Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones Review

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(More customer reviews)The Prince returns in the third, and most possibly, final instalment of the Prince of Persia saga, and this time, we've a double dose of him. Yes, the Prince is back with a split personality, which, despite sounding a little depressing, is actually quite a good idea. For one, you'll get to become more powerful when you're playing as the Dark Prince, and you'll also get to execute some moves and weapons that are not available when you're just the, er, usual Prince. This reduces the repetition that usually comes with playing a game with the same character throughout. Of course, the idea of alternating between two characters (as seen recently in Ultimate Spider-Man) isn't new, but the idea of alternating between two characters trapped in essentially the same character is quite an ingenious one.

The story in The Two Thrones begins after the events of Warrior Within, the second part of the trilogy. Now, if you didn't manage to unlock the alternative (and officially "real") ending in that game, you'll probably find the plot in The Two Thrones a little baffling. Anyhow, it goes that the Prince, upon returning to his native land, quickly finds himself back in trouble again. A familiar foe from the first instalment of the series returns to haunt him. his new lover is killed, and his kingdom is under siege. So begins another journey of jumping, running along the wall, swinging from bar to bar, rolling under trap doors, and the likes, just to free the clutches of fate once again.

Needless to say, the environmental puzzles that basically define the Prince of Persia series are once again a major feature of this game. And just like the previous instalments, these puzzles are rather straight forward, especially with the help of the frequent "glance-of-the-area" camera hint. Still, it's great doing all these again, simply because they're fun. Failing to solve a puzzle successfully is usually a problem with pressing the wrong commands instead of not figuring out what to do. This is more evident in the PC version of the game, as the controls are less conventional than using controllers. The satisfaction of performing a successful acrobatic move could be easily cancelled out by a mistimed jump. Thankfully, as with the earlier versions of the series, you can rewind time with the sands of time, which give you an opportunity to try the challenge again. This is particularly useful since it allows you to restart immediately from where you failed without having to redo the entire level.

The combat system in The Two Thrones has also been further improved. You'll still get to wield two weapons at the same time, and you'll still get to do the cool combos and such. In the case of the Dark Prince, you'll also get a really powerful weapon called the Daggertail, which allows you to lash out at multiple enemies with some degree of venom. You'll even get some new moves to add to the already impressive collection. All these are good. However, the thing that separates the combat system of Warrior Within and The Two Thrones must be the introduction of the "speed kill" element. This basically requires the Prince to sneak up on an enemy and execute a one-kill strike, thus eliminating the need for mindless (and prolonged) fighting.

Performing the speed kill is not as simple as simply tapping a key or button though. When you initiate a speed kill sequence, the game freezes. You'll then need to tap one or more keys or buttons in certain sequences shown on the screen to complete the kill. If you miss a step, the speed kill will fail, and you'll have to fight the enemy as per normal. If you've played God of War, you'll find this oddly familiar, but hey, there's nothing wrong in borrowing an idea if it works for the game.

You may be wondering now how does the Dark Prince concept actually work. Well, you'll begin the game as the Prince, and as the game progresses, you'll soon find the hidden nature of the Prince slowly manifesting. During parts of the game, the Prince will be consumed by his darker self, and will morph into the Dark Prince. Playing as the Dark Prince will no doubt draw comparisons to playing as the Sand Wraith in Warrior Within, since both loses health all the time. Therefore, apart from fighting and solving puzzles using the skills available only as the Dark Prince, you may find yourself trying to find sands to recharge your health constantly when you're playing as him. It isn't a problem when fighting enemies, since dead enemies release more than enough sands to keep you alive. It's a problem when you need to solve a puzzle, since there aren't many sand pots around to replenish your health. This basically means that you'll have to be very quick in finding a way out of the situation. At times, it almost feels like playing a Dahaka chase sequence from Warrior Within. It's really quite stressful, but like the Dahaka sequences, it's also challenging, which should please fans looking for a more than straightforward adventure.

Apart from the acrobatics and combat, The Two Thrones also includes a number of chariot races, which you'll either love or hate. The chariot sequences not only require you to get from point A to point B, but also send enemies towards you when you're trying to get the horses under control. It feels like Burnout at times, only with more aggressive AI trying their best to make sure you fail. In my opinion, the chariot races are even tougher than keeping the Dark Prince alive, so players who're not exactly good at this kind of thing may find this a particularly tough challenge.

Gameplay features aside, the thing that make me sit up and take notice is the return of the humble Prince from The Sands of Time, the inaugural title of the series. Ok, not entirely the first Prince, but it's a good try. In his usual form, the Prince is no longer the arrogant (and at times, corny) bugger who called his enemy "bitch", and who boasted about his fighting skills and everything else under the sky. Many fans of the first game have criticized the warped nature of the Prince from Warrior Within, so it's not really a surprise to see Ubisoft tugging the Prince's leash. Unfortunately, the clock wasn't fully turned back, as the amount of blood and gore appears to have increase in this edition. Slicing your enemy apart and seeing blood spats may not be my cup of tea, but I guess there're people out there who like this kind of things. Nevertheless, it's a still good effort in blending the elements from both The Sands of Time and Warrior Within.

The Two Thrones maintains the graphical standards of the previous titles, even though the graphics do look a little dated. . The characters' movement as also as fluent as before, but what stands out most is still the magnificent background of the various screens. As the camera angle moves around an area before you begin an area, it's hard not to get yourself immerse into the sheer mass of the surroundings. This has been always been a strength of Prince of Persia, and continues to be.

The audio features of this game also live up to its previous standards. The most impressive thing isn't the sound effects or the music though. Rather, it's the internal banter between the Prince and his darker self. At times, it reminded me of the first game, in which the Prince regularly talked to himself. It's also a particularly nice touch to get the original voice actor from the first game to voice the normal Prince. It just makes the proceedings a little more enjoyable. People who don't really enjoy the heavy metal soundtrack from the previous game will also find solace in The Two Thrones - it doesn't feel like a rock concert that much this time round.

All in all, The Two Thrones pretty much wraps up the series on a high, which makes it easy to recommend. The gameplay is as satisfying as ever, and even though it does feels like a case of been there, done that at certain points, it's still an intriguing adventure on the whole. Moreover, you're bound to get a good deal out of this game, since you're getting two Princes for the price of one! Unfortunately, we still don't get to know the Prince's name, which is a shame. But we do get a blast from the past in the form of a fan-favourite, and for supporters of the series, this could just be more than enough.

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Product Description:
ONE WARRIOR TWO SOULSRETURN TO HOME EXPECTING PEACE INSTEAD I FOUND MY KINGDOM RAVAGED BY WAR NOW I AM AFUGITIVEI WANT TO RESTORE PEACE TO MY LAND MY PEOPLE AND MY SOUL

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