PlayStation 2

Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones

"Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones" fecha com chave de ouro a trilogia. Pode não causar o mesmo impacto da primeira versão, mas supera o segundo episódio. A ação furtiva acrescenta valor à série, ao mesmo tempo em que mantém os já consagrados quebra-cabeças integrados aos ambientes e a habilidade de controlar o tempo. Agora, a franquia pode partir em paz para a nova geração de consoles com a certeza do dever cumprido.

Since the resurrection of the Prince of Persia games three years ago, Ubisoft has turned the franchise into one of the best platform game series’ available today. Starting with the Sands of Time and then onto The Warrior Within, each princely game keeps what works, fixes what doesn’t and keeps a continuous storyline through each adventure. For the third installment, it again continues the story from the previous two games in which we find the prince returning to Babylon with Kialeena after his defeat over the Dahaka.

You can’t always get what you want, but Prince of Persia’s trilogy-ending entry gives something that everyone can get behind. Intense platforming segments are perfectly balanced to highlight the joy of movement and the glory of getting a sequence right. Brutal combat gets a facelift with cinematic finishers and more ties between action and platforming. In all, the Ubisoft Montreal team appears to have split the difference between the two earlier, excellent games with design ideas clearly aped from each, while judiciously cutting less-successful ones. The balance is spot-on, meaning that only the good is left and the jaggy parts of this title are largely new hurdles for the series.

This is a fitting conclusion to the arc that began with the first current-gen Prince game, and its cinematic moments do nothing if not excite me for what this franchise can become in the next generation.

A moins d'être complètement blasé, il faut bien reconnaître que ce troisième Prince of Persia surclasse de façon étonnante les précédents volets. Les développeurs y ont injecté le meilleur des deux premiers opus tout en trouvant des éléments nouveaux susceptibles d'insuffler un vrai caractère à cet épisode. Lorsqu'on découvre un titre aussi bouleversant que celui-ci, on ne peut qu'avoir envie de faire partager son enthousiasme à ceux qui risquent de passer à côté, ignorant à quel point ils pourraient le regretter.

The first chapter in the trilogy, The Sands of Time told the story of a young prince fuelled by his eagerness to impress his father and his ambition to bring great honour to himself and his family. He rushes headlong into the unknown, steals the infamous dagger of time from its secret hiding place, but is then tricked by the evil Vizier into using the dagger to unleash the sands of time turning virtually everyone in the land into an evil sand creature in process. However, with help from the princess Farah, he is soon able to defeat the Vizier and return the sands to the hourglass, restoring peace and normality to the kingdom.

The game begins with the Prince and Kaileena entering the harbour of Babylon only to find the city has been ransacked and taken over by an unknown enemy force. The boat carrying the Prince and Kaileena is attacked and the boat sinks. Kaileena and the Prince are separated and after the Prince regains consciousness, he realises he is alone. After seeing Kaileena's body lying on the sand in the distance, he tries to make his way to her only to find that she has been discovered by two enemy soldiers. They take Kaileena away and the Prince continues to pursue her. Your journey as the Prince of Persia continues.

There are some games series that just simply continue to get better with age. I can think of few game series in which I have played every one, and enjoyed almost every one. One such series is about a young Arabian man, a Prince, who's adventures have taken him from saving the woman you love, who happens to be the daughter of the Great Sultan, from the evil clutches of Grand Vizier Jaffar, to the Sands of Time. Yes, I am talking about Prince of Persia. You know I wonder if the game's orginator, Jordan Mechner, ever invisioned how popular and awe-inspiring his creation would be. Prince of Persia goes back a long way, well into my early years as a game player. The original Prince of Persia was developed in 1989 by a small company called Broderbund.

Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones may just be the best game in the series. With two iterations in the books, Ubisoft decided to hold back on the next-generation Prince of Persia, thus opting to finish out the trilogy on current-gen consoles--smart move. Developer Ubisoft Montreal has consistently tapped the PlayStation 2 for max performance, and Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones is one more reason to dust off the ol' PS2 for a timely last ride.

The Prince of Persia: Sands of Time trilogy has always been known for its tight controls and satisfying environmental puzzles set in beautiful levels. The series' control scheme has served as a model for countless other games that also feature an acrobatic protagonist like the Prince. The same great interface remains in the third game of the series, The Two Thrones. Like the other two games, you'll find yourself wall running, jumping, flipping, and vaulting your way up fiendishly designed environmental puzzles, as well as fighting vicious enemies with the improved combat system introduced in the last game, Warrior Within. The Prince has a few new tricks up his sleeve as well, but longtime fans of the series should still feel right at home.

Once upon a time... To appease the lowbrow demands of 100 million casual gamers unwilling to spend cash for Ubisoft's brilliant Sands of Time game, the company took Warrior Within into the more digestible realm of "action" and away from the realm of "thinking-man's platformer."

For gamers, Christmas is traditionally a time for staying in and playing games that are a bit special. Headlining this reviewer’s festive line-up for the past three years have been games bearing the Prince of Persia moniker. After 2003’s fairytale-esque Sands of Time, last year’s excessively gritty Warrior Within left us worrying about the direction the franchise was headed, so it’s with a great sense of relief that we found ourselves wrapping-up the trilogy’s conclusion on a high.

Pros: Good plot; well executed fight system (mashing works just as well as calculated moves); amazing chariot races; lots of game play means good value for money. Cons: Save points badly spaced; some puzzles too obscure and overly frustrating; Farah does not fight alongside you and just pops in at opportune times; way too long for my liking; insanely difficult boss levels.

Although the initial storyline is a little confusing, especially if the gamer is new to the series, the overall flow of the storyline and game work very well. This is a quality conclusion to the trilogy and has everything and more that a new gamer or series veteran would want. If you liked the first two games, then you will enjoy this latest episode. With the improved features and abilities, combined with the classic ones, you will enjoy the final journey right through to the end.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time may have been better than we dared hope, but the first sequel was a weak follow-up. Warrior Within placed too much emphasis on combat and brooding darkness, and the series' spirit of adventure dimmed. As the final chapter of the so-called "Sands Trilogy," The Two Thrones makes a few missteps, but its smooth acrobatics, new combat options, and gorgeous Babylon environment make it the sequel we've been waiting for.

The series' middle child, The Warrior Within, was a strange, misshapen product seemingly molded from focus group testing and marketing demands. As if to make up for tainting the franchise with a travesty, The Two Thrones plays like a sincere apology to fans of the series. Instead of the self-righteous, egocentric motive that drives the Prince throughout the last game, the latest installment features a more fallible protagonist whose outlook on his current quagmire changes convincingly and dramatically as the game reaches climax.

Going back and revising the series might seem like a good idea, but I think it's best to move forward . The basic mechanics and ideas are still fairly cool and I'm always a sucker for a good environmental puzzler with acrobatics aplenty. In that sense Two Thrones is good stuff, but the rest could use some brushing up. Besides, revisiting the past would mean having to go through Prince of Persia 3D again, and I wouldn't wish that on anybody.

Dans le jargon touffu de la critique jeux vidéo, un mot précieux suffit à résumer parfaitement ce nouveau Prince of Persia : efficace. Une manière polie de dire que cet épisode est très semblable aux précédents, mais que l'on y revient avec plaisir pour une dizaine d'heures de grand spectacle. Délestée d'une ambiance néo-gothique qui ne collait pas trop avec le personnage d'origine, Prince of Persia : Les deux Royaumes s'inscrit en fait dans la lignée des Sables du Temps, un ravissement pour les yeux qui ne pourra que séduire les fans de la première heure. Les morts discrètes, les acrobaties originales et la transformation en Dark Prince ouvrent de nouvelles perspectives dans le level design, même si l'effet nouveauté s'estompe un peu vite, au point de laisser sur leur faim les joueurs habitués à cette mécanique presque trop bien huilée