It has it's faults but POP: The Two Thrones seems to be another solid addtion to the Prince of Persia series....
First of all the graphics for some reason appear to be sub par to me. Perhaps I've been looking at too many previews of XBOX360 games but the difference between the cutscenes and the actually graphics during gameplay is pretty glaring. The actual characters are detailed enough and the animations are awesome as usual. But I really question how much effort they put into increasing the graphical quality since Warrior Within. I felt somewhat the same way about WW and it puzzles me because I found Sands of Time to be a graphically appealing game. So why the look of the game has worsened over time I'm not sure. However this didn't stop me from enjoying WW and I doubt it would be a show stopper for this game.
What I find to be completely unacceptable is a problem with camera angles. How is this possible? Neither of the first two games had this issue. Now mind you it's not a problem all the time. But for some reason when you get in fights that are within very enclosed spaces the camera just goes bonkers on you. This can turn what would usually be a quick and easy battle into a dog fight to the death simply because you can't see your opponent. Fortunately a lot of POP appears to be outside in relatively open spaces and on rooftops so this shouldn't be a problem too often. But still the fact that it's a problem at all is a real head scratcher.
Fortunately POP has a lot of redeeming qualities. I don't know very much about the story at this point but thusfar it appears solid. I like what they're doing so far in terms of why the Sands have been released again and who your true enemy is. I haven't hooked up with Farah yet but I'm sure that will make the story all the more pleasing once she's involved.
The free-form fighting system is back and it's just as enjoyable as it was in the last game but with a new twist in the form of the Speed Kill system. In a word it's simply AWESOME. It can take some patience but the rewards are well worth it. Battles that would otherwise be extremely difficult can be taken care of in seconds be simply speed killing two enemies. You start out only able to take out one at a time but as time progresses the game shows you that when two enemies are aligned correctly you can drop down and speed kill both in an incrediblty series of animations. It gets harder to speed kill enemies as you get farther into the city and truly becomes a mini game all onto itself. An outstanding gameplay addition to the series.
And of course I would be remiss to not mention the gameplay as the dark prince. A lot of people who have played God of War are going to be pissed and being a God of War fan myself I'm perplexed that they made the Dark Prince such a carbon copy of everybody's favorite mass murderer. However the enjoyment from playing as him cannot be denied. What I really like about him is that they force you to kill and kill quickly when you're playing as the dark prince. While you attack you rapidly lose heatlh which you only regain by the sand you get from killing your enemies. This puts you in a situation where you're constantly looking for the most efficient and direct way to destroy your opponents. It's hard to gets used to but once you get the hang of his slew of new moves you'll be splitting enemies in half like clock work. The only thing I don't like about him is that he gets no special speed kills. He just strangles people with his chain....everytime. No matter where he's coming from or who he's facing it's that same animation. If he's supposed to be more vicious and the true assassin it seems that he should have at least a couple of different speed kills using those chains.
Last but not least is the platforming and puzzle solving. Both have been outstanding in the past two games. I haven't gotten to any real puzzle solving yet but the platforming is just as spectacular as it's always been. They added a couple of new twist in WW with swinging on a rope while wall jumping and the like but this time they've really outdone themselves. There are metal crevices you can stick your dagger into for speed kills and to get a wall run going. And in a simply incredible display of athleticism you can jump into a gap between two walls and then slowly make your way down or up. Adding this to the great system that was already in place makes for more highly enjoyable leaping, jumping, climbing and swinging. Even as the Dark Prince using his chain to swing through environments is a blast.
Overall after three hours of playing I'm very impressed with what Ubisoft has done and am looking forward to completing Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones.