People often say that good things come in threes. But when the second part of a trio is a disappointment, most of us would reevaluate our belief in that sentiment. After finishing up Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (sort of, at least), I’ll admit I was a bit hesitant to see how The Two Thrones would shape up. Thankfully, the last entry in the trilogy returned to its roots, a little bit wiser from the previous game’s detour.
The Two Thrones opens up with the Prince returning to Babylon, his home. He’s been successful in preventing the creation of the Sands of Time from, and he’s brought a winsome lass along with him. Too bad the happy ending he was looking for is going up in flames.
Literally. The Vizier has taken over the Maharajah’s kingdom in India and used his troops to wage war on Persia. Upon seeing the Prince’s ship in the harbor, the soldiers manning the trebuchets and catapults open fire. Shipwrecked and alone, the Prince sets off to rescue his companion from the clutches of the evil Vizier. I’ll avoid spoilers here, but after some rather climactic events, you’re left to play as a two-sided character trying to take his revenge upon the man who destroyed his home.
I found the writing and the storyline of The Two Thrones far superior to the previous installment. The Prince, while focusing primarily on revenge and bloodshed at the beginning, eventually shows some of the heroic qualities he had in The Sands of Time. Which, I can tell you, was a great relief to me. In general, I don’t enjoy stories about murderous warlords seeking revenge upon those who have wronged them. It’s just not my style. So to see the Prince abandon his lust for war and try to redeem himself for his past mistakes was refreshing, especially after the blood-soaked escapades of the last game.
The graphics are fairly on par with Warrior Within. All three of these games were published during the same console cycle, so it’s not surprising that there were no huge leaps in graphical quality between titles. And really, that’s all I can say about the visuals. There just wasn’t enough difference between these two games to add much to the conversation. The music for the game went back to the instrumental roots showcased on The Sands of Time, though, and if you recall my previous distaste for the Godsmack-inspired music of Warrior Within, you’ll understand my relief. It just felt right to have some haunting female vocals and period instruments playing in the background while I was running and jumping across the rooftops of Babylon.
Mechanics-wise, the neatest thing that was introduced was the quick kill. Basically, if you can sneak up on an enemy, you can initiate a quicktime event that allows you to kill them without a regular fight. The timing was difficult on some of them, especially when trying to take down multiple targets with the same move, but the added stealth aspect gave the game a much-appreciated bit of flair. The attack combos from the previous game survived mostly intact, and they come in handy quite often. Other than that, it’s your average Prince of Persia combat: You block while your enemies pummel you, and then you go in for the counterattack. (Or you throw them across the room so you can deal with their buddies.)
But the biggest improvement of all would be the lack of the game-ending bugs present in Warrior Within. I was actually able to fight the final boss. No unseen wire had been tripped in the game’s code to ruin my save files, and for that I am very grateful. In fact, I don’t think I can recall any glitches in the game. Three cheers for solid Q&A, right?
Overall, The Two Thrones was an enjoyable end to a trilogy that I’ve loved since the first game. It won’t win any VGA prizes, but it was a satisfying conclusion to this iteration of the Prince and a salute to the fans who slogged through Warrior Within. If you played the second game, reward yourself with a run through The Two Thrones. You’ve earned it.
Locke Vs. 