Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones

THE BAD:
...for just about everyone but Prince at most times. And the game is sort

SUMMARY:
*100% Spoiler-Free*

In only 3 years, UbiSoft has been able to release a trilogy for the the gaming world: That trilogy is Prince of Persia. It seems that there have been news going around that The Two Thrones is the last PoP game. If so, did it go with a bang or a wimper? Find out in my review.

The story of Prince is quite good and very well told. If you have played Warrior Within, you'll know that Prince has escaped the cluthes of the Dahaka by making sure the Sands of Time are never created. However, in doing so, his kingdom has been sent into war and captured and now the Prince is a fugitive in his own home! That pretty much sucks and that's not even the icing! Apparently, there is a darker Prince inside our lovable guy who was created from a side effect of exposure to the Sands and you'll get the ability to play as him. But in all seriousness, the story is great. It takes a look into the good vs. evil inside of the Prince. That is where the title The Two Thrones come in. It's basically a battle between the kind-hearted Prince from The Sands of Time and the dark and black hearted Prince from Warrior Within. The tone of the game goes great with the story. What do I mean? Sands of Time was very bright, colorful, and happy. In Warrior Within, it was dark, sinister, and moody. The Two Thrones is a mix of the two, showing off the ever struggle between light and dark. I can't say anymore without spoiling. What I can say is that the story itself is very well told and the great voice acting voice actor (except for Prince but he has his moments sometimes) helps the story a lot.

The gameplay itself is fun to such a high extent that I can't explain it well! UbiSoft kepted the same style of fighting from Warrior Within this time around but you get the Dagger of Time as a primary again. Don't worry, it will still have a truely awesome and almost unchanged gameplay like from Warrior Within. However, there are two things that change up the gameplay a lot to the extent where it kills repition: Speed Kill and Dark Prince. Speed Kills are more of a stealth soultion to things. When you sneak up behind someone, you'll screen will turn yellow, telling you that you can do a Speed Kill. Press Y and then press X at the right moments and see Prince kill his victim! I know what you may be thinking, adding stealth factors to an adventure game is stupid. I thought the same thing but it is actually quite a good feature. The Speed Kills allow for a less full on frontal fight with guards, giving you more choices in the way you want to fight. If your low on health, then Speed Kills can help you a lot. However, in order to get into position for Speed Kills, it takes more time. You have to jump across the room to get in the right spot. Overall, Speed Kills change it up enough to make it fun and it's good new feature that doesn't feel like it was slapped on. It merges with the story and style of Prince of Persia perfectly to not seem like an add-on.

Then there is Dark Prince. Dark Prince is stronger than Prince in everyway and has far better weapons. He can also get to places where Prince couldn't (hard to believe). However, Dark Prince's health goes down (a lot like the Mask in Warrior Within) and the only way to regain health is Sand of Time. This balances out the powers of The Dark Prince. Giving him lots of power yet at the same time, giving him a weakness. Randomly in the game, you'll transform into the Dark Prince, making you change up the way you'd want to fight. Again, this cuts away at the repition because it's good to cut away from the same path sometimes. Instead of a sword, DP uses a chain. This chain is useless without knowing how to do the right button combination. Again, it changes things up enough to kill repition. Besides Dark Prince and Speed killing, nothing much has changed except for some smaller stuff like new ways to platform and the chariots. That being said, the thing we love most about PoP is still around: the platforming and puzzles. The platforming is still at its puriest and the puzzles are still head scratchers. Overall, the gameplay has changed so that it can be fun and not repitive yet at the same time, it keeps what we already love.

Then there is the graphics. the graphics are sort of dark and sort of uplifting. Like if the tone of The Sands of Time and Warrior Within were to mix. As I've said before, this goes only perfectly with the main theme of this game! Anyway, the graphics are awesome! Scenary shows off at the destroyed city and the damage it has taken. Fires everywhere, broken houses, killed people, etc...And enemies are well detailed as well! The graphics aren't the best on the Xbox but they sure are pretty good and worthy of this generation.

In my first statement, I asked if this game went out with a bang or a wimper? It went with a big bang! If the PoP series is truely over (which deeply saddens me) then I think PoP couldn't of gone out better. The story is awesome for the fans and it is easy to catch up on if you haven't played the first two. Tthe gameplay appeals to all, fans and regulars. I'm happy to say that The Two Thrones is a great and fun game! It is still PoP at its core and better than before. If you can get past the shortness of the game and the Prince's VO, this game is at least worth a rental.

I give Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones a 9.8/10