Victory!
So here it is - the final update to the ongoing Prince of Persia: Warrior Within experiment. (I swear, honest-like.)
I’ll cut to the chase: given the horrible (am I being too kind?) experience a fellow editor here had with the Xbox version of this game, I’m frankly flabbergasted I enjoyed the PC version so much. I finished the game long before my co-editor was driven to smash said game with a hammer. I went back to make sure I wasn’t simply too inebriated the first time around to notice the bugs which he detailed.
Nope, none. (Aside from the useless ‘map’ feature that is supposedly there to help you - but thats more a poor design choice than a bug.)
In fact, I went so far as to go back and replay to unlock not only all the available life upgrades - but also the mysterious hockey stick & water sword.
How’d it go? You tell me.
First, I was able to find the elusive Hockey Stick. Then I procured the Water Sword.
With these devastating weapons, unlocking the Sand Wraith mask was no problem. Very cool. I even found time to locate the glowing sword I had heard mentioned in various forums. This weapon is ridiculously powerful, almost too much….until you realize that using it will drain your health quickly while you choose to unleash its fury.
Finally, I was able to unlock the alternate ending and fight the Dahaka. Based on reports of the recently released third Prince of Persia title (The Two Thrones), the alternate ending unlocked by obtaining the Water Sword is actually the ending that is assumed in final installment. Given that i knew I’d at least give the final chapter a shot, I figured i might as well follow the storyline as its intended.
Which left one little job - to spare the hot antagonist Kaileena and go after the big badass Dahaka himself. Done and done.
Sorry, I don’t do autographs…..
The prince even gets some lovin’ before the game wraps up with a somewhat cliched ominous foreboding (not cliched enough, however, to turn me off)….
All’s well that ends well……..sort of
FINAL VERDICT - if nothing else, this has ended up being an interesting (and unintended) comparison shop between an “A class” title released for the console and PC. In an unusal twist, its the console getting the shaft. While thats fine for the PC gamer, it reflects poorly on the publisher Ubisoft. I honestly would like to break out of my PC only funk and experience some good old fashioned console fun (free from long boot times, compatibility and driver update issues of the pc) - this is not encouraging.
Nevertheless, the Dahaka has been fed the bomb and he had no complaints……save for the slight burning sensation.
