Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
The best (and worst) of both worlds
Tags: Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones Categories: Game Cube Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Jake McNeill on Jan 19th, 2006
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones (title page) | 1 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Action | No | ||
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UbiSoft really couldn’t have found a more fitting way to end this trilogy. While Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones may not be quite as good as it could have been (it’s not even the best in the series: the first Prince still holds that crown), it seems to perfectly mesh the signature elements of the first two games, as well as the thematic and storyline elements. So, while many fans of The Sands of Time felt robbed of what made that game so special in its sequel, Warrior Within, they should find The Two Thrones to bring back more of what they liked about that title, while still remaining faithful to the second game as well. As a result, Ubi has managed to continue the series where they left off, without completely abandoning its origins.
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More specifically, The Sands of Time had a focus on its excellent platforming puzzles, which were some of the most well-designed in the genre. In addition, the first game had a smarmy kind of wit and charm, coupled with a wonderful presentation, that made for an excellent all-around package. Warrior Within shifted the focus more to the series’ combat, which just wasn’t quite as entertaining, and replaced the wit and charm of the first game with grit, blood and expletives, which may have helped the title to garner better sales but didn’t have even remotely the same magic of the first game.
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The Two Thrones essentially balances these elements of the first two games. Perhaps the smartest move on the designers’ behalf is the addition of a new stealth kill feature. While in most game series, adding stealth is usually forced and makes the game more annoying, here it only serves to gives players an extra option. You can either run right up to enemies and fight them, or you can look around for a clever way to get behind them (usually involving the Prince’s acrobatic skills) and avoid combat entirely. While there are some cases where stealth isn’t an option, generally this feature allows players to choose between the platforming-focused gameplay of The Sands of Time and the combat focus of Warrior Within. Very clever.
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Not quite as clever is the way the game meshes the storytelling and atmosphere of the first two titles. While the game isn’t quite as “dark” as the first title (I don’t recall ever hearing the Prince yell “you bitch!”), it still mostly lacks that spark of life and beauty that filled the first game. One example I can cite is the fact that, while the first game’s “storyteller” angle is again present here, it’s not as cleverly done now as it was then (none of that “No, wait… that’s not how it happened…” stuff when you die. Just a “Game Over” screen). Another example is that, graphically, while the game looks good enough, it’s missing a lot of the nice lighting and beautiful architecture of the first title, and overall it just doesn’t have anywhere near the same level of polish as the first game. The one saving grace of the presentation is the dark Prince, who’s very well-written and acted, eschewing the ho-hum “I’m you, but evil” act for something more sarcastic and sinister in its plotting, essentially trying to play himself off as the Prince’s best friend, while at the same time making no secret of its lack of respect for the Prince. As possibly the only three-dimensional personality in the game, the dark Prince is a welcome addition to the cast.
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Speaking of which, the combination of the first two games is crystallized very well in the use of the mix of the Prince and the dark Prince here. When you’re playing as the Prince, things go pretty much like they did in the first game, with more platforming than combat. However, the minute you change into the dark Prince, your life bar contstantly drains unless you get more of the sands of time provided either by breaking objects in the environment or slaughtering enemies. This vampiric need for sand flips the tables to a focus on combat, albeit still with some platforming, and thankfully the dark Prince’s chain does an excellent job of making both combat and platforming with him unique and different than with the regular Prince.
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Unfortunately, this mix of elements from the first two games keeps this title from exceeding them in any significant way. Sure, there are new elements sprinkled here and there, like brief chariot rides through the city and the other new elements mentioned above. However, most of the stuff you’ll be playing through will seem very familiar by now. The platforming puzzles, the combat… both have a few new tricks here and there, but at their core they’re the same stuff we played through back in Sands of Time.
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That fact coupled with a presentation that’s just not as impressive as the first game make it seem like the series is running out of steam, and while this game makes a fitting end to the trilogy, if this is all Ubisoft has left for us it may as well be the end of the series entirely. This is by no means saying that this is a bad game. There are plenty of goodies here for series fans to enjoy. But after this, it would seem that the goodie bag will have been emptied, and if everyone’s favorite smarmy Prince is to come back again, it needs to be with a whole new bag of tricks.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
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+ Same great platform/puzzle gameplay + New stealth element a welcome addition to the series + The dark Prince is one of the most interesting characters the series has seen + Presentation is much better than Warrior Within |
8.0 |
| What Doesn't | |
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- Presentation still not quite as good as Sands of Time - Combat still not great (although at least now you can avoid some of it) - Starting to feel like more of the same |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| This game should please fans of the series (especially those that disliked the changes made in the second game), but it won't thrill them. | |
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Tags: Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
Posted by Jake McNeill on Jan 19th, 2006 and is filed under Game Cube Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
