Ring II: Twilight of Gods Demo

Despite his racist comments and blatant anti-Semitism, Richard Wagner’s music is timeless and his operas do not touch on such notions, fortunately. Hence, whether it’s the story of Siegfried, the Ring and his beautiful Brunhilda, or an epic tale of love like in Tristan and Isolde, Wagner always managed to create something amazing using music and theater together.

Ring II: Twilight of Gods is sort of a tribute offered to the great composer, but one might fail to see it that way after playing it for a few minutes. In fact, if Wagner were to be alive and up-to-date with modern technology, he would probably be disappointed as well, because this is far from something worthy of honoring his work. As such, the game is a third-person adventure game in which you have to solve puzzles and explore a strange world, but things are not as simple as that.

To begin with, the story is truly out of this world, because it adds a science-fiction spin on the entire plot and introduces all sorts of spaceships into the mix. However, as if that weren’t enough, dwarves and various other fantasy creatures make an appearance as well. You play the role of Siegfried, who must find the Ring and save Brunhilda, although you wouldn’t know it just from playing.

The game is a third-person adventure in theory, but you cannot use your mouse at all during the exploration bits. To make matters worse, the camera is fixed and somehow positioned in the worst possible angles, making it incredibly difficult to figure out where you have to go. Sometimes, you even have to take a few seconds to find your character on the screen, especially when the environments are a tad darker.

From a technical point of view, nothing is as it should be either, which is to be expected when you take a look at the rest of the game. In essence, the graphics are outdated and shameful when it comes to special effects and animations, while the sound is terrible on a level of its own. Most of the enemies are heavily scripted and there is barely any point in replaying the game, because everything is the same every time you play it.

If you are a fan of Richard Wagner, stick to MP3s, CDs, vinyls, or even live operas. In fact, you’d be much better off enjoying the artist’s work any other way, because Ring II: Twilight of Gods is far from flattering and it actually makes you nurture feelings of frustration and disappointment, rather than the joy and awe usually conveyed by Wagner’s work.