The Two Thrones mixes the previous two Prince of Persia games to create an incredible game
The Two Thrones picks up where Warrior Within's alternative ending left off. The Prince is sailing home to Babylon with Empress Kaileena by his side; fully expecting the welcome a wayward prince deserves. Instead, he finds that his removal of the Sands of Time from the timeline has allowed the Vizier from the first game to become king and use his newfound army to take Babylon. Shortly thereafter the Vizier finds a way to unleash the Sands of Time and in the process make himself more powerful. The Prince soon finds that through his exposure to the Sands a dark presence he has been slowly corrupted and now turns into a sand-creature like version of himself at random intervals. He also finds that there is a dark and tempting voice in the back of his head, pushing him towards selfishness.
In terms of gameplay, the Two Thrones is similar to its predecessor. The two-weapon system is still used, but this time the main weapon is the Dagger of Time itself while the other hand is a weapon that you picked up. In terms of gameplay, the primary difference is that now the second weapon gains much more importance later in the game as the dagger stops being able to get the job done. The two weapon system is also a bit more free-flowing in The Two Thrones, with more moves then combos then Warrior Within which used them heavily.
The Two Thrones also introduces the "speed kill" system. Against normal enemies, you can sneak up on them and then, by hitting a button at the appropriate time, kill them without needing to actually fight them. If you mess up on one of the button hits then the enemy will counter you and you'll enter normal combat mode. This makes caution and exploration a bit more worthwhile since it's possible to kill an enemy and get their sand without significant risk of injury. If two enemies are close enough you can actually do a double, triple or even quadruple speed skill. Against boss characters, you'll have to use the system as it's the only way to kill them. Getting into a certain position will let you launch into a speed kill, usually to somehow cripple the boss. Only one of the bosses in the game doesn't actually use this system, so it makes it essential to get the hang of it.
The other addition is the "Dark Prince" form; the Prince will turn into this form at specific times in the game until you reach water, which will change The Prince back to his normal self. The Dark Prince form is similar to the wraith form from Warrior Within. You'll continuously lose health in the Dark Prince form, but your health will be replenished by getting sand. This makes the Dark Prince portions of levels much more hurried. Fortunately, the Dark Prince is much more powerful in combat, using the daggertail he can annihilate large groups of enemies rather quickly. The Dark Prince can also use the daggertail to swing about, Indiana Jones style from certain poles and torch holders.
There are also a couple of chariot race sequences, but they are relatively brief and fairly simple; though it is worth noting that running your enemies into walls is fun.
The only real problems the game has in the gameplay department are really the same as the previous two games; combat can be a bit messy in cramped spaces and often times the best way to defeat enemies is the good old leap over and slash attack, the Dark Prince form can also get a bit tedious after a while since there aren't a whole lot of moves better then the standard "hit hit hit" combo.
The graphics of the game have mostly returned to the style of the Sands of Time, though it appears to be using the same engine as Warrior Within. Visually the game has a very distinct Persian feel the palace is made of white stone and is filled with throw pillows and low tables. I particularly liked the look of the city itself, from the rooftops you can see the city spread for quite some distance, all adobe houses and dirt roads. The only unfortunate thing is that the graphical issues from the Warrior Within have returned. The engine doesn't do well with close up shots, and when you see The Prince or Farah close up in engine their hair will disappear into them if it's moving too much.
The original voice of The Prince from the first game as has the Arabian-style music. The Dark Prince sounds appropriately devious and cunning, with sarcasm thrown in for good measure. This is how The Prince of Persia games should sound and it's good to see the series return to this visual and audio style.
Overall, the game is simply superb; but a couple of things prevent me from recommending the game unconditionally, aside from what I mentioned above. First, the game is very short; I played through in roughly fifteen hours, some have said they completed the game in as few as nine hours. Secondly, if you haven't played the previous two games you will have no idea what is going on in The Two Thrones. Finally there really isn't any replay value, you can replay the game on hard but that's about it. I unlocked all the galleries on my first play through and there are no other extras that I can find.
For fans of the series, The Two Thrones is a very worthy end. If the game had resolved some of the issues from the previous two games and was longer I would recommend it fully. Complaints aside, I recommend picking this up ASAP for any fan of the series and I'd recommend that platformer fans go pick up the entire series; it's well worth your time and money.