Prince of Persia: Warrior Within Delayed?

[AgtFox]

Both EBGames and Gamestop have pushed the console (but not PC) versions of Prince of Persia: Warrior Within from Nov. 16th to Nov. 30th.  I've seen print ads with "November 2004" displayed prominently, so I certainly hope this game is polished and ready for a November release.

I just recently put money down on my November outlay of games: Halo 2, Metal Gear Solid 3, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within and Metroid Prime 2.  No solid date has been conveyed for MGS3, although all fingers point to Nov. 17th.  That gives me a little over a week for Halo 2 before MP2 comes out Nov. 16th.

Anyway, I am a bit bummed about the possible pushback of PoP2.  I wonder if this is a development push or a need to push it beyond the other 3 games I reserved and the Nintendo DS.  Ubi has already pushed Chaos Theory and Brothers in Arms to March, so all they have is PoP2 and Ghost Recon 2 for the end of this year.

Oh yes, there is no official word from Ubi as of yet on the delay of this game, if there is it will be reported on the front page.

[DarkEL]

laff - actually i hope it does come out end of nov / beginning of december for purely selfish reasons.  Without a doubt - This holiday season is going to bust me. So the more games that won't come till really close to christmas the better - as that means I can move them to my christmas list and reduce the weeks of withdrawl knowing that a game I want to play so bad (like the new PoP)  is out.

Must have missed the news that Brothers in Arms got pushed out.  That sucks cuz that game really impressed the hell outta me at E3 this year.  i was pretty much ignoring all the "me too" WWII shooters there this year, but was so glad i checked out the presentation for that one.

I tried to play the demo for MGS 3 last night, but quite literally fell asleep after what seemed like an endless series of boring cutscenes. Seriously I was like 5 - 10 minutes in and still hadn't hit a section of actual playable game. I never played any of the other ones, but I seem to recall a penny arcade comic complaining about previous ones being like that too.  Is that right?

[AgtFox]

Well, the second one was like that (more cutscenes than action), although I am one of those that go against the grain and thought MGS2 was spectacular.  Where the heck did you find the demo?  I'd like to get my hands on that.

I expect a curve (Kojima said within 10 minutes a curve comes, must be during the opening movie...heh) much like MGS2.  I'm thinking what we've been shown is only a small part of the game, a flashback if you will (akin to the ship part in MGS2).  Then it will come back into modern times.  This is the final game of the trilogy after all...I can't believe he'd leave the series that wide open with questions, but what do I know?

[DarkEL]

The demo was on the disc with this months Official Playstation mag.

I picked it up to compare the Ratchet and Clank demo on that same disc with the version that I'm using to write a preview for the new R&C this week.

[AgtFox]

Crapola...guess I have to rush out and get that.  Thanks for the info.

[Jancelot]

I kind of hope it's delayed too.  I counted six games in November alone that I want to play at some point.  And I still have 4 or 5 on my shelf that need some thumb lovin'.  And let's be honest, for most X-Box owners November is all about Halo 2 (and probably a good month or two afterwards).

[Andrew Mallon]

They probably delayed it to add more suck to the game  :x

I kid! I kid! Although I still have a sinking feeling that they're trying to turn this game into Prince May Cry, I feel a little better after reading this blurb from Penny Arcade:

You're quite aware that I have a great deal of affection for Prince of Persia, starting at the version I had on my Amiga, going forward, skipping over Prince of Persia 3D, and then liking it again with Sands of Time. With the next game, "Warrior Within," seeming to focus on a dark sensibility and new combat system, I was kind of afraid that it had adopted a genre switch away from Action/Adventure and excise the platforming and puzzle solving that I've enjoyed up to this point. The earlier videos they released seemed to verify my fears. They released a new movie yesterday though, I saw it over at 3D Gamers, which appears to depict a much more balanced experience. I'd imagine that since the combat was a source of so much complaint in Sands they felt they had to get that message out first, but it's nice to know the elements I liked didn't evaporate for whatever reason.

Sands of Time is one of the best games released for this generation of consoles. Ubisoft better not screw this up.

[AgtFox]

And let's be honest, for most X-Box owners November is all about Halo 2 (and probably a good month or two afterwards).

Well, not everything revolves around the Xbox (shocking, I know).  Plus this is coming out for all the systems.  For those that have only a PS2 or GC (or a combo of both) they have some heavy hitters coming in November too (Jak 3/Ratchet 3/Killzone/MGS3 for PS2 and Metroid Prime 2 for GC).

[Kevin Grey]

I expect a curve (Kojima said within 10 minutes a curve comes, must be during the opening movie...heh) much like MGS2.  I'm thinking what we've been shown is only a small part of the game, a flashback if you will (akin to the ship part in MGS2).  Then it will come back into modern times.  This is the final game of the trilogy after all...I can't believe he'd leave the series that wide open with questions, but what do I know?

That Kojima quote is weird (I read it before too).  The demo seems to contain at least the first 30 or so minutes of the game and there really isn't a "curve" unless you count the already widely known fact that the game takes place in the early 60's and you're playing what appears to be proto-Snake Big Boss.  

I've seen the "modern times" switch mentioned pretty often but I think Kojima has gone on record that you won't be switching characters a la MGS2 so that would make that would make a modern times transfer a bit more difficult.  

As to outstanding questions, many could conceivably be answered during the prequel timeframe.  I woldn't be surprised to see any outliers covered in Metal Gear Acid which evidently takes place post MGS2.

Then again, maybe the demo is a bit of a ruse and the "switch" won't appear until the final version.  Its the same demo they had on the floor at E3 I believe.  


Re: PoP delay- my guess is they are trying to get clear of the GTA, NFSU2, Halo 2, MGS3, MP2 blitz that will be late October to mid November.  Things are comparitively quiet in early December with GT4 and KOTOR2 the only major releases I can think of.

[AgtFox]

I've seen the "modern times" switch mentioned pretty often but I think Kojima has gone on record that you won't be switching characters a la MGS2 so that would make that would make a modern times transfer a bit more difficult.

I hate to make this MGS talk, but I thought I would reply.  I need to play this demo for sure.  But you technically wouldn't be "switching" characters because Snake is a genetic duplicate of Big Boss (who is supposedly the person in the 60s), so technically the same person.  So a jump in time wouldn't be so difficult, would it?

[Kevin Grey]

I've seen the "modern times" switch mentioned pretty often but I think Kojima has gone on record that you won't be switching characters a la MGS2 so that would make that would make a modern times transfer a bit more difficult.

I hate to make this MGS talk, but I thought I would reply.  I need to play this demo for sure.  But you technically wouldn't be "switching" characters because Snake is a genetic duplicate of Big Boss (who is supposedly the person in the 60s), so technically the same person.  So a jump in time wouldn't be so difficult, would it?

Could be and I wouldn't put it past Kojima to be that slippery.  Still, he took a lot of flack for the switch in MGS2 and I get the impression that he's trying to be on the level a bit more with this one.  Plus, there are a lot of different environments that have been shown that are pretty clearly 60s era so that portion of the gameplay must be pretty substantial.  

Also, the game does have a timeshift but its only a few years (to 1964 I think).  To go too much further would be relatively light spoiler territory but there are at least two insertions that occur during the sixties and since I expect Kojima to mimic the two mission structure of MGS2 I don't see much room for a third "mission."

That said, a modern-day (or technically near future) finale would kick lots of ass.  

The demo was very, very cool (says this MGS fanboy).  While there is a lot of classic MGS-style play there are quite a few pretty radical changes.  

Only problem with the demo- there is an auto-reset that will reset the game if you don't press a button in 10 seconds except during cutscenes and codec conversations.  In a sneaking game like MGS, there were several times I was in hiding only to have the game reset.  And in the demo there's no saving