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The princely game
Ubisoft’s latest addition to the Prince of Persia series is called Prince of Persia: Two Thrones. The previous two games in the series made a major impact on the PlayStation2 console and this one is no different.
With its stunning graphics, in-depth storyline and excellent gameplay, it directly challenges the other releases and has the requirements to surpass the legends of Metal Gear Solid and Hitman.
The story of this game is a continuation of the one in Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. After the defeat of the monster, Dahaka, the prince changes his destiny and in the process changes the destiny of the world.
He saves Kaileena from her death at the hands of Dahaka and escapes and diverts the sands of time because of this. He has sworn to protect Kaileena and embarks on his journey home to Babylon.
The prince, along with Kaileena, reaches Babylon to see that the city is in chaos. The royal family has fallen, the guards have turned against the people, and an old evil has risen. A huge rock from a Trebuchet pummels the boat which sends the prince into the sea.
He tries to find Kaileena but she is captured by the guards and taken to their master. He finds out that the master is none other than the Vizier, the man he killed earlier (in Warrior Within). He finds out that by meddling with the sands of time, he had changed the world altogether, wiping out the time when he killed the Vizier.
The Vizier takes the majority of the power and infects himself of the sands. He becomes a god-like creature. But some of the sand infects the prince too. It makes him into an arrogant monster that likes blood and gut — a dark prince. This side of the prince is ruthless and wants to kill the Vizier as fast as possible and does not even care about the citizens of Babylon.
Gameplay
The gameplay has changed a lot from the earlier games, owing mainly to the addition of a dark side to the prince. As for the normal prince, he possesses the same skills as before. You get a dagger when you start the game. But afterwards, you can take your enemy’s weapon and use it with the dagger.
But the weapons will not be enough and you will need the combos as well. In later levels, you will have to face hoards of enemies and with your basic moves you will definitely not be able to survive. You can learn the combos as you progress. Different weapons have different combos. They are stored in your game menu so you can later learn them.
The dark prince is extremely different from the normal prince. He is stronger and faster than the humane prince, so the combos are more effective against him. However, even the dark prince has one major weakness. When playing him, you will see that the health bar is steadily decreasing. This is because the prince is made of sand and he needs sand to revive himself.
Another cool addition to the series is the stealth kill. If the enemy is unaware and you reach from behind and activate the stealth kill mode, the prince can instantly kill the enemy. But this mode requires the players to take action at the right moments or the enemy will block your attacks and throw you away. If done correctly, hordes of enemies can be cleared.
The puzzles are more difficult. You have to scale the landscapes in order to find the solution. This is where your running, pole-swinging and jumping are tested. With time these parts become even more difficult.
You have to control the devices in order to make way to the next area. This can eventually become quite annoying, but it tests the mental skills of the players.
Characters
The prince returns from Warrior Within with a fresh look, as compared to his darker look in that game. He speaks his mind as compared to the silent and the angry version. Sometimes he makes jokes with his ‘other’ personality.
As for the dark prince, he pops in occasionally when certain sequences involve complicated platforming. He is also allergic to water.
The Vizier also has a different look from his previous appearances. Instead of his human version, he has turned into a ‘sand flying demon’ and become more powerful than ever.
Kaileena, the empress in Warrior Within, was first portrayed in negative light. But
by the end of that part, she redeems herself, by sacrifi-
cing herself to release the sands of time in Two Thrones.
Farah, another character, was a part of Sands of Time and has returned to help the prince.
Weapons
There are not too many weapons in this game. The first weapon you get to hold is the dagger. It is unbreakable and causes little damage to enemies.
It almost becomes useless in the later stages of the game when the enemies become stronger. When you kill an enemy, you can acquire his/her weapons. The first basic weapon is the normal sword. In combination, you can obviously inflict more damage on your foes. This was also applied in the previous games.
As you go up through the levels, you can acquire advanced weapons, either from your foes or from weapon stands. These weapons are not big in size. They will inflict heavy damage to your enemies but leave you vulnerable to their attacks.
So obviously, they are not very useful when surrounded by loads of enemies. The faster weapons are less durable, inflict comparatively less damage to the enemies but are much faster than the maces. You can execute more hits with these. The most powerful weapon is your father’s sword, which you can only use in the last three levels. It is faster, more lethal and has much more durability.
Unlike the normal prince, the dark prince cannot acquire weapons from his enemies. Not that he needs them. This guy has a dagger in one hand and an unbreakable, ridiculously long chain engraved in the other.
This guy is a walking and talking killing machine. Using the chain, he can reduce an area full of enemies to dust in seconds.
Fighting techniques
Besides the combos and the speed/stealth mentioned above, there is traditional blocking. The prince can guard himself against the basic attacks of the enemies but the bosses are much harder to block.
The most important part is the control of time. As you progress, you can acquire new abilities (mainly from sand beams). The first two basics are the reversal of time.
If you fall, you die, but using this ability, you can reverse time in a way that the fall never happened. You can also acquire the ‘slowing down of time’ ability. You can use this when fighting and when trying to avoid the various traps. This is the most useful capability in the game.
After these two, you can have powers such as sandstorm. The first type only knocks your enemies down for a couple of seconds (although it does have the ability to kill a weak enemy). The second type is more lethal since it can easily kill the main enemies. This is very useful when surrounded by foes or against bosses.
Bosses and enemies
The main enemies have again changed. In the few first levels, the basic enemy is human in ‘bull-like’ armour. They are the easiest to get rid off. But afterwards, you encounter their sand-filled bodies.
They come in two forms, Archers and Swordsmen, and are harder to kill than their human forms. Then there is the Foreman who can only be seen near the sand beams in shiny red and black armour. He is the captain of the basic enemies. He is much harder to kill and can call for backups if you do not stop him first.
Other forms are the demon dogs who hurt you as well as suck your sand. They are extremely easy to kill and are nothing more than a nuisance. Then there are the dual, sword-holding women. If they hit you once, then four combos on you are guaranteed. They are the most dangerous of the basic enemies.
There are the invisible enemies as well, who can sneak up on you. Sand Wraiths are the most lethal enemies. They are much harder to kill than the sword women, but thankfully, they are quiet rare.
And now the bosses. The very first boss you will encounter is the huge ugly giant. He was once a human, now effected by the sands of time. He can easily crush the prince and throw him away like a baseball. But he is still easy to beat.
The second boss is the green column/statue. Finally, there is the Vizier. He is hard to beat since he is the last of the bosses and can control broken materials to hit you and throw sand balls at you. He can also rip at you with his talons.
In the very last level, you get to fight the dark prince. He does not attack you, but he just messes up your mind.
Prince of Persia: Two Thrones is truly the game of the year. Its stunning fighting will keep you at the edge of your seat and its ambience will urge you to explore more. This game achieved 9.5 in IGN ratings, which is indeed a very high rank given the rigid nature of the IGN judges.
Its action/adventure/historic format should be bought by the Prince of Persia franchise fans and should be tried by new gamers alike.
The writer < pakpsycho08@hotmail.com > is a freelancer
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