Others say...

"Starforce Protection"
I ordered "The Two Thrones" about 2 months ago and I was only able to play it for a couple of weeks. Well, I decided to build a new computer and give my old computer to my dad, minus the hardrive that had "The Two Thrones" on it. I did this, and a few weeks later I wanted to continue from where I left off on "The Two Thrones". Well, it wasn't quite as simple as that, or as simple as you'd think it would be because of the copy write protection that the game uses, "Starforce Protection". Nothing about my hardrive changed, the game was on the same hardrive it was on before, but I was using a new motherboard. The game would not let me activate it because of this. When I tried activating the game on my new computer I would get the message, "Error, Activation failed because this key has been blocked. Contact product support." There was no email address or number to call. I had high hopes that I would be able to get this problem fixed by contacting Ubisoft, unfortuntately this was not the case. I had to setup a user account on their website and post a question to them through their customer forum. They replied within 24 hours but they said it was something that the company that sold me the game would have to fix by going through Starforce Protection. I then tried contacting the company that sold me the game and they told me it was something that Ubisoft has to do on their end. It has been over a week, and I have given up trying to get this problem resolved. After a little research, I realized that a lot of people have experienced problems like this and worse because of Starforce Protection. I used to really like Ubisoft, they generally make pretty good games, but their customer support is atrocious, and on top of that, they treat their customers like criminals by employing Starforce Copy Protection in their software. And because of this I will never buy another Ubisoft game, nor I will ever purchase another game no matter what it is, if it uses Starforce Protection.

"great game for fans, probably not for casual gamer"
Those that have played the previous 2 versions of prince of persia know what to expect. The major new addition is some extra moves, and speed kills. While speed kills do somewhat detract from the awesome fighting moves that were introduced in warrior within (you can still use these to kill enemies, but timing is very critical - and I only got it off 1/3 of the time). About the only major drawback to the game is that some sections are pretty hard. The King's road and the Terrace levels were hard for me personally. While sands of time was mostly easy, prince of persia warrior within was a tad bit harder (especially with the annoying dahaka, I also didn't like the heavy metal music in that game), while this game is just hard in some areas. That's not to say it is not winnable (I managed to finish on normal difficulty without using any sorts of cheats), and I have played games that are much harder than this one (the serious sam series for example). After repeating these levels for a while, they do get much easier. There are some quibbles with the story in this one and also how the dark prince is played out (would have been better if the dark prince was in control when he was the shade). In any event I enjoyed this game and would recommend it to of fans of the genre. Most casual games probably will find the controls of this game frustrating. It is a game that takes time to master. But once you master it, it is really fun. I still like warrior within the best probably even with its faults (I did not find any faults with sands of time).

"Who doesn't love this game"
If you liked the first two prince of persia's, you will love this one, i think i completed the game about 4 times now.

"best gameplay"
I have always been a fan of the Prince of Persia titles and had been wanting to get one for myself. This time i managed to do it and it was totaly worthy of the money i had spent.
Excellent graphics, excellent gameplay, innovative speedkill system which is awesome.
This is a must have for all POP fans.
As far as the starforce is concerned , haent had any problem with it, or shud say havent seen it in my system.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but..."
... this game should've been better. I am an extremely loyal fan of this series - in fact, the original game was what I cut my teeth on when I first began to play video games on computers. AND, despite all the nay-sayers out there, I LOVED 'Warrior Within' -- FUN!! (see my review of 'Warrior Within') I really want to LOVE this game too, but so far, I just ... can't.

I must preface by saying I have had no problems with the Starforce issue, so I'm just going to sidestep it -- I'm sure it sucks for some, but I can't relate so I won't comment. What I can comment on is that this game is just too da$% difficult, even at the early levels of the game.

I play a lot of PC games, and really enjoy a challenge (honest), but some of the moves the dark prince has to perform under excruciating time sensitivity are almost impossible and thereby these sequences become more than frustrating. I game to relax, not to lose my temper and feel like pouding my fists on something. I understand why the challenge of *SPOILER* making the dark prince's life ebb away every single second (like the 'wraith prince' in the last game) might've seemed like a good idea, but combining that challenge with having to make split second decisions about where to leap to and learning a completely different set of combo moves whenever the dark prince is in play all while battling really difficult enemies is just too much.

Even when playing as the regular prince, I sometimes need a moment to observe the game world and consider my next move. Playing as the dark prince allows for no such luxury, and unfortunately the level designs for the dark prince are not always so obvious or intuitive. After awhile, it just isn't fun anymore, but becomes tedious and unpleasant.

The chariot and golum-steering sequences are really neat ideas, but again as with much of the rest of the game are just too #$#%ing difficult - it is insanely easy to oversteer and unless you are cheating you will find these sequences consuming unbelievably huge amounts of time to complete properly.

In addition, the boss battles towards the end of the game are flat out ridiculous - boss enemies should definitely be challenging, but if the outcome of the game is for the hero to succeed, success should be POSSIBLE. It's as if the developers think most people have unlimited amounts of time, not to mention patience, to sit around playing and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and reloading and trying again and rinsing and then repeating for weeks and weeks on end (and maybe some people do, but as a parent of two with a household to run, I DON'T have that kind of time).

After completing this game (which took what seemed years), I had pretty much forgotten all the sequences that led up to the finish because it had taken me so ridiculously long to get there. And then, just to make sure I had evaluated it correctly, I went back and played on the easy setting WITH a cheating trainer enabled and it was STILL RIDICULOUSLY DIFFICULT in many areas, EVEN on the easiest setting and full cheats!! That's insane, stupid, and too over the top. I don't want an epic life-long game experience with this one title - I want to enjoy it, play it a few weeks, and then MOVE ON with my life.

In reading back over this, it sounds like I'm whining, but I'm truly not -- I want other gamers considering this title to know what they're getting into.

All that said, the game is beautiful -- really, it looks insanely cool -- the changes Ubisoft made to the look and feel to appease people who couldn't connect with 'Warrior' were masterfully wrought, the diatribe between the two sides of the prince is interesting and really pulls you into the storyline... all that adds up to a truly enjoyable gaming experience marred by periods of intense frustration. =( Oh, well - I guess you truly can't please everybody. Definitely a good effort, and definitely worth the sale price.