Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones

People often say that good things come in threes. But when the second part of a trio is a disappointment, most of us would reevaluate our belief in that sentiment. After finishing up Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (sort of, at least), I'll admit I was a bit hesitant to see how The Two Thrones would shape up. Thankfully, the last entry in the trilogy returned to its roots, a little bit wiser from the previous game's detour.

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

"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 like an ocean in a storm."

When I first played Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time back in 2005 or 2006, I immediately fell in love with the game. Yes, this was still back in the era of Gamecube graphics, but the mixture of great voice acting, interesting story and game mechanics, and parkour really sold me on the game. I even dressed up as the Prince for Halloween that year. So when the entire Prince of Persia franchise went on sale on Steam last year, I snapped it up as quickly as I could. Sands of Time was amazing, so the other games would be too, right?

So far, that prediction has not panned out.

Mass Effect 3

We've come a long way since 2007 when the original Mass Effect was released, and Commander Shepard et al. have had quite the ride along the way. From saving the galaxy from Sovereign in the first game to defeating the Collectors in the second, Mass Effect 3 finds our stalwart commander ... in prison? What kind of opening scene is that? Oh, right. I guess he did work with a known terrorist group and—spoiler warning if you haven't played ME2 DLC "Arrival"—destroy a mass relay in batarian space and wipe out that entire solar system. I guess it's not that big of a surprise that the Alliance brass stripped him of his command and tossed him in the brig. But when the Reapers do finally arrive and start harvesting Earth, who do you think the Powers That Be expect to save them? Funny how life turns out, huh?