Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

This is the sequel to The Sands of Time, and it threw out that game's charm for something grim. The Prince is being hunted by the Dahaka, a creature that exists to claim anyone who has escaped their fate, and he travels to a cursed island to try to stop it from ever being born. The platforming and time-rewind powers from the first game return, sharper, and the combat is expanded into a brutal free-flow system with two weapons at once. Ubisoft, stung by sales talk that the original was too soft, made this one bloody and loud, with a metal soundtrack and a leather-clad hero. It is the moody teenage middle child of the trilogy.