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could've been great, but...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 62 / 79
Date: December 18, 2005
Author: Amazon User

If you give two hoots about your rights, don't buy this game. Ubisoft is infamous for including malware called Starforce on their games, such as in previous Splinter Cell titles. This malware infests your system, installing itself between your DVD-rom drive and the rest of your system, and is always running whether you're playing the game or not. That's it; forever (or until you format your hard drive). Starforce slows down your computer just like any spyware or malware does and has been known to render computers completely unuseable. This is just another example of Ubisoft treating its customers like criminals in the name copy protection. Furthermore, this infestation is not mentioned in the installation process, unless you like to spend your time reading pages of legalese in the End User License "Agreement." We've grown to expect this treatment from Ubisoft, but it saddens me that the excellent developers of Prince of Persia would allow their customers to be treated so flippantly. The world of gaming isn't what it used to be and no game, regardless of how good it may be, is worth Starforce on your system.

The Two Thrones is Great, but Starforce protection system is not!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 28 / 31
Date: April 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Ubisoft, along with many other software companies, is turning to increasingly drastic methods in order to protect their software from pirates. While I understand the need for anti-piracy protection, I don't agree with the invasive and potentially damaging methods to which Ubisoft, publisher of The Two Thrones, has turned.

You see, this game comes with something called 'Starforce Protection System', an anti-piracy solution designed by a group of Muscovites (from Moscow, that is). This 'protection system' installs when you attempt to run The Two Thrones, and installs hardware drivers that basically give new instructions to your optical drives (CD-ROM, DVD-ROM drives). Ostensibly, these 'protection drivers' are meant to verify your copy of the Two Thrones to ensure you aren't using a pirated version. However, these drivers function at a very high level of authorization on your computer (so-called Ring 0 Privileges), which allegedly can leave your computer vulnerable to such malicious programs as trojans and virii. Also, Starforce has been implicated in the damaging of optical drives and hard disks; with the Starforce drivers installed, whenever you attempt to read a disk, there is a chance that Starforce will actually permanently slow down your drive speed each time you access it in any way. Starforce drivers supposedly prevent you from burning cd's or dvd's, in case you wish to make a mix cd of music from what you own, or backup some of the software you have purchased. It also allegedly restarts your computer if it believes you are engaging in illegal activity (for example, you might have drive emulation software running, and are trying to run an image of a cd you've purchased, it may restart your computer because it thinks you're using pirated software).

What it boils down to: The Two Thrones is a great game. I've played through the entire Prince of Persia trilogy and loved it. What I didn't love, however, was the fact that this game installs a possibly damaging and malicious program called Starforce, doesn't inform me BEFORE PURCHASING THE GAME that it utilizes Starforce, and disclaims any liability for any damage that the program or 'included 3rd party programs' may cause to my computer. I understand this is a standard clause for an end-user license agreement, but the 3rd party line gets to me, as if they know Starforce may cause you problems and they are washing their hands of the matter.

My suggestion: If you TRULY wish to play this game, purchase it for the Playstation 2 if you can. If not, it's not worth risking damaging your computer just to play a great game. Ask at a store before you purchase any game if it uses Starforce. I certainly do.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 14 / 15
Date: May 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

... this game should've been better. I am an extremely loyal fan of this series - in fact, the original game was what I cut my teeth on when I first began to play video games on computers. AND, despite all the nay-sayers out there, I LOVED 'Warrior Within' -- FUN!! (see my review of 'Warrior Within') I really want to LOVE this game too, but so far, I just ... can't.

I must preface by saying I have had no problems with the Starforce issue, so I'm just going to sidestep it -- I'm sure it sucks for some, but I can't relate so I won't comment. What I can comment on is that this game is just too da$% difficult, even at the early levels of the game.

I play a lot of PC games, and really enjoy a challenge (honest), but some of the moves the dark prince has to perform under excruciating time sensitivity are almost impossible and thereby these sequences become more than frustrating. I game to relax, not to lose my temper and feel like pouding my fists on something. I understand why the challenge of *SPOILER* making the dark prince's life ebb away every single second (like the 'wraith prince' in the last game) might've seemed like a good idea, but combining that challenge with having to make split second decisions about where to leap to and learning a completely different set of combo moves whenever the dark prince is in play all while battling really difficult enemies is just too much.

Even when playing as the regular prince, I sometimes need a moment to observe the game world and consider my next move. Playing as the dark prince allows for no such luxury, and unfortunately the level designs for the dark prince are not always so obvious or intuitive. After awhile, it just isn't fun anymore, but becomes tedious and unpleasant.

The chariot and golum-steering sequences are really neat ideas, but again as with much of the rest of the game are just too #$#%ing difficult - it is insanely easy to oversteer and unless you are cheating you will find these sequences consuming unbelievably huge amounts of time to complete properly.

In addition, the boss battles towards the end of the game are flat out ridiculous - boss enemies should definitely be challenging, but if the outcome of the game is for the hero to succeed, success should be POSSIBLE. It's as if the developers think most people have unlimited amounts of time, not to mention patience, to sit around playing and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and rinsing and then repeating for weeks and weeks on end (and maybe some people do, but as a parent of two with a household to run, I DON'T have that kind of time).

After completing this game (which took what seemed years), I had pretty much forgotten all the sequences that led up to the finish because it had taken me so ridiculously long to get there. And then, just to make sure I had evaluated it correctly, I went back and played on the easy setting WITH a cheating trainer enabled and it was STILL RIDICULOUSLY DIFFICULT in many areas, EVEN on the easiest setting and full cheats!! That's insane, stupid, and too over the top. I don't want an epic life-long game experience with this one title - I want to enjoy it, play it a few weeks, and then MOVE ON with my life.

In reading back over this, it sounds like I'm whining, but I'm truly not -- I want other gamers considering this title to know what they're getting into.

All that said, the game is beautiful -- really, it looks insanely cool -- the changes Ubisoft made to the look and feel to appease people who couldn't connect with 'Warrior' were masterfully wrought, the diatribe between the two sides of the prince is interesting and really pulls you into the storyline... all that adds up to a truly enjoyable gaming experience marred by periods of intense frustration. =( Oh, well - I guess you truly can't please everybody. Definitely a good effort, and definitely worth the sale price.

Excellent game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: December 12, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones is a great game.

I was hoping the irritating camera issues and visual glitches of the previous two (wildly entertaining) games would be gone... and they are. I am about half way through the game and so far I havent had one crash, slowdown or irritating camera angle jam.

The game runs very well on my Radeon 9800/Athlon 2500/1GB RAM system. The sound and music are top notch and come out beautifully on my 5.1 speaker rig.

The game play is fun with lots of great new moves that add a lot to the puzzles. Without giving too much about the game, the Prince's alter-ego is great fun to play too.

The game is great fun, if you liked the previous two versions, or like platform games, you will love this one!

Starforce Protection

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: April 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I ordered "The Two Thrones" about 2 months ago and I was only able to play it for a couple of weeks. Well, I decided to build a new computer and give my old computer to my dad, minus the hardrive that had "The Two Thrones" on it. I did this, and a few weeks later I wanted to continue from where I left off on "The Two Thrones". Well, it wasn't quite as simple as that, or as simple as you'd think it would be because of the copy write protection that the game uses, "Starforce Protection". Nothing about my hardrive changed, the game was on the same hardrive it was on before, but I was using a new motherboard. The game would not let me activate it because of this. When I tried activating the game on my new computer I would get the message, "Error, Activation failed because this key has been blocked. Contact product support." There was no email address or number to call. I had high hopes that I would be able to get this problem fixed by contacting Ubisoft, unfortuntately this was not the case. I had to setup a user account on their website and post a question to them through their customer forum. They replied within 24 hours but they said it was something that the company that sold me the game would have to fix by going through Starforce Protection. I then tried contacting the company that sold me the game and they told me it was something that Ubisoft has to do on their end. It has been over a week, and I have given up trying to get this problem resolved. After a little research, I realized that a lot of people have experienced problems like this and worse because of Starforce Protection. I used to really like Ubisoft, they generally make pretty good games, but their customer support is atrocious, and on top of that, they treat their customers like criminals by employing Starforce Copy Protection in their software. And because of this I will never buy another Ubisoft game, nor I will ever purchase another game no matter what it is, if it uses Starforce Protection.

Starforced again!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 11 / 17
Date: January 29, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Yet another game using the invasive Starforce drivers! My friend installed this on his computer and the reason HE is not typing this now is Starforce pretty much baked his hard drive. The drivers bar you from using legitimate functions of your computer, playing the game half the time, and install drivers with Administrator-level access; making them a VERY popular target for viruses and the like.

Great gameplay but the length of game was too short.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: January 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This title could have been the best one out of Prince of Persia The Sands of Time and Warrior Within' if only it has longer gameplay and less on trial and error to get pass one place to another in the game. Espeically when playing the dark prince, he is losing health over time too fast. Also certain speical powers back from Sands of Time and Warrior Within' were removed in The Two Thrones. Great speed kill and chariot racing. Overall what I was disappointed the most the length on this one. Let's say I finish Warrior Within' in 10 hours, this game probably take me 4-5 hours at most including all those time on trial and error to finish the game. Storyline was not very interesting as you would expect to be base on the trailer you saw online. Not to mention most trailers you saw was not even in the game at all. Most of the game trialers for The Two Thrones was misleading from the actual game itself.

Star Force or not...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: January 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

... this game is worth buying. Besides, Star Force doesn't even affect performances of my computer, so I don't care if it's there. In case you do care, you can download Star Force removal utility on their website, and when you're done with the game, just remove it after you uninstall the game. Enough about that, over to the game itself. It... is... really good. It is so much fun to complete a series of acrobatic moves which end in speed kill of an unaware guard or two. Speed kill is definitely the greatest improvement in comparison to the Warrior Within. In the beginning it is easy, and it will work every time, but as the game progresses it becomes more difficult to time it right. There are parts of the game where speed kill is a must or you're not going any further (fight with the first major boss). Of course, you can't dispose of all enemies like that, and there will be many opportunities to practice fighting combos, and you will often have a choice either to charge at guards and engage them in melee, or sneak up on them from above or behind and perform speed kill. A minor improvement is that the prince no longer throws weapons backhand. Graphics, sound, story, cinematics, and gameplay are excellent and the game runs smoothly on my system, which is far from being state of the art or the latest roar of computer technology (Pentium 4 - 1.6 GHz, 512 RAM, Ati Radeon 9000).
Now, just a few cons:
I find it a bit annoying that the dark prince loses health constantly, thus you are always in a great hurry while playing that character, and you can't switch between the characters. The reason is, the game is linear, and the computer just switches from one character to another when necessary. There is no going back or going astray like you can in Warrior Within. (I purchased the Special Edition DVD with all three Prince of Persia games, and I'm playing all three intermittently - WW and TT are significantly better games, although the Sands of Time is quite good as well.)
Save system, although there might be a good reason for it. One could argue that the game may not be as fun and challenging if you could inflict some damage on a boss, press escape, save, and carry on with the fight, or complete a series of necessary acrobatics to get from one place to another with 20 saves.
One could also argue that these "cons" are actually no cons at all.
My recommendation: Buy. Enjoy.

Great Game .......................

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: April 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is just a fabulous game and I can't completely describe this game in words.

Prince Of Persia The Two Thrones is the last sequel to the Prince of Persia series. The developers have done a really fantastic job developing this game.

In this game the prince returns to his home city Babylon from the Island of Time,hoping to find some peace.But a surprise awaits the prince as when he returns to his city he finds that his city is under attack and soon he gets shipwrecked and his love Kaileena is captured by the city guards.

Naturally the prince tries to save her but when he attempts to save her everything goes wrong(You will have to see this for yourself).

Now there are a lot of good aspects in the game.This game uses a free form fighting system from the warrior within version so guess what?You can do really cool combos and wreck havoc and confusion among your foes.In this game you can also hang suspended from the walls.

The developers of this game have borrowed some of the features from the Prince of Persia Sands of Time like wall running,climbing on pillars etc.Another great feature that the devlopers have introduced is the speed kill by which the prince can finish of his enemies by executing a succesion of cool moves.

One thing I forgot to tell you is that in this game the prince has an evil counterpart called the dark prince who can defeat just about every enemy.The dark prince is made from the sands of time and continiously needs to absorb sand or kill enemies otherwise he keeps on losing his health.

In short following are the pros and cons of this game:

Pros-
Cool graphics.
Difficult puzzles.
Cool fighting system.
An addictive game.

Cons-
High system requirements.
A little to tough even at the easy difficulty.

Overall I would give this game 98/100.

Starforce Protection aside the game is pretty good!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 16, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The pc port of this game has top notch graphics over other versions of this game, but IF YOU ARE WORRIED ABOUT "Starforce Protection" then i recommend the x-box version. This game introduces new elements and takes away previous elements. One of the new elements is the SPEED KILL which I absolutely loved, the dark prince isnt all that impressive infact his combat system is similar to the combat system is GOD OF WAR, so his combat is nothing new. Also this game isnt free roaming like WARRIOR WITHIN its from one point to the next and there is no going back. I actually would of liked free roaming a lot more, because it would of been really cool to discoved all of babalon. By the way I kinda expected a little more from this game after watching the many diffrent cool trailers especially the E3 trailer. Most of the scences in the trailer are NOT IN THIS GAME!!!!!!!!! scenes like when the prince looks like he is in prison and the seen where farah is about to shoot the dark prince with an arrow and there is a lot more just watch some of trailers after playing the game. So i guess there just a promotional tool to attract customers (AND IT WORKED IN MY CASE) Also the prince has a much more charming attitude in this one he is no longer bitter and arrogant which is a step up, but they took one previous element away from this game and that is the RAVEGES OF TIME which was in WARRIOR WITHIN that the time power where the whole screen turns red and you can kill enemies at SUPER SPEED (you guys know what im talking about). That was one of my favorite thing in WARRRIOR WITHIN. THIS GAME WAS A GOOD GAME BUT FOR SOME REASON I HAD MUCH FUNER PLAYING WARRIOR WITHIN. BUT PLAY THE GAME AND DECIDE FOR YOURSELF AS FOR ME I LIKE WARRIOR WITHIN!!!!!!!

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