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A Perfect Conclusion to an Amazing Series

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 17
Date: December 06, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I still remember when the original Prince of Persia came out. Not the Sands of Time, but the two-dimensional PC version from the nineties. It was one of my favorite games. The series dragged for awhile, and then they began the current trilogy by releasing the Sands of Time, Warrior Within, and now, finally, The Two Thrones.

It's necessary to talk about the previous two games for a bit, because The Two Thrones takes a lot from both of them. In Sands of Time, what I felt was the real strength of the game was the storyline, along with superb voice acting and graphics that were ahead of their time. The prince was versatile and very easy to maneuver. Although the game was rather short, it was a fun ride. The major complaint about that game was its fighting engine, which was, admittedly, a bit bland and boring. With Warrior Within, they greatly improved the fighting engine, adding all sorts of maneuvers and combos and two-weapon fighting, which added another level of fun to the game. What Warrior Within seemed to lack from the first game, however, was the atmosphere. The prince didn't have Farrah (from the first game) as a companion to work with, and other than with boss fights, there was little dialogue. It was a much....darker game. Bloodier, gorier, and the music was laden with Godsmack and all sorts of heavy rock which, although during a few of the battles I thought it made it fun, seemed out of place.

The Two Thrones took what worked from both of the previous games in the trilogy, and dropped what didn't. The fighting engine from Warrior Within has returned, and has been improved. In Warrior Within it didn't really matter to me if I had two weapons or not; in this game the prince is MUCH deadlier with a second weapon (and also seems to lose it faster). I kept on finding I was looking to pick up a second weapon often, which is something I liked. They also added 'quick kills' to this game, where if you can sneak up on someone it gives you a sequence where you have to press the slash button as your blade lights up--and it's not extremely easy. The window you have to hit that button in is short enough to give you a challenge, but not too tough. Plus, they have quite a few different animations for it, so you can't just get used to one pattern for it. Boss battles have a level of difficulty, but aren't too tough.

The storyline of this game is also done very well. They lightened up the atmosphere that was so dark in Warrior Within. Although it's definitely not a light-hearted storyline, the voice acting and lighting in general seems to have made it much...cheerier. The prince (as you can tell by all of the previews and the artwork on the cover of the game) is now, well, schizophrenic. His darker side--I guess you could call it his warrior within--is now a voice in his head, and the prince banters with his darker half constantly. I found myself looking forward to the dialogue as much as anything else in the game, especially towards the end of the game.

A note of caution about the story: there were two endings to Warrior Within. The second ending could only be unlocked by acquiring all of the health upgrades. The story to The Two Thrones continues from the secret ending, not the normal one. If you didn't get the secret ending to Warrior Within, you may be confused as The Two Thrones begins.

The graphics to this game are essentially the same as Warrior Within. The cutscenes are incredible, but there aren't too many of them; there are far more in-game cutscenes using the regular character models than there are videos. The character models aren't bad, but they're not great, either. I don't think I can really complain, but the prince looks, well, lanky sometimes. I guess 'awkward' would describe him well. It's not that he looks stiff, or anything like that, but he just, well, bends in a strange way here and there. You can't really blame the game for that, though, because with all of his versatility he ends up in all sorts of positions, and so for some of them not to look completely natural is (in my book) easily forgiven.

The prince still moves in pretty much the same way from both of the previous games. He can run along walls, climb anything, jump unnaturally high--you get the picture. He certainly has some new things he can do in this game, but not very many. What I find neat about this game (and the previous two) is that although a lot of the things the prince can do are COMPLETELY impossible, the animation is done in such a way that you *almost* believe that it's possible. Almost. His moves are believable, which is a real credit to the animations he has.

Not only has the prince become schizophrenic in this game, but he has taken it one step further--his darker half takes over quite often, completely transforming his appearance. His dark side is MUCH more fierce of a warrior, holding a weapon in his off-hand that is essentially a giant chain, which he is very proficient with. You'll find it extremely easy to defeat enemies when you play as the dark side, but there's one catch: the prince's health drains over time. It replenishes fully when you get a sand tank. This may sound familiar from Warrior Within, where the prince was a sand wraith for some time, but there is quite a difference with the dark prince. The sand wraith had unlimited sand tanks; dark prince does not. The sand wraith would stop losing health at a certain point; the dark prince does not. If you don't improve your health, the dark prince will die, so it forces you to be quick as you go through certain puzzles trying to get back to being the normal prince. In general this doesn't become too much of a problem, as there are sand tanks in just about anything you smash while being the dark prince, but towards the end of the game it got pretty difficult, especially if you haven't gotten many health upgrades (which I didn't).

There were also some chariot races that they added. They weren't extremely fun, but I didn't find them to be a burden, either. One of them was pretty difficult, and ended with the most difficult boss battle in the game, so it's a good idea not to use up all of your sand tanks on the chariot race (which I did) because you'll need them in the boss battle, or else you'll play that battle QUITE a few times, especially if you haven't gotten many health upgrades (which I hadn't, and it took more than twenty attempts for me to win that battle). What makes the chariot races difficult is there's no health meter; if you crash you die. The chariot was maneuverable enough that the controls didn't cause you to crash, but sometimes it was difficult to see what was ahead, and the difficult race was a few minutes long--pretty tough if you don't want to use your sand tanks (which, believe me, you don't).

I already mentioned the voice acting. The music has changed from Warrior Within to be more...arabian. It fits well with the atmosphere. I found that oftentimes, especially with the Empress of Time (who narrates the story) it was difficult to hear her, so you'll want to turn voice sounds all the way up and sound effects and music down to be able to hear everything. Sometimes she would begin narrating JUST as I went to save my game, and it would cut her voice off, so that I didn't hear what she had to say. It's not a huge deal--nothing she said specifically had anything to do with any puzzles or anything, but with the story being as good as it is, it would have been nice to hear everything.

I also found that I relied on the sands MUCH less in this game than in the previous two. Some of the powers I got I never even used. Call it a credit to the well-programmed fighting engine, call it a credit to the game giving you a good clue as to where it is that you have to go, and the controls following what you tell it to do. But other than a few mistimed jumps, or poorly-executed 'quick kills,' I rarely needed to rely on the sands.

Overall, I think this game--and series in all--has been outstanding. All too often the sequel to a game becomes old hat, just a bland remake of the previous version. The Two Thrones is not bland. You may get sick of some of the puzzles here and there, but the superb storyline told through excellent voice acting makes you keep on wanting more. If you haven't played the previous games in the series, I'd suggest you do so before playing this game. Although you don't need any of the knowledge from previous games to be able to get through this one, they don't put much effort in brushing you up on what has happened in the previous games. Overall, The Two Thrones provides a satisfying conclusion to a series that has been outstanding throughout and constantly improving. It's a shame that the conclusion to this game is so final; I don't think I could ever get enough of this series, but alas, this is the finale.

The paramount ending for an outstanding trilogy

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: December 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

In an industry that has become so lackluster that finding a worth while game is a one in a million shot, the POP (Prince of Persia) series has stood out like a 40 karat diamond. A highly original story backed by amazing game play is the key to what makes POP so brilliant. The original next gen release, Sands of Time, was engrossing to say the least. The follow up, Warrior Within, while not a fan favorite hit close enough to the mark to be enjoyable. I own both and would recomend them to anyone without a second thought. The Two Thrones, the final addition to the trilogy, is following in big foot steps. The Prince has come home to find everything in ruins. From moment 1 The Two Thrones is outstanding. borrowing graphics from WW is something that I can overlook for the sake of the amazing story that follows. All the new elements and added gameplay make for an exciting re-learning of POP. For fans of the series Ubisoft took what was great about SoT and WW and made an even better final chapter, while losing what was not needed. To anyone just picking up the POP series I would recommend you start with Sands Of Time you can't go wrong. Either way this is an exciting end to a series that has brought millions joy, pain, and out right entertainment. If I could give this more stars I would.

Doesn't live up to the hype

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 10
Date: December 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Everyone is saying how great the graphics are. I disagree. In fact, there are many times the graphics are pretty bad. One example is when the transformation into the dark prince takes place. It isn't very impressive at all. The only "great" graphics are during the cut scenes. And the final boss looks like a giant gold butterfly. Oh well.

Also the Prince has an inner voice in this game which is the Dark Prince. The voice doesn't seem very "dark" at all. Just disagreeable and really annoying at times.

The game play is good, and there are new moves which makes things a lot easier when you get them down. It's a good solid game, but not what it's been built up to be.

he's back. Bought Time

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: December 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

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.

AWSOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: January 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

i recently rented pop III and honestly i cant put the controller down. ive played the first pop and it too was phenominal. my favorite part is the split personality. if you want a challenging fighting game this is the one to buy

Back to Good

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: January 15, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The end of the "Sands of Time" trilogy marks a successful return to the style and fun of Prince of Persia - Sands of Time. The Two Thrones combines the good fighting mechanics of Warrior Within (WW) with the downright utter enjoyment that the Sands of Time (SoT) started two years ago.

The story picks up where WW left off, with the Prince returning home to Babylon. Before you know it, the sands of time make a comeback and the Prince is left in peril in order to save his kingdom. All the great platforming tasks of insane jumps and crazy obstacles are here, as are most of the "sand powers" found in the first two iterations.

Gameplay is the same for the most part. The new "speed kill" system is quite fun, but some may find it eases the fighting difficulty quite a bit. That being said, its not always the easiest thing to pull off, especially when multiple enemies are involved, but a cool addition none the less.

The graphics look better than ever, a slight improvement over WW, and a remarkable improvement over Sot which was jaw dropping only two years ago. The rendered cut-scenes look good and the sound is clear, including all the voice acting where the original actor from SoT has returned to voice the Prince. He does a great job again and really adds to the overall quality of the game. The music is a return to the orchestral sounds of eastern decent, and the hard rock has left the building to much acclaim.

This game is very linear, which some people may stray away from. There is no multiple back tracking like WW. However it is enjoyable from start to finish. Even the new chariot races are interesting, but some may find them slightly out of place. There is one Boss fight in-particular that will cause many frustrating moments to all. After a few times (or perhaps dozens) studying the patterns and getting your attack down, it becomes no problem.

I did experience one glitch that caused my game to freeze at a certain point several times. After searching around on message boards, it seems to be a common problem. I was able to get past it after resaving over the save point file. A word of advice - have at least a few different save files along the journey so you don't have to start over at anytime.

The ending is completely appropriate to the trilogy, and leaves you hoping the Prince will one day return. This game is a little on the short side. At around 7-8 hours for me to complete, it seemed shorter than the previous two. All in all, a great game. A must play for anyone who enjoyed the previous two, or for fans of third-person action adventure. You owe it to yourself to play the first two beforehand though, if only to see the story from beginning to end, and to experience one epic adventure.

Great Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: December 27, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones is, to me, an outstanding game. I am seriously not much into fighting games with the exception of some Mortal Kombat games here and there. When I got this game for Christmas, I was so excited. I had seen it before but kinda passed it by. I have never played the other Prince of Persia games, so I can't really compare it with the others. But this game exceeded my expectations. I honestly can not put it down. I am amazed at myself at how much I like it. The plot is one of my favorite parts of the game. I have an interest in ancient times and I'm glad it's Babylonia, a very interesting subject on its own. The moves are wicked cool once you get them down, especially the quick kill or whatever you call it I can't think of it right now. But basically you can kill someone without losing any health if you do it right. I really like the running on the walls feature. This game is amazing. If you are like me in the fact that you have never played the original Prince of Persias or that you don't care for fighting games, this is the one. It beats a lot of other fighting games I've so pathetically attempted to play by far. Buy it.

Great culmination to a great trilogy!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: December 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I continued playing this series because the PoP-I had such a great story and character interactions. I was really disappointed in PoP II when a lot of that was lost, the Prince's personality dramatically changed, and the gameplay focus shifted to fighting.

However, the Two Thrones makes a great comeback by combining the best elements of both of the previous games. A lot of the great story writing and the character monologues are back and you start to feel like you can connect with the Prince again. At the same time, the fighting elements were improved with the addition of speedkill. I felt that in PoP II there was a little too much button smashing in the game. Its great if you're playing Dead or Alive, but for an adventure type game like Prince of Persia button smashing shouldn't be at the forefront.

Given that though, the game is still ridiculously hard in some spots. The fighting is still difficult so much that near the beginning of the game, I started over in easy mode so I could focus more on the story and physical environment puzzles rather than button smashing.

The biggest thing about The Two Thrones is that the whole game is about TIMING. Even the fighting is really about timing, e.g. with speekill you have to hit the button just at the right second. Even in the "big boss" fights its more about navigating the terrain and doing things at the right moment instead of being able to smash the right combos into your controler to hurt your enemy. In a lot of parts of the game you have to jump at the right time, rebound off walls at the right time, strike your enemy at the right time etc.

The sand powers are a little bit simplified but still pretty important. Like in PoP II it really helps to slow down time to navigate terrains and to defeat enemies. You also get a couple of new moves in this game, like being able to rebound of shutters diagonally, being able to stab dagger plates, as well as the Dark Prince's new abilities.In terms of story I don't really understand the real need for the Dark Prince, but it sure was really cool to play him! You can really kick butt with the daggertail. Another nice thing about The Two Thrones is it ties up loose plotlines, and since I'm so into the story, that's really a plus. I would give it 4.5/5 stars overall!

The Prince Returns...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: January 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The third installment since the rebirth of the classic series and presumably the final chapter in the "Sands of Time" saga, "The Two Thrones" takes the best elements of "The Sands of Time" (game one) and "Warrior Within" (its sequel) and caps the franchise with style, finesse, and gameplay as sharp as a scimitar blade.

You once again assume the mantle of the nameless Prince of Persia. Returning home to Babylon at long last to find it in ruins and its people at war with an army of sand monsters, the Prince also finds himself in the company of old friends... and old enemies. Cursed, he comes to find his body and soul split in two, and periodically his wicked self, known as the Dark Prince, rises forth to wreak havoc and take control of the Prince's body. The storyline is entertaining, its characters more developed than in most video games, and it strikes a nice balance between darkness and light-heartedness... something "Warrior Within" failed to achieve. In essence, it's what you would get if you took the tone and presentation of games one and two and rolled them together.

As mentioned before, the gameplay is not far from that either. While "The Sands of Time" set the tone with its acrobatic platforming, which remains pretty much in tact, "Warrior Within" took that game's weak combat mechanics and fleshed them out into something a little more interesting. Happily, both elements are retained and improved upon in this new installment. What's more, "Tenchu"-like stealth kills are now available. While they're far from perfectly executed (sometimes they seem unresponsive), they nonetheless offer a fresh twist and the opportunity to avoid hand-to-hand combat in many circumstances.

The Dark Prince is another significant addition. Regularly, throughout the course of the game, the Prince transforms into this alter-ego - a sand monster version of himself that is able to use a weapon called the Daggertail. This weapon functions much like the Belmont whip in a "Castelvania" game, allowing the Dark Prince to attack his enemies and also swing from poles and light fixtures to access new areas the Prince couldn't hope to reach. While stronger than the Prince in combat, unfortunately for the Dark Prince he must sustain himself with a constant supply of sand power or succumb to death when it's all been used up. That makes these portions of the game more intense, and, on rare occasions, a little more frustrating.

Also new to the series are the chariot trials, sequences during which the Prince must escape via horse-drawn wagons through hazardous environments at full speed ahead. While they provide a nice change of pace when they do actually occur, they are relatively few and the trial and error nature of them can lead to irritation.

There are only a few glaring flaws in "Thrones." The sound effects and ambient music retain their inconsistent, buggy feel. Too often the dialogue sputters and repeats like a broken record, and the music kind of fades in and departs with little rhyme or reason. As well, the graphics suffer from some pretty blatant clipping problems. The engine has aged pretty gracefully, but it has aged - at least the character designs and architecture go a long way keep you distracted from the occasional failings of the visuals.

"Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones" is, in many respects, a very similar game to the two that have come before it. Therefore it's not as novel as the first game to longtime followers, but it doesn't feel as long in the tooth as it might have at this stage thanks to the new gameplay additions and an entertaining continuation of the story. It's certainly a better game than "Warrior Within," more welcoming in almost every way. This series has a lot of life in it, and "The Two Thrones" is well worth your time and effort.

Easily the best of the trilogy.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: February 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I've been a fan of the Prince of Persia series since I was a little kid. PoP 1 was great, Pop 2 was absolutely unreal. PoP 3D was ehhh....but then two years ago, along came a game that changed everything. "Prince of Persia The Sands of Time," the first game in this amazing adventure game trilogy took everyone's breath away. The gameplay was original, flawless, and beautiful. The storyline sucked you in and didn't let you go even after you'd beaten it 6 times over. It was a flawless game.

Last year, the first sequel, "Prince of Persia Warrior Within," was released. While the game contained improvements in the quality of the graphics and the "freeform fighting" techniques, the game was less pleasing to both critics and gamers. Ubisoft had turned the humrous, witty, intelligent prince from "Sands" into an angry, nu-metal-rocking, humorlous scoundrel who seemed hellbent on ruining everyone's time. While the story was equally as engaging as "Sands," "Warrior" failed because it simply was not as much fun to play. Luckily, Ubisoft saved the best for last.

"The Two Thrones" is easily one of the greatest games I have ever played. In concluding one of the greatet videogame trilogies ever created, Ubisoft have developed a near flawless game. It is as though they took the strengths from both games, removed the weaknesses of the second game, and created a thing of pure brilliance. "The Two Thrones" contains all of the witty, punning elements from the first game and mixes them with the exciting, more violent elements from the second game while removing everying that ruined the prince's demeanor in the second game. The original, fun, saracastic prince is back, and largely because Ubisoft has also brought back one of the things that made "Sands" so great: Farrah. Farrah is the perfect foil to our hero. She adds humor, power, creativity, and definitely a sexiness to the game that "Warrior" was lacking. Farrah's relationship with the prince is by far my favorite relationship I've ever "played" in a videogame and Ubisoft deserves big brownie points for bringing her back.

The gameplay in "The Two Thrones" is amazing. Throughout the game, the gamer is occassionally forced to play as the "Dark Prince" as there are situations where the "normal," original prince is unable to get through. In other games, playing as two characters often appeared more of a gimmick than an actual, integral part of the story, but in "The Two Thrones," the reasoning behind the Prince's frequent changing from Prince to Dark Prince and back again is very well explained and very important to the overall story that "Two Thrones is telling." The fight scenes are epicly fun to play. This Prince has more moves than he had in the two last games combined and his battle techniques are a joy to use. The new "speed kill" method of killing some opponents adds a certain amount of skill and brutality to many fights that otherwise would have seemed boring and taken far too long to complete. I welcomed the addition of the speed kills once I fully learned how to use them.

The Prince still moves as acrobatically as ever. There is still wall-running, jumping, flipping, handsprings, etc....the only real notable movement difference is when the gamer plays as the Dark Prince. The Dark Prince's chain/weapon/thing can be used to grab onto bars that are are away or objects that would otherwise be out of reach and the Prince can then swing over to them. It's not that different from anything the Prince has done before but it was definitely fun to do and worked well with the flow of the game.

All in all I rate this the best of the new Sands PoP trilogy. It's an awesome game that should be played by anyone who has ever enjoyed a 3rd person adventure game. If you haven't played either one of the first two games be warned: the storyline is actually rather complex and you will be missing much of the story if you haven't played the first two games. If you have played the first two games, this story is a terrific conclusion to the Prince's tale, and the way it wraps around back to the beginning of the trilogy floored me when I finished it. Buy this game.

(something worth noting...after you beat the game you unlock many videos, chief among these is the "alternate/real ending" to Warrior Within that was formerly only available if you beat Warrior after collecting all the life upgrades....so if you beat Warrior without all the life upgrades and didn't see the "real" ending...beating this game shows it to you in the video collection)

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