by: Corey Peace

January 27, 2006

In the final entry to the Prince of Persia trilogy, Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones is not only a worthy finale, it is quite possibly the best game in the series by far. Leaving behind the “dark” Prince from Warrior Within, the Prince is now more or less half and half, carrying his personality from The Sands of Time AND Warrior Within. This is easily the best thing Ubisoft could have ever done because this Prince is definitely the most enjoyable. Now also being able to play as basically a whole new character other than the Prince, The Two Thrones adds tons of new elements of game play you never thought would be possible.

Story
After heading to the Island of Time, defeating the Dahaka and ultimately stopping the Sands of Time from ever being created, the Prince thought he had changed his fate for good. However, because of the Prince’s selfish and prideful ways, he decided to go back in time one last time and save Kaileena, the Empress of Time who created the Sands, from her fate so they could be together and rule Babylon together as well. As the Prince and Kaileena return to Babylon, the Prince discovers his home ravaged by war and fire, under attack by an unknown enemy. Before they can land, their ship is destroyed and the Prince is separated from Kaileena, allowing her to be captured by the enemy and taken hostage. As the Prince floats helpless on a piece of driftwood, he arrives on shore at the very edge of the kingdom he once looked down upon…this is where your journey begins.



Gameplay
Any fan of the series knows well the game play is the defining element that sets a Prince of Persia game well above the rest. The Two Thrones is no exception to this pattern, in fact it has by far the best game play in the series and maybe some of the best game play you will ever encounter for quite some time. The same free-form fighting style that was first introduced in Warrior Within is the basis for combat yet again. Now with even more objects to climb on, run up or interact with in general, the fighting system seems almost limitless, especially when you are playing as the new “Dark Prince.” In all reality the biggest new addition to the game play is that of the Speed Kill system. Here the Prince almost takes on a Splinter Cell-like quality as he now has the ability to sneak around and come up behind enemies and instantly kill them. It’s not that easy however, there is a certain method to the madness depending on who you are, who the enemy is and what position you attacked from. When you are behind an enemy and also close enough to it, the screen will indicate that you are able to perform a speed kill at that time. By pressing “Y” you will move into automatic camera as the Prince begins to slice the enemy to pieces, however the Prince will not kill the enemy automatically. As the Prince is attacking, there are points where you will have to hit “X” as the camera goes slow-mo and the Dagger of Time turns blue. Again, depending on the situation it can be very easy to perform a speed kill but it can also be relentless and require some very quick thinking.