Few singleplayer games have made me come back. Fewer have made me beat the game more than once. This one's a keeper.

User Rating: 9.3 | Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones PC
By f_an | Review Date:
I was a big fan of the original Prince of Persia (although I haven't played the second) and the third installment lives up to first one. The Two Thrones is a very solid game altogether and very few singleplayer games make me come back and play the game again. Fewer games have made me come back and beat the game for the second time. But The Two Thrones (T2T) did just that. Any game that I beat more than once is a great accomplishment in my book. The story is well done and wraps everything up nicely. The dialogue writing is a bit weak in the beginning but starts picking up nicely half way through. The graphics are really nicely done regardless of the aging engine. This is especially true on the PC where you can crank up the settings without the need of having a monster gaming machine. The music is really well done and for the most part, all the sound effects are on key. The prince can do many combos and moves during combat but personally I do not think the combat is the strongest point in the game. It is well done but not without its flaws. The first time running the game, some combat sequences may be too difficult if you fail a speed kill or make a wrong move. Also, you don't always target the right enemy, sometimes you'll summersault past the person in front of you to attack the one behind him. Other times when trying the pull off a move, you'll end up doing numerous amounts of other moves. In fact you'll find yourself doing specific "cheap" moves to beat enemies such as throwing them off balconies or pushing off a wall, hurling yourself at the enemy. This brings me to another part of the game, speed kills. They are very satisfying to pull off and look really cool. You sneak up behind an enemy (or above) and then drop down to do a "stealth kill" but you do a bit more then just click a button. When you engage in a stealth kill, the prince will carry out fancy moves and each time he strikes the dagger flashes and you need to hit the attack button. If your timing is too early or too late, the enemy will counterattack you and you'll speed kill is completely gone to waste. There difficult to pull off in the beginning (at a certain part of the game, it actually increases the difficulty drastically of the speed kill more so then it normally is) but near the end of the game you'll be able to pull off these moves like a pro.

However, the acrobatic platform jumping is where the game's at. There really well done and all the health upgrades require you to run through a short booby trapped hallway which requires you to pull these jumps off. Dagger plates and diagonal boards increase the variety of the puzzle jumping and it works really well. A small problem though is the camera which can be a frustration at times. For the most part the camera is really good while in combat or jumping around. Also at certain areas, the camera moves away to show you where you have to go or jump. This normally helps but sometimes the camera starts moving while your about to jump. This changes the direction where you originally planed to jump since the direction your going is dependent which way the camera is facing the prince. This makes column jumping in particular frustrating at times.

Another frustrating part about the game is how badly the save points are spread out. Some areas you actually walk for a minute, hardly doing anything and meet a save point. Other times you'll find yourself going through a stretch of 40 minutes just trying to find a place where you can safe and if you die, you'll have to go back to a checkpoint that took you 15 minutes to get where you are. Also the game doesn't do the greatest job of slowly progressing in difficulty. The game is easy at first but then at a certain point near the beginning, it just gets harder in combat. Afterwards, the game doesn't get a whole lot harder as far as combat, so the end of the game is actually easier since you'll get better at combat and have more health than the middle of the game. Also, a lot of areas require trial and error but the ability to rewind time makes this more forgivable and all the other difficult areas.

Although, there are a lot of small problems with Prince of Persia: T2T, the game is actually very good and fun to play. You'll get a lot better at the game later on and be able to do things that you had to try 6 times in the beginning with ease. The first and last bosses are nicely cinematic and although the fixed camera areas can be a nuisance, the jumping puzzles are well done. The speed kills add a nice element of gameplay and overall the game improves on the original game in many ways.

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