Prince of Persia -- The Two Thrones
Ages: Mature 17+ Blood, Gore,.Intense Violence

I admit that the box shot of Prince of Persia -- The Two Thrones turned me off. I had loved the first Prince adventure, Sands of Time and was really disappointed in the Warrior Within with it's unmitigated darkness and violence, so the third and final episode came as a surprise. Yes there is violence, but gorgeous locations and sumptuous interiors that I remember from the initial version of the game have returned.

The story begins were the last one left off. The Prince returns to Babylon with Kaileena, the Empress of Time, who has turned from his arch rival to his new love. Predictably, the death of a hero's main squeeze is the raison d'etre for massive revenge action. The inventive addition to the plot in Two Thrones is that the murder infects the prince and results in a dual personality -- hence the Prince and the Dark Prince.

The fighting style and weapon availability for the two princes are different. In addition, the Dark Prince's health depletes quicker, increasing the need for quick kills. To help both princes vanquish their foes Ubisoft has created the "Speed Kill System", sort of a stealth kill where you have to be at the right place, listen for the heartbeat and press the appropriate button. An automatic sequence takes over and executes the kill. Not a pretty sight. If you fail in executing this, you will have to do the kill on your own.

Still the fun and exhilaration of the prince's ability to use architectural elements for his locomotion, and the ease with which this is offered to the player makes it tempting to play the game and overlook the blood, gore and intense violence -- almost.

Reviewed by: Editor - 02/06