The Prince as he appears in "The Sands of Time" is generally seen as the most likable version of the character, with critics and fans praising his portrayal and development. The Prince's change into a darker character for "Warrior Within" received a notoriously mixed response, with fans and many critics seeing it as a change for the worse. Mechner was among them, commenting on "Wired" that he was "not a fan of the artistic direction, or the violence that earned it an M rating. The story, character, dialog, voice acting, and visual style were not to my taste". Others praised the change, such as Heather Newman of "Detroit Free Press", who praised the character's portrayal and design. Despite the mixed critic and fan reception, Ubisoft have defended the change as a legitimate evolution of the Prince's character. The Prince's return to a persona similar to that in "The Sands of Time" both pleased Mechner and was more favorably received by critics and fans. GameSpot's Bob Colayco enjoyed how the game seemed to self-reference the criticism in its portrayal of the character and his struggle with his Dark Prince persona. He praised the portrayal of this struggle, saying "the internal strife in the schizophrenic prince's mind forms a compelling part of the storyline".