Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time marked a comeback for Jordan Mechner's classic PC franchise that (save for one abortive revival attempt) had been languishing for years. The classic puzzle-solving gameplay of the original made a seamless transition to 3D and if the game's combat wasn't all that great, it was more than made up for by the fun of running up walls, sliding along ledges, dodging fiendish deathtraps, and solving room-sized conundrums.

The series seemed to lose its way a bit with the sequel, The Warrior Within. While the combat had been improved and the puzzles were even tougher, the Prince's new 80's hair-band-reject look and nu-metal musical soundtrack from Godsmack felt too out of place to many critics and players. If you were in that group, you'll be glad to hear that Ubisoft brought our Middle Eastern hero back to his roots in his latest adventure, The Two Thrones. The result is a return to grace for our troubled royal acrobat.

City on Fire

The game begins with the Prince returning to his home city of Babylon from the Island of Time, the location of the second game, with his new love Kaileena in tow. Unfortunately, all isn't well in the city. In fact, the whole place is essentially on fire thanks to an assault by an army from India that has brought the Prince's kingdom low.

Never being one to stand around when there are heads to be cut off and death-defying leaps to be made, the Prince wades into the fray, scimitar at the ready. As always when the Prince's sword overrules his head, however, things go horribly wrong, an old enemy returns, and the Sands of Time are again released.


The return to Babylon is more than a mere story element. It marks the series' return to the beautiful Middle Eastern art and design the so enriched the first title. The Two Thrones' environments range from the streets and rooftops of Babylon to underground caves, long buried tombs, to the famous Hanging Gardens.

All of these settings, without exception, are stunning. Whether it's the blowing curtains that festoon the royal palace, the mysterious glowing blue torches in a crypt, or the lovely geometric patterns, arched doors, and latticework screens used as architectural highlights, the beautiful art design of the game's levels combine with the heavy use of light bloom to create the golden, dreamlike glow fans of the series remember from the first game. Unlike the ever-changing colored filter from The Warrior Within, though, this effect never gets annoying, it merely serves to transport the player into what feels like a new tale from The Arabian Nights. Perhaps not coincidentally, the bloom also covers the fact that the game's graphics are a bit jaggier than many comparable Xbox titles.