Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time, the previous current gen outing of this series, has to go down as one of my favourite gaming experiences of all time {I'll second that and I know Chris Martin will third it! Ed]. The control system raised the bar for games of its type and quite frankly made the latest Tomb Raider outing look positively draconian. The difficulty balance and pace of the game was excellent and it came to a satisfying conclusion. It wasn't faultless however, there were a couple of niggles. The game was extremely short (around 10 hours) and the fighting system although looking fantastic was a little basic and tiresome. So what's been changed for the sequel?

The first thing you notice is how much darker this title is; the Prince has gone from nimble acrobat to nimble acrobatic bad-ass fighting machine. He's found time to change his clothes. Out goes his princely flowing M.C. Hammer pants and in comes some leather fetish gear, he's sporting a scar and he must have started smoking or something because his voice has gone all Bryan Adams. His surroundings? Again suitably dark and this time accompanied by a heavy metal soundtrack.

Graphically, as you would expect, this title is very polished, the intro sequence sucks you straight in and you're thrown into the heart of a battle immediately - albeit without any of your time manipulating powers at this stage. This first battle is excellent and shows off the graphics a treat, as you're involved in a mass brawl on a boat that rises and tilts as you charge around it. Random fireballs crash down into the boxes around you, the rain pours relentlessly and the enemies come thick and fast, even when there's too many to mention on screen battling it out with your allies, there's not a hint of glitch or slowdown. It's breathtaking to watch. The gore level has been ramped right up and you get a lot more satisfaction from slicing your opponents to pieces this time. Even my girlfriend managed to sit there and watch it quietly without moaning at me to turn it off for a good five or ten minutes. Right until I got to the first boss, when something unexpected happened.

It's not long before you realise that rather than addressing the problem of game length by making this outing much bigger, they've just made it much, much, MUCH, harder. This is hard with a capital H.A.R.D. I played Ninja Gaiden, I clocked it, I damaged a controller (and my wall) by throwing it across the room but I still did it. [Ah yes, my controller almost left my hands so many times during that gem! Ed] This is tougher. I lost count of the amount of times I tried and retried to defeat even this first boss. I had to wuss out and start the game again on Easy eventually (after my girlfriend said "this is boring turn it off" ten times). So be warned, only the most competent and patient of gamers should give this a go and that's why it doesn't score quite as high as its accessible-to-all predecessor.

Once this bit's over, you're introduced to the game properly and as you progress at about just the correct pace, your time manipulating powers are given back to you. The basic premise of the storyline sees you going back in time to destroy the sands of time before they were ever created and all the while you're pursued by a spooky, mean guardian chasing you around everywhere. I liked the idea of this and the fact that early write-ups suggested you can go back, change something and when you Marty McFly it back to the future, things have changed also really interested me. This element was nowhere near as detailed as promised though and if anything just seemed like a way of forcing you to do each room repeatedly in different time periods, another cop out way of increasing the game length.

At the heart of the game, as before, are some excellently realised platform sections and even more fluid control of your character. No more having to remember to put your weapon away before you embark on some acrobatics - you're straight into the action. These sections of the game excel once again and are as good as everything offered in Sands of Time; it's just such a shame that there weren't more of them. With this being a meaner, moodier version of the original, you find yourself spending a lot more time brawling. Which other than the difficulty of the bosses and the fact that the acrobatic sections are so fresh and satisfying to complete, is no bad thing.

The fighting system has been given an overhaul in a big and impressive way. You can now wield and battle with two weapons, or throw one at an enemy if it takes your fancy. You can bounce off walls, swing around poles slicing multiple opponents, throw and jump on your enemies and of course drive a weapon through them while they lie stunned on the floor. The whole system feels more akin to an actual fighting game than an action platformer. Perhaps another bit of inspiration taken from Ninja Gaiden. The list of moves and combos you can play with seems endless, which is a good thing because you'll need them all. You can't win this game by button bashing - it takes practice and commitment.

This is complemented by your ability to play around with time again, rewinding it and slowing it down to give you an advantage or get you out of a sticky situation. As with the first game, this just feels natural to do, the way each command is mapped out to each button is excellent, I've never played a game where you have a character with such a diversity of moves at his disposal that controls so intuitively as Warrior Within.

If you loved the original but found it too easy, then give The Prince of Persia: Warrior Within a go, as it's sure to please. If you loved Ninja Gaiden you'll definitely like this. If you haven't played Sands Of Time before and are thinking of buying Warrior Within, you'd be well advised to give it a rent and see how you get on. I liked this a lot, I just though it was such a shame that there wasn't more game there (although the extra content should add a few hours). I hope that next time we see the Prince, it's in a massive, epic adventure where the acrobatics outweigh the fighting and the learning curve and difficulty level are more realistic. Either way, the quality of both titles so far is so excellent that it justifies, no demands, a third in the series!

Reviewed by Mark Hayhurst for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).