Contest : Prince of Persia for XBOX

Hope you dont mind if we break the free movie goodies mold and give away some gaming goodies. You dont mind do you? Anyrate this time around we have Prince of Persia the Two Thrones for Xbox to give away. I played this game and it seriously kicks ass, and i dont like console games. Was a great bit of fun to play. Anyrate to enter is easy. Email us your name, age and address and your entered! Our buddies at Game-Reviews.ca are also giving away a free copy so dont hesitate to run over their and enter their contest as well.

Like many gamers out there, when I first played Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, I was hooked.  Then the second game of the franchise came out.  I expected Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within to be a great game like its predecessor.  Unfortunately I expected too much.  And now that the third and final Prince of Persia game has come out, I am wondering if I wee will get another average game like the Warrior Within.  Will Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones be a fitting end to a great trilogy, or just another sequel?

Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones starts off with our hero, the Prince, returning home from his adventures in The Warrior within.  Once Babylon, his home land, is in sight he sees that it is under attack.  It ends up his old enemy, the Vizier, is back and seeking the power of the Sands of Time.  Well the Vizier is successful, he kills your new love, empowers himself with the Sands of Time to make himself god like.  And it’s up to the Prince to extract some vengeance.  If things didn’t seem bad enough, the Prince was also infected with the sands, and now has a split personality changing him into the Dark Prince, a dark skinned, fiery hair monster.

As in the prior series, the player takes control of the Prince of Persia.  The Prince is once again as agile ever.  Running along walls, jumping from ledges, and all the acrobatic goodness one could wish for to make it through the ever escalating levels of Babylon.  And thankfully the controls are better than ever.  Even the most novice of players can pick up a controller and act like a ninja.  Also worth mentioning is the camera system.  The camera system on this game is one of the best for a third person action game.  The camera never got stuck, and almost always went where I needed it to be.  If only most third person games could claim this, then I wouldn’t be throwing my controller at the TV so much.

Once again the combat system leaves something to be desired.  Fighting the enemies seems more like a task, then a source of fun.  Ubisoft must have noticed this, and gave us the “Speed Kill”.  A system where the Prince sneaks up an unsuspecting enemy and with the click of a button you enter a death sequence where you must hit the button at the precise time.  Failing the speed kill will get you thrown off and the fight begins, but with success, you will quickly vanquish your foe without breaking a sweat.  The speed kill is a nice addition, not only does it allow you to avoid many fights during the game, it is well integrated into the level design.  The positions of the guards are placed into the puzzle solving facet of the game.  If the player can figure the correct way to traverse the level, then the prince will be able to get the drop on his enemies.

A new addition to the game is the prince’s alter ego, the Dark Prince.  Since the Prince was infected with the Sands of Time, the prince has developed a split personality, and occasionally transforms into a charred demonic version of himself.  Sporting a weapon known as the “Daggertail” (Chain whip with a knife on the end) can easily vanquish multiple foes.  The Dark Prince is a much stronger fighter, making the fights much more enjoyable.  The Dark Prince is a bit overpowered in his fighting, and to balance this, his power is constantly draining away, only to be filled by finding sands of time that you get from killing an enemy.  The ever constant draining of life of the Dark Prince does add some challenge to the levels too.  Since you are now rushed to get through a level before you drop dead, one does not get the chance to study a level as in-depth as you would with just the Prince.

All in all, the Two Thrones is much more like the original Prince of Persia.  All the aspects of the Sands of Time are brought back, with some additional acrobatic tricks to bring a fresh new element into the level and puzzles.  The addition of speed kills makes the puzzle solving aspect of this game even more enjoyable.  With all this the game would already be great, but then throw in the Dark Prince to spice things up and you are left with a winner.  This game is probably the best in the Prince of Persia series.  The Two Thrones is a very fitting way to end the Prince of Persia trilogy.