be of the opinion that by adding more blood, more violence and giving the hero a preposterous scowl, they are in some way setting themselves apart from the original game.

Take Jak II: Renegade on the PS2, an otherwise fine game that should have been a worthier sucessor to its' very worthy and much lauded predecessor. The "dark" aspect of the game was such a pointless and weak aspect of the gameplay that it ended up being rather humourous more by accident than design.

Then look at Metroid 2 on the Cube: An excellent follow up to one of the finest games that there are in this generation. The game is enhanced by the light/dark aspects of the world, in the darkness there is a real sense of tension and the glimpses of Dark Samus -backed up by the limited fragments of data on her really pique the curiosity of the player. The dark world itself is a place of new sights and dangers, all of which are well planned and executed to perfection.

But slap on a hard-man furrowed brow, add a couple of death dealing and needlessly gory -albeit flashy looking, weapons and somehow you're supposed to have an entirely new game?

Pull the other one, guys.

Combat moves have been spruced up in Warrior Within

Justin:

Well, the new attitude of the game shouldn't greatly effect the soul of the way it plays. It simply makes it more desirable for those who like that blood and gore, and darkness. Since I for myself have never played a POP game, I would not particularly know a whole lot on the subject. Though, from what I have seen of the game, it looks pretty good with this new look and feel.

Lammie:

Well to me, Prince of Persia has always been pretty a grueomse series. Sort of. Okay, look at the original VGA version where you could fall onto a pit full of spikes and horribly impale yourself. That was pretty graphic back then (in comparison to say.....Commander Keen 4) - especially for a young weenie nerd like I was.

I'm sure the creators of PoP back then would have liked to have made the prince a bit more darker and given him a bit more 'tude, but that's not an easy task when you only have a 30 pixel sprite to illustrate it in. Besides, Ubisoft had to do something to differenciate between this latest release and Sands of Time. As long as they don't turn him into a Persian-style Duke Nukem with crappy one liners and a cigar poking out his mouth you won't here any complaints from me.

So basically, what I'm trying to say is that blood and guts, dismemberment, decapitation, and castration with pointy little sticks IS the soul of PoP...and has been ever since its original release. And don't let any flower-sniffing-pansy tell you otherwise.

ThongyDonk:

For me Sands of Time was boring. The fighting got repetitive and drawn out, the new gameplay mechanics although different, soon also became over used.

This sequel as such, now looks to be designed to draw a bigger audience, like Nintendo have done with Zelda. Ubisoft were riding the crest of a wave last year, and want to carry that on, but I don't think they can. Commercialism hey, what will it bring us next?

Mark:

Isn't it strange how sequels these days seem to be following the same path; 'Let's make it bigger, better, but more importantly darker. PoP: Warrior Within certainly seems to fall within this category of sequel. Not having played it I'm not yet in a position to judge the game, but it does seem to be a strange move that seems unwarranted. While it's good seeing Ubisoft trying to change the setting, it seems to be losing something crucial-the atmosphere of the original, with it's sand and 'Egyptian' imagery which dated back to the genesis of the series. It remains to be seen whether or not the new stylings and locations will adversely impact on the game, though.

One thing, before I finish. The official trailer for the game is just one lousy FMV. Now, Ubisoft a hardly unique in this regard, but watching a 3-minute intro FMV tells me precisely zilch about the game, and frankly it's a waste of time. Are 'casual gamers' really enticed by FMV trailers? Come to think of it is anyone? Even EA, the most image-obsessed developer of all at least chucks in a few seconds of in-game footage onto most of their ads. I'm going off the point, but in conclusion I think that Ubisoft need to watch their step so as not to lose the essence of the Prince of Persia series. Keep the Prince in Persia, that's what I say.

The atmosphere seems more threatening this time around

Wouter:

Making games "darker" and "more mature" certainly seems like the hip thing to do now. In a lot of games the darker feel comes of as forced, having Mario bring a shotgun on his next adventure just wouldn't be right. I think it could work for Prince of Persia though (not the shotgun, the darker feel), darker themes can work well in the eastern fairytale setting of the Prince of Persia games.

I also get the idea Ubisoft have tried to listen to what gamers didn't like in the first game, the fighting and the length mainly, and set this right for the sequel. This means the prince gets better fighting moves and a look to match them, the darker look probably isn't completely forced. I won't know for sure until I've played it, but I think the darker tone can work quite well for the prince.

Conor:

I'll reserve judgement on the game until I actually play it, but I have to say, the whole self-conscious attitude I've seen in the marketing and the trailers leaves me quite cold. For me, it's awful that a franchise as delightful and well-known as The Prince of Persia has to resort to moody voiceovers and blacker colours to be appealing, considering the pleasurable experience The Sands of Time offered. But, hey, that's not Ubi Soft's fault, is it?

People didn't really seem to respond to the game as many of us hoped, so it's only reasonable that Ubi Soft would try and make their next effort more appealing to the casual crowd. So they can keep their cringeworthy trailers and generic advertisements...as long as the game itself retains what made SOT so enjoyable, I'm happy enough.

So what do you think? Have the changes made the franchise more dynamic and appealing, or just pissed all over the predecessors?