Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones

"The Prince still hasn't fixed what he broke in the Sands of Time."

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was released in 2003, and its sequel Warrior Within a year later. I thought that both were excellent games. Now Ubisoft has decided to bring us the third sequel. Just like with the Jak and Daxter series last year, the third game in the Prince of Persia series clears up the entire storyline. Considering how long the Prince has been around, I guess that the series does have some high expectations for him. Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones is a fantastic game, one that should be played by all.

Control is the most important aspect of a Prince of Persia game. As you already know, this series is all about crazy jumps and running along walls. The controls are top notch, but there are flaws. First it is sometimes very difficult to pull off your jumps without falling. Luckily the Prince can still rewind time, and believe me you'll need it. I believe the Gamecube controller is better suited for this game. I got that opinion since I played the Sands of Time on the Gamecube and Warrior Within on the PS2. The game isn't as hard as Warrior Within although the enemies are a bit smarter.

Another thing that makes this game a bit tough is that there are numerous areas in the game that have a lot of trail and error elements. Case in point, the times when you use a chariot are very difficult, and sometimes even one mistake will cause you to lose. As with Warrior Within, the prince's alter ego now is the Dark Prince. Just like with the Sand Wraith in Warrior Within, the Dark Prince loses health at all times. This makes your quest to be very difficult. Of course the normal prince has all of his hack and slash moves from the previous two games. The Prince is also given a one hit kill attack as well.

The story is well done, but gets crazy at the end. It is actually a continuation of the first two games. The Prince in the first game released the Sands of Time from the hourglass after he was tricked by the evil vizier. Together with a young girl named Farah, the Prince was able to rewind time in order to save the kingdom. The Prince's actions in the Sands of Time then created a tear in the timeline. The Prince should have died in the Sands of Time. Now a powerful creature called the Dahaka has been created to finish the Prince off. To escape his fate again, the Prince travels back to the Island of Time where the Sands of Time were created. If the Prince can stop the sands from being created, then Dahaka should disappear. To accomplish his goal, the Prince will have to travel back and forth in time, somewhat like in A Link to the Past in the Legend of Zelda series. The Prince finds the Empress of Time called Kaileena and defeats Dahaka.

With that, the Prince returns home to Babylon. Kaileena is now his new lover, although that part of the plot will be confusing to those who didn't get the unlockable ending in Warrior Within. The Prince discovers that his land is now under siege by a group of evil creatures. To get right to the point, the Sands of Time are released again, and the vizier has returned; transformed by the Sands of Time. Kaileena is also the narrator for the story. She should be, since she is killed off in the beginning of the game by the vizier. Farah also makes a return in this game to help the Prince.

The graphics are much better than the Sands of Time and are very similar to Warrior Within. I don't think that the environments are any better, but the character models are a clear upgrade. The Prince himself is stunning, although he could use a shave. I'm also glad the Prince has lost his negative "attitude" from Warrior Within. The music is very similar to the first game. Instead of heavy metal from the second game, we have the return of the Persian music from the Sands of Time.

The game itself is much shorter than the first two games. There are however, some very nice pictures and illustrations that you can unlock. In conclusion, I think that this game is a solid game that everyone should play. The game is much more similar to the first game. I must say that the driving sequences aren't that enjoyable and are just plain annoying. This game deserves a purchase, and is a great way to wrap up the Prince of Persia series.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/26/05, Updated 09/15/06