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You are the Prince of Persia. Upon return to your kingdom,
you find your homeland ravaged by war and yourself a fugitive
in your own land. Your battles have transformed your kingdom
and given rise to a deadly Dark Prince, whose spirit gradually
possesses you. Play two sides of a divided soul - the Prince
and his darker self. Only by unleashing their distinct powers
and skills can you cast off your fugitive existence and restore
peace to your land, and to your soul...
The
Two Thrones is
the latest instalment in the Prince of Persia series
of games. I've said it before, in my review of Prince
of Persia: Warrior Within, but this series
of games can be frustratingly annoying if you don't like being
spoon-fed. There's no feeling of actually being able to explore
your environment. And once you are faced with a dead end you
know that the answer has to be right in front of you (actually
it's usually above you).
Sure
it looks great, and plays fantastically, but there are a few
too many problems with this game.
Firstly
there is way to much trial and error for my liking. And when
you slip up and get killed, more often than not, you are transported
back quite a way. This means that you have to repeat boring
jumps and attacks before you can continue.
I
also found a few bugs. On one occasion I leapt onto a pillar
to be greeted with a female computer voice droning on about
the games developers; I managed to get trapped on the top
of a pole; on one of the levels, after swinging between two
pillars, the Prince kept falling to his death for no reason
- other times he wouldn't; it took me ages to work out how
to get the slow motion function to work (we aren't given instruction
for review copies). The onscreen instructions stated that
you had to pull the left trigger button... but that was wrong
too. To get it to work you have to tap the left trigger button
(pulling it simply reverses the sands of time).
There's
also a problem with the control options. You can't switch
the up and down controls (something that annoyed me throughout
the whole game). If you're used to setting up your controls
in this manner then you may find it a hindrance.
No
doubt all of the gaming mags will love this (as they did with
the previous two games) but in reality it's just a pretty,
but rather unsatisfying Tomb Raider clone that doesn't
really allow you to explore your environment too much.
This
game differs from the previous instalments in that the addition
of the Dark Prince means that you have a whole new set of
skills to master. Also the camera angle problems of the past
games have been ironed out - no longer do you suddenly find
that the camera angle changes in the middle of a tricky manoeuvre
(well, not as frequently as it did previously). Now,
at critical points in the game, an icon flashes up to indicate
that another camera angle is available to you. When you push
the white button, this function usually show you where you
have to go in order to further the action.
There
are nice touches (which sadly aren't very well realised).
The horse and carriage section is a nightmare to control -
you'll be smashed to smithereens in seconds. The Dark Prince
drops dead just because you haven't managed to get far enough,
quick enough. And the huge boss, that you have to defeat in
the amphitheatre, is good fun - if a little too simple.
The
limited number of different enemy to attack, along with the
all too familiar landscapes (which on occasion make you think
you've been here before) are also sticking points.
However,
in spite of these moans, I found myself strangely addicted
to The Two Thrones. This is certainly an improvement
on the previous two games. Hopefully the next one will actually
be really good.
Ray
Thompson
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