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 games: prince of persia the two thrones
Gaming royalty. With 2003’s Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time, UbiSoft not only created a marvellous 3D revamp of the renowned platform series, they also made a classic. The titular royal lad was incredibly agile but, more importantly, you could control his nifty moves with an effortlessness few games could match. You didn't spend hours agonising over a frustrating section, cursing the game design and the control scheme; you moved through it with an incredible sense of satisfaction and achievement. The fact that the game's settings were beautiful just added to the overall majesty. Prince Of Persia: The Two Thrones. Unfortunately, despite critical acclaim, it wasn't a big hit. So with the sequel, UbiSoft tried a different tack. The result was a clichéd, gloomy game with a horrid soundtrack and the emphasis on combat. Combat that was considerably harder too. Warrior Within left me genuinely gutted. So it was with mixed feelings that I embarked on the second sequel, The Two Thrones. Initial confusion (it picks up after the story of Warrior Within) soon gave way to relief, though, as the experience seemed to recapture some of that of the original. The game is interesting, too, for how it sets up a dialogue between the two different Prince personas, giving each different combat techniques. A third of the way in, though, I hit a choke point. A save point was located five minutes before, resulting in way too much repetition. Sure, you get stuck in games, but such problems can be alleviated by a few simple design factors – more regular save points (especially just before boss battles and choke points), and, more importantly, the ability to adjust difficulty level in-game. For a game to penalise me for not having the skill just seems at odds with the concept of play and enjoyment.  Prince Of Persia: Battles (left) and Prince Of Persia: The Two Thrones (right). I want to know what happens to the Prince, so I've swapped to PS2, where, despite woollier visuals than on the Xbox, the controls seem more appropriate, and dropped a difficultly level. But after the sublimely pleasing glories of Sands Of Time, it's upsetting to encounter such frustration when once more in control of the Prince. The Prince also pops up in a very different game over on the DS, Prince Of Persia: Battles. This is a slightly peculiar addition to the franchise, a turn-based combat game which uses a pack of cards to control the troops, but worth a look nonetheless if you're trying to be completist with all the Prince’s adventures. Me, I just want to get to the end of The Two Thrones and relive some of the joyful feelings incurred two Christmases ago by The Sands Of Time.
Daniel Etherington
Prince Of Persia: The Two Thrones is out now on PS2, GameCube, PC and Xbox. Prince Of Persia: Battles is out now on Nintendo DS.
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comment by freestyla12
Feb 3, 2006
How do you kill the Blue monster that kicked all the bricks and you have to slow down time on then speed kill then you control him how do you defeat that hing
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