Prince Of Persia: The Two Thrones Speed kills Completes story Excellent control system Too much trial and error Iffy replay value

The third time is definitely the charm in the case of The Two Thrones. Let's hope this game actually sells! by StewXX

December 6, 2005 - For fans of the Sands of Time series this third version wraps everything up in a grand finale worthy of a royal celebration. It's only fitting that the prince-that-would-be-king rewards his loyal subjects with more action and adventure that has made The Prince of Persia series a resounding success throughout the gaming kingdom.

All of the game's elements mesh, from the music to the storyline, from the puzzles to the control system. I can't find anything nasty to say about this game. Ubisoft have certainly done their homework. They've managed to retain the essence of the series without being redundant. Some new features have been added that really help to hasten the pace. Environmental puzzles are back and trickier than ever. The prince is in prime form with some new abilities - and a whole new side to him that we've never seen before.

The storyline has always been an integral part of the series. The story in this version requires that you have some knowledge of the last two games. I won't go into too much detail here but if you want to go back and verify the endings for yourself, skip the next paragraph.

Returning home to Babylon from his last adventure, the prince is bringing his new love, Kaileena, with him to reclaim his kingdom. Yes, she is alive. Remember those sands of time? Upon his return he finds the kingdom in the grips of civil unrest. He and Kaileena are taken prisoner and Kaileena is murdered, releasing the sands of time throughout the empire. Collecting the sands, the prince will avenge his lover's death and regain control of the kingdom. It goes without saying that there is going to be a lot of revenge - and that means bloodshed.

The prince is endowed with the moves of an acrobat. He can scale to great heights, run up walls, jump and swing from platform to platform, employ stealth, dodge traps and perform vicious kills. All of the move commands are responsive and satisfying with an arcade-style of forgiveness that never so much as hinders the challenge. These moves will serve him well for platforming and puzzles solving. The rooftops in this Middle-Eastern-flavored city are the prince's playground. He uses the height to spy on his enemies and runs and jumps from one roof to the other like an Arabic Spider-Man.

The puzzles are similar to those found in Tomb Raider. They are environmentally based and require skillful manipulation of the character to jump over pitfalls, throw switches and react to the sometime changing design layouts. There are plenty of annoying trial and error situations but as long as you have some sand, you can rewind a little and perform the action correctly. It's a great gimmick but I feel some time that it's a bit overused, as if the developers feel compelled to include more such situations which are virtually impossible to complete the first time through just so we have an excuse to acquire more sand.