he first current-gen Prince of Persia title, Sands of Time, unfortunately falls in the “low selling great game” category. And the prince’s fans cried foul as Warrior Within went a little overboard with the dark, badass prince theme in order to sell some more copies. So has Ubisoft learned their lesson with this December’s The Two Thrones? Read on to see how things are coming along in ancient Arabia.
The Two Thrones begins with the prince and his gal Kaileena returning to his homeland of Babylon. The couple is separated and they end up on different areas of the shore. By the time Prince wakes up, goons have already snatched Kaileena away to their hideout. He pursues the villains deep into the wrecked halls of his palace, not yet knowing who’s responsible for all of the carnage and destruction. We’re not going to say who it is, but we’ll admit that it’s quite the shocker.
Prince dives headlong into his classic platforming. But without any time-control powers in the first stage things can get annoying fast. Get ready to zap back to the checkpoint every time you fall off a ledge. Fortunately, this doesn’t last for too long. And veterans of the series should have an easy time picking up the system since everything’s basically the same. Ledge walks, wall runs, balance beams, and wall jumps make a return here. You can also stab curtains and slide down them or stab walls to climb.
Basic combat will also feel pretty familiar to POP fans with a large variety of combos, throws, wall attacks, and the classic “run up somebody and slice them in the back” move. A significant addition to Prince’s repertoire is a custom stealth kill maneuver. If enemies haven’t yet noticed him, Prince will automatically crouch into a sneaky slow walk when approaching an enemy from behind. When you get close enough, the screen will turn green and you can hit the triangle button to initiate the kill (PS2 version). Prince will then grab the enemy in question and start a stabbing animation. Halfway through the process, his knife will flash and you have a split second to hit the square button. If done correctly you’ll connect. But if you miss, the guy will block and toss you off. Some enemies will go down in one hit, while others take several. A puzzle element is mixed in here as well, since you can plan an alternate acrobatic route that will drop you directly into striking position. You just need to be sure not to scare nearby pigeons away, break a precious vase, or lose your balance on a high beam, because all of the above will alert enemies to your presence.
"Need some ointment for that?"
Perhaps the biggest shakeup for the series, however, is the addition of the Dark Prince. With a new weapon called the Daggertail (similar to Ivy’s sword whip in Soul Calibur) the Dark Prince can dish out some serious hurt. It’s best to mix the long range of this bad boy with the close range of the dagger for maximum effectiveness. The Dark Prince also utilizes some platforming and puzzle skills not available to Prince. He can chain whip certain blocks to pull them closer or to open passages, or even use it to swing from branches and beams. With all of these advantages, why not just stay evil all the time? Well, it turns out that evil must be punished with a constantly depleting health bar. You’ll have to kill as many enemies as possible to absorb the sand they leave behind, or continually smash barrels to keep you alive during platforming. Plus, all transformations between the two characters are completely scripted so don’t get excited about doubling up combos or using their unique skills to reach far off areas.
To shake things up, Ubisoft has thrown in some fast-paced chariot racing. We raced through back alleys, rammed rivals into walls, and made some sweet jumps (all in sweet slow motion). These sections don’t have a proper offensive attack, but you can slice off any stragglers that happen to jump on your ride. Make one mistake and it’s curtains for you and your equine companions, however, a quick rewind will prevent you from having to start completely over. The chariot racing isn’t the deepest mode in the game, but it’s a solid, if not short, change of pace.
"Maybe we could talk this out if you had a lower jaw!"
We also got the chance to play against the ridiculously large first boss. Just like Shadow of the Colossus you’ll have to figure out a sneaky way to do any damage at all on this hulking beast. In true POP fashion, you’ll have to use platforming skills on the surrounding structure and then jump on its ugly face. You’ll notice that familiar stealth kill green screen as soon as you’re in range, and if you time the button presses correctly, Prince will scamper around and stab the creature in all kinds of sensitive areas.
As far as visuals go, The Two Thrones reuses about 90% of the animations from earlier games. So don’t go looking for anything new in that department other than the obligatory costume change.
That ridiculous metal background music from Warrior Within has thankfully been completely eliminated in favor of classic Arabian themes. Another welcome return is the prince’s inner monologues. This gets even better as he begins to hold conversations with Dark Prince. Dark Prince’s charming personality reminds me of a mini Emperor Palpatine whispering in your ear, and is a welcome addition.
So far the third modern Prince of Persia game seems to be taking the best parts of the last two titles and cutting out a lot of the mistakes and annoyances. The build we played still has a way to go before being ready for primetime, but it has every indication of a being a solid entry in the series. Let’s just hope it’s good enough to set the series back on track in the eyes of Warrior Within haters.