Setting
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones follows the second ending of Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, in which the Prince kills the Dahaka, essentially saving Kaileena. The game opens with the Prince and Kaileena about to sail into Babylon's port. Kaileena offers narration of the events passed and the story following, similar to the Prince's role as both protagonist and narrator in The Sands of Time.Synopsis
After the events of the previous game, the Prince (voiced by Yuri Lowenthal) and Kaileena return to Babylon. As the Prince's vessel nears the shores of the city, he removes the medallion from his chestplate and drops it into the sea. Upon returning to Babylon, he is horrified to find that the city is currently being ravaged by war. His ship is attacked and he and Kaileena are thrown overboard, with Kaileena taken prisoner after drifting ashore. He then tries to rescue Kaileena, but ultimately, finds his old enemy the Vizier once again alive and is held prisoner while the Vizier kills Kaileena with the Dagger of Time, unleashing the Sands of Time once more and taking them into the Dagger. The Vizier then impales himself with the Dagger, making himself immortal. The Prince is also affected, having a whip-like weapon known as a Daggertail embedded in his skin when the Sands infect the wound. However in the confusion of his transformation the Vizier drops the Dagger and the Prince manages to steal it and escape before he is totally infected by the Sands.
Through mischance during his escape, the Prince finds himself cast into the sewers and carried to the outskirts of Babylon. As the Prince travels through the city once again to kill the Vizier, he realizes that by taking Kaileena from the Island of Time, his adventures in Azad never happened, thus, he never killed the Vizier. He also finds that his infection by the Sands of Time have affected his mind. He has essentially been split into two personalities: one which, for the most part, strives to do good, although is fueled by vengeance, and the Dark Prince (voiced by Rick Miller), manifested by an internal voice that speaks to the Prince. The Dark Prince is cold, cruel, arrogant, and sarcastic, and attempts to convince the Prince that they are the same person, and that the Prince should strive to serve only himself, using the Prince's vengeance as a catalyst for his other emotions. On many occasions, the Dark Prince seizes control of the Prince's body and the Prince is fully transformed into a kind of hybrid sand monster with abilities that allow the Prince to pass otherwise insurmountable obstacles.
While searching for the Vizier, the Prince encounters Farah (voiced by Helen King), who does not remember him, and is surprised that the Prince knows her name. Despite this, the pair begin to grow an entirely new romance together. The Prince eventually starts to ignore the Dark Prince, and begins to fight for the suffering of his people, which the Dark Prince had always spoken against. When the Prince finally confronts the Vizier, the Vizier captures Farah and casts the Prince into an ancient well, where the long silent Dark Prince emerges once again and tries to take permanent control. The Prince desperately tries to resist the Dark Prince, driving slowing deeper into the well looking for an escape, but he slowly weakens. At the very bottom of the well the Prince finds his father's dead body and the Dark Prince tries mocks the Prince in another attempt at control, but instead the Prince accepts the consequences of what he has done, thus silencing the Dark Prince and regaining full control of himself.
Armed with his father's sword, the Prince escapes the well, and once again confronts the Vizier and kills him with a stab to the heart with the Dagger of Time. The Sands of Time released from the dead Vizier slowly takes the shape of Kaileena and she cleanses the Prince of his infection by the Sands of Time, and all his wounds. As the Prince leans down to reach for his father's crown, which the Vizier had worn, he is confronted by the Dark Prince, who draws the Prince into his mind, where the two struggle for control, ending with the Dark Prince ultimately being silenced. The Prince then awakens in Farah's embrace. Farah then asks the Prince how he really knew her name. He replies,
"Most people think time is like a river, that flows swift and sure in one direction. But I have seen the face of time, and I can tell you, they are wrong. Time is an ocean in a storm. You may wonder who I really am, and why I say this. Come, and I will tell you a tale like none you have ever heard."
This is the same line the Prince narrates at the beginning of the first game of the trilogy, indicating that the entire trilogy has been the Prince telling Farah the story of his adventures. Reinforcing this is a high-definition rendering of the opening moments of The Sands of Time.[3]
Gameplay
The Two Thrones combines exploration and combat. Both elements make use of the Prince's acrobatic capability and agility. Throughout much of the game, the player must attempt to traverse the palace by running across walls, ascending or descending chasms by jumping back and forth between walls, avoiding traps, climbing structures and jumping from platform to platform, making other types of well-timed leaps, solving puzzles, and using discovered objects to progress.During combat, many of the same moves vital to the player in other situations can be put to use to overpower enemies. An example is the ability of the Prince to rebound off walls in order to strike enemies decisively. The player generally attacks enemies and blocks using a dagger, although other objects/factors, such as the Dagger of Time and its time-control abilities eventually prove to be critical to victory.
In The Two Thrones, the Prince's acrobatic skills have improved. He is now able to launch himself off walls at 45 degree angles at strategically placed vertical shutters, slide down chutes, and balance on swinging poles, among other things. The designers have also improved the stealth system. Instead of merely being able to do more damage when striking without being seen, The Two Thrones uses a speed-kill system. If the player does not complete the speed kill, the enemy knocks him off and the speed kill fails. The amount of moves or the length of time required depends on how strong the opponents are. The same system is also used in some of the boss battles.
The Prince also develops a split personality, known as the Dark Prince, and this alter-ego constantly bickers with him in his mind about right and wrong. At times, the Prince physically transforms into the Dark Prince. These transformations are scripted and not controlled by the player. During these times, however, the Prince retains control of his body, and the player still has control over the character. For the most part, the Prince's dark side is simply an inner voice.
When controlling the Dark Prince, the player loses the ability to wield a secondary weapon, instead using the "Daggertail", a bladed whip fused to his arm. This allows medium range combat moves and new interactions with the environment. The Dark Prince also constantly loses health as a result of the semi-transformation, with eventual death from the loss. He goes back to full health whenever he collects Sand, from either a monster or object. Also, his Daggertail gives him a different button combination for speed kills, in which he strangles his victims. Coming into contact with water will allow the Prince to return to normal.
Development and production
The developers of The Two Thrones stated that they were aiming to make the game an equal blend of Ubisoft's two previous Prince of Persia titles. The first game, The Sands of Time, was relatively light in mood, while the second, Warrior Within, was significantly darker.Yuri Lowenthal was confirmed to reprise his role as the voice actor for the Prince. Yuri was also the voice actor for the Prince in The Sands of Time. The Dark Prince was voiced by Rick Miller. Stuart Chatwood and Inon Zur, the composers from Warrior Within, both returned to compose the game's score, which has been described as "having Persian influences, but being much more epic than Sands of Time".
Many official videos were released involving humor, such as the bloopers of the mechanics (in a pre-rendered format) and "real-life" training.
Reception
he title garnered generally favourable reviews, receiving an average of 85% on all four platforms on Metacritic.[4] IGN awarded the game a score of 8.8 out of 10, praising the title's graphics, sound and presentation, whilst criticising the title's length, calling the extras "easy to get".[5] GamesRadar awarded the title a score of 9 out of 10, calling it "a stellar return to form for Prince of Persia," praising the clever design and humour.[6] Also impressed, GameSpy awarded the game 4 out of 5 stars.[7] Mygamer.com were less impressed, giving the game a score of 7.4 out of 10 calling it "nothing more than a refinement of a solid formula", but admitted the game had "breathtaking visuals".[8]The Wii re-release of the title was met with mixed reviews, achieving a score of 70% on Metacritic.[9]. IGN awarded the Wii re-release a score of 7.1 out of 10, claiming the new control set up occasionally worsens the experience, but at times vastly improves it as well.[10]
sumber : wikipedia
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