The Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones

If you are a fan of The Prince of Persia saga, you will be pleasantly surprised with the end of the long standing trilogy… The Prince of Persia:  The Two Thrones.  This action game offers a dramatic end with an outstanding climax.  It puts on new spin on previous editions to the saga.

The game starts with the prince returning from the Island of Time to his home in Babylon.  He brings along his lover, Kaileena.  Unfortunately, the prince returns to find the land ravaged by war.  His homeland is against him!  The prince is captured.  Kaileena sacrifices herself to save him by releasing the Sands of Time.  The prince then wanders to change the things that have happened.  He soon learns that past battles have awakened a dark prince who slowly begins to posses him.

The Two Thrones is a bit different than the previous editions to the saga.  This is because you will now play as two different warriors.  The new addition is the dark prince.  Both warriors posses unique skills, abilities, combat styles, weapons, histories, and attitudes. 

While playing as the dark prince, you soon learn that he is very much your alter ego.  His intentions are not like the “good” prince of Persia.  The dark prince loses health constantly.  This means you must look for sand to restore his health.  This is found hidden throughout the environment and on slain enemies. 

The game play consists of free-form fighting.  You always have the option of killing the enemies by whatever means you feel necessary.  Be it by decapitation, stealthy sneak attacks, or hand to hand combat… the decision is entirely up to you.  You have the ability to manipulate time to your advantage with the Sands of Time.  You will often find yourself slowing or rewinding time to give you the advantage over unsuspecting foes.

The musical score is a bit different than the previous editions.  You will not hear any of the “metal music” as before.  In fact, the score is the best of the three editions and it coincides with the game perfectly.  The graphics are also quite breathtaking. 

The combat system is also better than the previous editions.  A new stealth skill has been added so that you must learn to cleverly kill your foes.  Speed kills has also been added to the game.  This is a bit difficult to master, but once you have done so it is quite rewarding.  Throughout the game, you will always have a sense of urgency to beat the Sands of Time!

The Prince of Persia:  The Two Thrones is available on Playstation 2, XBOX, and Gamecube.  The XBOX has the advantage of offering crisper graphics than that of the other two systems.  The ESRB rating is M for Mature.  This is because the game has blood, gore, intense violence, and nudity.