After Myst became the definitive adventure game for most of the 90’s, there have been dozens and dozens of clones all trying to jump on board and ride the success wagon, and unfortunately “Sacred Rings don’t misses that boat. It sounds harsh, but this game will tax your patience level. Unbearably hard and quite frankly pointless puzzles and sub-par acting with sub-par characters leave this ring waiting to be destroyed in Mt. Doom.

Sacred Rings is a sequel to 2004’s Aura: Fate Of The Ages, and picks right back up where Aura left off. Durad and his clan of traitorous Keepers are out traveling worlds to find Umang and his power-wielding rings so they can rule the universe. Of course it is up to as the player to save the world and keep this from happening. You begin in an odd character’s house to a world of dastardly mechanical devices that would make the Terminator feel right at home. From here you solve a few simple tasks (i.e. figure out how to open this door) and soon be on your way to some pretty fanatical-looking environments and some of the most exasperating puzzles. The game uses a somewhat dated graphics engine with horrible lip-synching coupled with some blocky looking cutscenes with the clarity of a YouTube video.

The game play consists basically of you exploring the world with one-click-at-a-time movements with some side-scrolling movement so you can look around the room as well. The game makes you look everywhere extremely close. I can’t emphasize this enough. There were more than a handful of times that I checked out a wall, shelf, or door more than once and missed that itty-bitty thing in the corner I needed to click on to pick up or move. This becomes mind-numbing when you have to back track a lot with one-click-at-a-time movements and seeing the same objects over and over. In truth, I can only recommend this one for the seriously hard-core adventurers that have a lot of time on their hands and love solving tiresome puzzles.

For all the bashing I have done so far I will lighten up a little as I come to an end. The imaginative structures and environments are very intriguing with a couple “oh that’s kinda neat” moments and even though the puzzles are sometimes pointless it feels good to give yourself a pat on the back after you figure one out. But in the end, Sacred Rings is a bland and unmemorable addition to the point-and-click adventure genre.

Gameplay: 5.0
The very familiar point-and-click adventure returns but is nothing out of the ordinary and has some of the most complicated puzzles I’ve encountered.

Graphics: 5.0
Very dated but acceptable; but the cutscenes are not acceptable with blocky animation, clunky lip-synching and very compressed looking.

Sound: 6.0
Mediocre, but some of the music has a nice orchestral feel.

Difficulty: Hard

Concept: 8.0
This style of adventure with it’s one step at a time is a little dated and while nice 10 years ago, is not as impressive as it used to be.

Overall: 5.0
Unbearably hard and quite frankly pointless puzzles and sub-par acting with sub-par characters leave this ring waiting to be destroyed in Mt. Doom.