European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 8, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 scene stars and stripes sunday april 8 2007 f 0 q co cd c g i cd rings packs puzzles Hobbes Arent the Only folks entrusted with powerful rings in the sacred rings Umang awakens to find himself carrying special rings that Are said to give their owner great Power and immortality the bands need to be returned to the keepers the Only ones who can be trusted to keep them Safe unfortunately a rival clan led by the evil Durad is interested in the rings and Hes on Umangst Trail sacred rings is a Puzzle filled pc game created by the adventure company As a sequel to aug Fate of the Ages those who Haven completed the first game get a Brief introduction in the opening scenes of rings gamers play As Umang who is trans ported to a strange land and awakens near an Odd Structure that turns out to be a vehicle he soon meets the vehicles owner an utter Moron who highlights one of the games few flaws uneven Dia Logue the game is set in a world that com Bines the medieval and the mechanical with interesting results Umang must travel romans land Manula Valley and the keepers land encountering numerous characters and solving various puzzles since rings is a firs person Puzzle solving game comparisons with the myst series Are inevitable fortunately it stacks up pretty Well of course the heart of the game is the puzzles these tend to require enough thought and experimentation to make them challenging and interesting some can get a bit frustrating but there Are few of the precision oriented brain benders that can make portions of the myst series incredibly tedious v the interface is simple Point and Click to move pick up items or manipulate controls Umang moves around one screen at a time just like in the protagonist in the classic myst games this Onester Atatim movement system permits graphics that Are Sharp and highly creative the worn machinery and twisted landscapes compare Well with those in the myst games arid Are Superior to those in uru and end of Ages which sacrificed Lush graphics for the ability to roam freely about the scenery aside from the dialogue the games Only other weak Point is its music Al though its generally Good it Doest always feel like an organic part of the surroundings however those Are quibbles Overall the sacred rings delivers where it counts intriguing puzzles and fun platform pc on the web  Gam com god of War a it above sure there Are plenty of firs person shooters out there for cowards who would rather take out the enemy from a distance but nothing matches the visceral kick of Mano Amano bladet Blade combat Here Are a pair of games that allow you to come out swinging god of War ii when we last saw Kratos the tattooed muscle bound hero of god of War he had Defeated the greek deity ares and assumed his throne on mount Olympus but the rest of the gods Arent too Happy with Kratos inter Ference with human events so Hes booted Back to Earth armed with Athenas Blades a nifty pair of daggers that he can whip at enemies the dyspeptic hero sets out on a new Mission of vengeance everything that Gam ers loved about the original god of War the smooth combat the Clever puzzles the extreme if radio Lence is bigger and badder in the sequel and fans who were dazzled by the originals climactic fight against the massive ares will be delighted right from the Start god of War ii heaves you into a Battle against the colossus of Rhodes and the Bosses Only get More colossal from there god of War surprised a lot of people with its compulsive Gam play and Cine Matic flair but god of War i surpasses it in every Way its a Superb sendoff to the reliable old ps2 platform playstation 2 on the web  300 March to glory no one guessed that the 300 movie would be o c Sony god of War ii is the last blockbuster game for the playstation 2 such a huge hit other Wise we might have seen a wave of spartan fighting games published near its debut As it is we have this hum ble pop Knockoff which is bound to disappoint admirers of the film As King Leonidas you get to slash your Way through hundreds of xerxes persians but the combat is so simplistic and repetitious that it gets old fast March to glory does throw in some real weirdness the occasional downpour of arrows or Boss fights with hapless elephants to break up the bloodshed at times youll need to line your troops in a Phalanx to mow Down the enemies these Are the dullest sections of the game All of the attempts to add variety to 300 seem poorly thought out and the Basic Hackman slash int All that enjoy Able either platform playstation portable on the web Warner Roscom news bytes taken hostage take two interactive the Parent company of grand theft Auto publisher Rock Star games has been a Magnet for trouble of the last few years while Sta has drawn the Wrath of politicians and other Gam violence watch dogs the company has seen its Stock prices plummet amid a financial scandal that led to its former ceo Ryan Brant pleading guilty to first degree falsification of business records take twos shareholders have been threatening a revolt leading in company to reschedule their annual meeting take two said it needed time to evaluate alternative courses of a which could include a Sale of the company just allow take twos competitors from electronic arts to ubi Soffo Active skin have  possible buyers soft news All syts of other rumours have been swirling around the Box lately first Microsoft denied stories that its ibo live internet service had been hacked by potential identity thieves later however the company acknowledged that some accounts May have been breached by scam artists who called Microsoft support Center looking for personal information of Box live users Box live programming director Larry Hryb said the support staff is being re trained to repel such scam mers Rumor no More a More persistent Rumor has involved the likelihood that Microsoft is about to announce a new version of the Box 360 that Buzz turned out to be on the Money the sleek Black console called the Box 360 elite will arrive this month its main feature is a which will also be available separately for anyone who already owns a 360 the upgraded Model will Cost about sprockets of War a new version of a different Microsoft product the hugely popular gears of War looks like it could be coming out in a new version too new line Cine a has acquired the rights to make movie based on the blockbuster game with a script by collateral writer Stuart Beattie Lead game designer Cliff Bleszinski Oka Cliffy 8 will serve As executive produce Raj