Customer Reviews

Prince of Persia The Two Thrones

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Prince of Persia series has left a huge mark on the gaming world. The newest in the series makes that mark permanent, keeping true to the entire series. Fans old and new alike, should be satisfied.

The prince has returned from the Island of Time to Babylon with his new love Kaileena. To those who didn't see the alternate ending to the previous title, Warrior Within, you may find yourself a little confused here. As they come into the harbor, they're ship is invaded and Kaileena is captured. You soon find that the man behind the attack is the vizier from the very first game. He then murders Kaileena and unleashes the sands of time on Babylon. As the prince, you're going to battle to save your kingdom and avenge your lover's death.

The prince has to worry about more than just the sand creatures and the viziers warriors. Because of the sands of time, he'll also have to confront his arrogant self from the past. There will be moments in the game where the prince will have a conversation with... well... himself. The darker version of himself. This stems from the fact that Warrior Within suffered heavy criticism and complaints from fans about how arrogant he was in Warrior Within. This in and of itself would be easy to poke at were it not done so well. The voice acting is A+ material, and the change is consistent throughout the entire game.

You're also given the oppurtunity to play as the Dark Prince from time to time. As the Dark Prince you'll have an interesting weapon that resembles a chain. The Dark Prince is much more aggressive in combat, and a lot of fun to play as. The downside, however, is he constantly looses health. Luckily for you, this isn't a problem at all. Every enemy you defeat drops health to restore you. You shouldn't run out of health very often. The only hard part about playing as the Dark Prince is his acrobatic moments. You'll eventually get it down, but you'll probably die several times first.

There's a new technique added in The Two Thrones. This tactic is known as "speed-killing." By sneaking up behind an unsuspecting enemy, you can grab them. This begins an animation known as the speed-kill. The game will then pause for a moment and you'll have to press a button to execute a strike. You'll execute anywhere from one to five strikes. If you don't press the button, the speed kill will fail and you'll have to fight the enemy the normal way. But hey, if you mess up, you can rewind and try it again. The animations are incredible looking, and they're a lot of fun to pull off.

You can run across walls and perform some really awesome jumps of course, something Prince of Persia is very well known for. Several puzzles throughout the game require you to run along walls and jump to switches to get through. Again, some of them are done by a bit of trial and error, but they are, for the most part, fun.

There are also chariot races, but they're not much fun, really. A simple mistake could cost you your life. Once again, trial and error will be the key in succeeding. The good news is that you've got the sands of time on your hands. If you horribly screw up at any of these trial and error moments, you can easily rewind back so long as you've still got some sand.

The game looks gorgeous. The environments are a lot of fun to explore and sulk in, and the character models look good too. It's obvious at some parts that it's the same graphics used in the previous two games with almost no changes, but the previous games were gorgeous anyhow. Some of the pixels don't quite fit in with the environment, and that's okay. You probably won't notice them.

If you're looking for what is the best of the three versions, there's no clear winner. The XBOX version has great load times, but a few lighting effects cause it some problems, and the PS2 version suffers from slow down in some areas. There's almost nothing wrong with the Gamecube version, but it depends on what you want. If you want fast load times, go with the XBOX version, it's lighting problems aren't really that noticeable.

Overall, Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones marks a thrilling conclusion to a remarkable trilogy. Any holes it left in the plot are neatly filled. Any fan of the series will be satisfied.

The Good
+Still has gorgeous graphics
+Fun Gameplay
+Speed kills bring new style to the game
+Long game
+The story ties up all loose ends
+Fantastic Music
+Fantastic voice acting

The Bad
-A LOT of trial and error moments
-This is not for newcomers to the series. Newcomers to the series should start with the first game: Sands of Time, otherwise the story will just confuse the hell out of you

Finally, the ending to the Prince of Persia series! A few new twists, a new alter ego, but still the same core experience that gamers have come to know and love. While there are a few areas that could have been better, overall this is a great title.

Gamers who have played the previous PoP games will feel right at home with the game. The controls are the same, save for the new Speed Kill system which is extremely easy to use. Combat is similar to how it was in Warrior Within, with one base weapon that you cannot lose and a free hand that you can use to pick up various other weapons that are strewn about. The speed kill system, the new way of disposing of your enemies adds a new experience to fighting. Instead of taking on hordes of baddies in traditional hack and slash style, you can sneak about and dispose of your enemies silently one at a time. The animations for these kills are an absolute delight, if somewhat limited.

The boss battles are a nice touch, as they were hardly memorable in the previous games. With two bosses in the first game and two or three in the second, all of which required you to simply run up to your enemies and do what you always do...mash buttons, there was nothing really special about them. In The Two Thrones, most of your boss battles will require speed kill actions at some point or another. This is wildly entertaining, as often you will be heaved high into the air and must use a well timed speed kill attack to stab your opponent and stop from falling to your death on the way back down.

At various points in the game you will use a chariot. This is quite simple and generally easy. If you die...use rewind to try again...not much thought required. I feel that this aspect of the game was thrown in as an after thought, and could have really been fleshed out more. It feels almost forced at points, and can get annoying.

The prince has returned with the mentality he possessed in the first game. He feels much more noble and inclined to help others. I was a bit put off by his "bad boy" attitude from Warrior Within, yet this time around he feels much more like the original prince.

For fans of the first game, you will be delighted to find that Farah is back...with an attitude. She doesn't come off as the same innocent girl that she was in the first game, and she has a more commanding voice. She doesn't do any fighting for you, although at various points in the game she will aid you in completing puzzles.

And finally, the most interesting character in the game makes his first appearance...you. Well, the dark you...whatever that means. The Dark Prince is a corrupted version of the Prince of Persia who is much more adept at combat, can access areas that the Prince cannot reach, and who has a much more evil attitude. Punish and kill, that is what he enjoys. While in the normal prince mode often the park prince will talk to you in your head. While in dark prince mode, the normal prince will have his say. The Dark Prince cannot pick up vanquished enemies weapons, but hey, who cares. He uses a weapon called the Daggertail which is essentially a bladed chain that you can whip about. This weapon deals serious damage and allows you to vanquish enemies at a great speed...

For first time plays this game may feel long, but for veterans of the previous games it may come off as somewhat short. It felt shorter than Warrior Within to me, and with the Speed Kills much of the time you spent battling baddies will be taken away, as speed kills usually take 2-4 seconds to complete, with a few lasting a good bit longer. There is not as much emphasis on combat as in Warrior Within, and more on story.

The environments are great, spanning from dungeons to rooftops to the famous hanging gardens and Tower of Babel. Graphically the game looks very good, if somewhat technologically dated.

The audio in the game is also quite good, although herein lies one of my biggest gripes. I with they would pick a voice for each character and stick with it throughout the series. The voice for the Prince is the same as the voice from the first game, but different from the second game. Farah's voice is different. Kailena's voice is different. And...an old enemies' voice is different as well. The voice acting is good, and the sound effects are, in my opinion, much better than in the previous games. The hard rock music from the second game that seemed so out of place is gone, replaced with Middle Eastern sounding music which fits much better.

Overall this game is highly entertaining and well made, if someone short, and should provide both fans and newbies to the series with lots of entertainment. Although if you are new to the PoP series I highly suggest you purchase and play the first two games before getting into The Two Thrones so that you have an idea of what's going on. I am sad that this is the last Sands of Time themed Prince of Persia game, although hopefully the makers will continue to produce great PoP games in the future.

This is a wonderful return of the series to it's roots. At least for the most part. There are shadows of warrior within but not many. YOu do have to do the dark prince bit. THese parts are fun, but nothing compared to the brilliance of The light prince parts. The light prince parts are just like sands of time. THankd Goodness. Only this time they are better and prettier. yes, I said better and prettier. This game is well worth the price of admission. Buy it and you will love it. THE GOOD PRINCE IS BACK.

Having played all three installments of the new Prince of Persia trilogy, Two Thrones is definitely the most balanced and entertaining of the bunch for me. It basically recaptures the charm and beauty of the first game, Sands of Time, and mixes it with the graphical detail and refined gameplay of the second, Warrior Within. It also throws in several of its own improvements and innovations, and ties up the storyline in a very clever and satisfying way.

The Prince has returned home to realize that his adventures have undone the good he has accomplished, and that Babylon has been taken over by the evil Vizier. Ubisoft took what was basically an "indoor" game engine and convincingly created a vast city with it. The Prince can still run along walls, hang, jump, flip, and do all kinds of physical tricks to get through environments. Combat still suffers from enemies unfairly ganging up on you, but a new quick kill system lets you polish off enemies with a little cleverness and good timing. It really keeps the fighting from bogging down the game.

Like Warrior Within, you also get a second version of the prince to play with, the Dark Prince. He carries a chain whip which is very effective in combat, and also provides new ways to get through areas. These sequences are not as time sensitive as in Warrior Within, and mix up the gameplay without being frustrating. Again, Ubisoft refined it until they got it right.

Besides this, there are some inventive boss fights and chariot riding sequences to keep things exciting, not to mention unlockable goodies for collecting sand. Two Thrones might feel like the easiest of the bunch, but it should be if you've mastered the first two installments. I love this game for both its storytelling and its gameplay, a rare combination. If you haven't touched this series at all, start from the first one and work your way up. If you've played the others, it's worth going back to Persia again to see how it all ends.

This was supposed to be the final installment in the franchise but thankfully it wasn't as we got "Forgotten Sands".
I'm sorry, but I don't want the "Persia" franchise to end.
I don't care if there are ten different trilogies as long as their all as good as this one was.
I thought "Warrior Within" had a few missteps.
Missteps that thankfully were corrected for this version.

The good.
The music is back and much more fitting for the game.
The combat is new, refreshing and definitely fun.
There's no annoying backtracking like the last game.
The Dahaka is thankfully also gone.
They also brought back the original voice actor from "Sands" and he was sorely missing from "Warrior".
Most importantly the ATMOSPHERE from "Sands" is back.
With "Thrones" I think the developers finally struck the perfect balance between combat,platforming and puzzling.
The lenght of the game is perfect also.
Not too long, not too short.
The final level simply has to be played in all it's trippy awsomeness to be believed.

The bad?
Nothing.
There, that was easy.

All in all like I wrote earlier, this was supposed to be the end of the franchise.
If it HAD ended it would have been the perfect send off.
As it is we got the incredible "Forgotten Sands" for Wii.
Please Ubi Soft, keep giving us more Prince.
In a world of crappy games, we need this series.
"Two Thrones"....
Brilliant.
Ingenius level design.
Incredible graphics for the Cube.
A must play.
Highest Recommendations for this game and the entire franchise.

I was hooked on Prince of Persia ever since I picked up Sands of Time on a whim, not knowing what I was getting into. I have the entire Prince of Persia series, including the Sands of Time trilogy, added in Forgotten Sands, and the new Prince of Persia.

Story: Immediately following Warrior Within, the Prince returns to Babylon with Kaileena to find it fully engulfed in war led by the antagonist from the Sands of Time, the Vizier. Since he altered the timeline in Warrior Within, the events of the first game (Sands of Time) never took place and the battle in Azad never took place, so he erased killing the Vizier. Kaileena is taken prisoner and stabbed by the Vizier with the Dagger of Time, releasing the Sands of Time once again. The Vizier then stabs himself with the Dagger, making himself immortal, but dropping the dagger in the process. During the confusion, the prince grabs the dagger before he engulfed by the Sands of Time but not before the Sands of Time alter his body, transforming his wound into a whip weapon called a Daggertail, and creating a darker prince that battles for control of the prince. While trying to locate the Vizier, you come across an unexpected ally that you haven't seen in 7 years...

Gameplay: 3D action/adventure platformer. Similar to the first 2 games, you traverse the areas using acrobatics to get to the next area. New moves have been added in such as sliding down chutes, pole jumping, and leaping off walls at 45 degrees to get to vertical shutters. Stealth is used in combat now but as you approach enemies, you can initiate a speed kill that requires you to follow the prompt by pushing the displayed buttons in a series. The harder the enemy, the more buttons you have to push. This technique is also used when fighting boss battles. During the game, you transform into the dark prince during some sequences. The dark prince loses health rapidly so you must get to the next area quickly to avoid dying, similar to the fast-past chasing scenes with the Dahaka in Warrior Within. The dark prince has different combat abilities since he uses the Daggertail and does different speed kill moves. You can replenish the dark prince's health by dispatching enemies and collecting the Sands. The dagger is still useful in combat and still has the ability to rewind, slow-down, and speed-up time.

Conclusion: Graphics are stunning and very good for the GameCube. Controls are easy. The combat is tricky with speed kills and switching between the dark prince and prince is fun to control the different egos. The story is good. A great conclusion to the Prince of Persia trilogy.

The game is a fun acrobatic-combat game and a great storyline.If you have played the other games in the trilogy
then as you know he had made the mistake that actully changed the world,and then goes 10 years back in time in
the second one.He now failed and has to stop the monstrous sand beast from getting to the top of the tower before him.

this game is amazing

the supplier sent it in the best conditions as stated in the notice

Every game that I played has a camera system that's a little nuts, and this game is no exception. Other than the two boss battles where my ability to rotate the camera on my own was taken away by computer control, (which I didn't like) the game was pretty good. It ended very very well, and the platforming, game play, story, and music were all also good. Looking forward to playing the fourth POP game. Very nice game to play.

Having played the original 1989 game on PC for years I was amazed with Sands of Time. Warrior Within seemed to depart from the original tone of the story. While the game play was excellent Overall it didn't feel like Prince of Persia.
The Two Thrones is an amazing chapter to the story of the Prince. Drawing on themes of the original game it feels right at home within the Prince of Persia world. The story of reclaiming your kingdom and the added feature of a Dark Prince are excellent homage to the original. Incorporating the new fighting style of Warrior Within the game looks more like Sands of Time. Best of both games.