My Favorite Game Soundtracks

Lately, I've been listening to a lot of music from Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. In addition to it being genuinely fun music, it also draws me back to the joy of exploring the wasteland.

I wrote in an earlier post that sound is both a vital part of the gaming experience and something too often overlooked. Some of the biggest offenders in this area, in my opinion, have been free-to-play MMOs whereas indie games by one or two developers can be among the best. In order for a game to become an experience, quality sounds are vital.

Moreover, great music in a game can also inspire great music made by fans. When a theme is evocative in the right way, it can be reinterpreted again and again. Some of the most enjoyable game music comes from fans of the originals who reinspire the songs with their own energy.

But, I digress. After hours of big bands and crooners I decided that I would like to put together a few playlists of my own favorites and so, without further ado, here it is:

Fallout Franchise: A Sense of the Past

In addition to being just about the only country music I can enjoy, the music from Fallout takes the player back in time and into a world where art has stagnated in the wake of an apocalyptic war and a lasting strife. It both develops the world and draws the player into it. Some of the music is only vaguely familiar the first time you hear it, but as it becomes your soundtrack to the wasteland the two become undeniably linked.

While the game's original soundtrack is good, it's the radio playlists that really make Post-Apocalyptia special.




Legend of Zelda Franchise: The Power of Themes

It's hard to know for sure what it is about The Legend of Zelda that makes it's impact last for so long. I loved The Ocarina of Time, but since then none of the games have grabbed me in the same way. Even Wind Waker. And yet, the music is something which I have always deeply enjoyed.

This playlist includes a variety of ways to listen to this music. Symphonies, ensembles and dubstep remixes all founded on the same several themes and, like a jarred fairy, all possessing some of the magic of Hyrule4.




The Elder Scrolls Franchise: A Sense of Setting

I am a huge fan of The Elder Scrolls, so it is no surprise to find it here. I remember hearing the Skyrim theme before the game was released and listening to it endlessly. Too, the themes from Morrowind and Oblivion call me back to vicarious hours spent in another world. More so than in other games, the soundtracks of the Elder Scrolls put you back in a mood and in a place. Close your eyes, and the grassy valleys stretch out before you. The distant, cloudy mountains rise up and cradle you. The wildlife dances its natural dance through the shaded woods and across the sun-soaked plains.




Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag: A Sense of Character

I admit that I'd enjoyed a few shanties before I ever played Assassin's Creed 4, but ever since I sailed out on the Jackdaw they've held a new place in my heart. AC4 is another fine example of sound being used to draw the player into a world. While repetitive cut-scenes are a shortcoming of the game in many ways, the consoling presence of the crew's shanties makes up for a great deal. The songs allow your crew to feel like people rather than resources and I, for one, love to sing along.

Here is a playlist of all the shanties your crew knows so that you can learn them, too.




Tony Hawk's Pro Skater: The Power of Community

When I was growing up, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was a franchise to rival Madden NFL for popularity. I had it, my friends had it, and we all thought we knew the best trick. Beyond simply being a fun game, I still find today that the songs from the first three game's soundtracks hold a special nostalgia for me. Moreover, at the time and as a gamer, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was introducing and inviting me into a community. In those days, "skaters" were a clique unto themselves and this was especially true in their music. Punky, indie rock was a staple of their genre, usually sounding off on an anti-establishment theme of one kind or another. While I never would have identified myself as a "skater kid", the franchise and the playlists introduced me to the community and helped me to understand it.

Today, many of these songs still hold a special place in my memory and altogether they make for a pretty great playlist.





Assorted Others: The Sense and Power of Nostalgia

Throughout this post I have discussed how certain games and franchises can make effective and consistent use of music to strengthen the experience of their game. In LoZ, we see that musical themes can tie worlds together and, in the same way, THPS demonstrates how ideological themes can bring a greater depth of experience. In Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, and Assassin's Creed 4, sound is used to give the player a greater breadth of feeling all throughout their vicarious explorations. While these examples are favorites of mine, there are a plethora of games and franchises which have done and continue to do this same thing. Because I can, here is another list of some assorted video game songs that I really love, but which are not included in the above playlists.

Papers, Please!

I first heard about Papers, Please! over the holidays. It's a puzzle game developed by Lucas Pope wherein the player is an immigration officer for the fictional country of Arstotzka. Since it went on sale, I decided to pick up a copy and try it out. I was expecting something a little prettier, but I'm not dissatisfied with what I got.

Gameplay: As an immigration officer for the nation of Arstotzka, the player's task is to check that the documents provided by NPC's are correct and match one another. Rules change day-to-day based on various conditions relating to the game's story, like whether certain documents are required for certain reasons and how problems should be processed. Overall, this makes the gameplay feel much like working. What alleviates this to some degree is the story. Throughout the course of a day, certain NPC's may offer you choices or there may be a terrorist attack of some kind. These tend to have repercussions on the coming days but also on how well you are able to feed and care for your four family members. 8/10

Graphics: Papers, Please looks like a game from the 80's. That said, if this game had been made in the 80's we would still be talking about it today, though not because of the graphics. Playing the game reminded me of playing Oregon Trail in grade school as much because of the graphical style as for the game's layout. Much of the action happens in the top-left part of the screen, with the rest being reserved for the player to manage their decisions and review documents. Moreover, the graphical style being reminiscent of the 1980's, as well as the fact that Arstotzka is a communist state,  introduces it as a sort of discourse on Cold War politics. 7/10

Sound: Sound is an area where Papers, Please really succeeds. From the menu screen through to every click you make in-game, Papers, Please responds with sound effects that are more than auditory cues. Sure, they get repetitive, but repetition is a part of the nature of the gameplay and so it deepens the aesthetic feel of the game.The words are unintelligible, but the false language of them lends the game a sense of exoticism important to the overall aesthetic. 8/10

Playing Time: The amount of time you will spend playing this game is less than you would hope. Because of the tendency of the gameplay itself to feel like work, it's very easy to quit after fifteen minutes or twenty minutes. When this is the case, a game ought to be easy to come back to and Papers, Please does succeed in this. Your progress it autosaved at the beginning of each day, so you are free to quit out whenever you please or when your day is not going so well. This is not a marathon game, but it is a game to keep around to play little by little. 5/10

Value: Papers, Please is one of those games where the aesthetics employed make it a work of art as much as a computer game. There are a number of paths  might choose to follow in the game, helping a resistance movement, helping immigrants in need, or just helping oneself to make ends meet. In every case, there are moral issues to wrestle with and subtle discrepancies to inspect that engage the player in his role. For it's regular price, $9.99, one should already have an interest in Cold War politics in order to find that value, but on sale for half that price the game is entertaining enough for anyone. 6/10

Overall: I like this game, and would recommend it if you can get it for five dollars or less. There's no hurry to play it, but the next time Steam puts it up on sale it will be worth picking up. It is interesting conceptually, but the gameplay itself lacks entertainment value. Grade: 74 D 

Robocraft

A friend of mine recently suggested I try Robocraft. It is a free-to-play game that's been in development for about a year by FreeJam, a small developer from the UK. Robocraft's tagline, "Build. Drive. Fight.", encapsulates the basics of a game which appeals to both our creative and destructive appetites.

Gameplay: Robocraft is somewhere between Minecraft, Kerbal Space Program, and World of Tanks. More than this, however, playing the game is reminiscent of playing with Legos--except I get to blow up the other kids with lasers. While blocks are the primary building tool, like in Minecraft, the game has more in common with Kerbal Space Program. You build, you test, experiment, test some more, and eventually you find that an hour has past. The game is weakest when you are actually joining matches and fighting, though even that is not unpleasant. Steering is frustrating at times, but the fighting is good fun. It requires a bit of technique to line up shots and to keep your cannons on your target. In short, Robocraft is good fun whether building or fighting, while driving still needs some work.

Graphics: Robocraft isn't going to wow you with it's textures. The crafts are made from square or angular bricks that don't allow for smooth, rounded creations. The environment doesn't sport an amazing pixel count either, but manages an enjoyable, retro feel nonetheless. Laser beams and explosions are no better or worse than you'd expect given the quality of everything else--satisfying but not impressive.

Sound: In spite of the many ways that Robocraft succeeds, the sound design leaves something to be desired. The background music adds little and the sound effects fall short of satisfying. In a game which features both lasers and explosions, sounds are an area which deserve to see some improvement. Too often, sound gets ignored when it ha the potential to make up half of the experience  and that is the case in Robocraft so far. There is nothing to inspire feeling from the game's sound effects beyond simple confirmation of a kill. I would rather be hearing too many ratchets and gears than not enough.

Playing Time: Downloading Robocraft was pleasantly fast. It was less than 10 minutes between visiting the game's website and creating an account (which was also very easy to do through the game's launcher). My time in game has been split between crafting ships and taking them into matches. I've spent more time fiddling with my crafts than fighting with them, but that's been a lot of the fun. Games tend to go by quickly as you are returned to the "garage" as soon as your craft is defeated. Presently, there is no party mechanic or friends list available which is a limitation to the time I spend playing the game both in a given session and overall. So far I've enjoyed the game for a few days, but without friends list support I expect it will be uninstalled after another week or two.

Value: The game is free to play right now and is in an early alpha stage of development. Given that, the value I see in this game at present is tremendous. It's satisfying on a juvenile, intellectual, and competitive level all at the same time between it's gameplay, physics, and nostalgic feeling. Furthermore, the in-game currency available for purchase isn't expensive. I've played many games where eight or more dollars gets you one, maybe two, upgrades of one kind or another but the currency here is more reasonable. Not so reasonable that I've bought any, but cheap enough that I've considered it. In any beta (much less an alpha) that's impressive and a good sign that the developers have got their heads on straight.

Overall: As this game is still only in an alpha stage of development, I will refrain from assigning an overall verdict. I am hopeful that this promising game will continue to grow and improve itself. Without a doubt it's worth a quick download and a bit of your time.

New Post Format

When I was in school writing papers and such, I always found it was much easier to do things quickly if I drew up a formula to follow. Too, it makes things easier to peruse when you know just where to find the information you're looking for.  There will still be, of course, the occasional short essay like the posts I have made in the past, but I'd like to try and do something that makes this blog both easier to read and faster to write. To that end I'm going to try and make my posts about new games more formulaic.

I plan to post a few times in the near future using this formula and then I can decide how I want to change it. For now, I'm going to be writing about a paragraph or so discussing how a game satisfies the following categories and assigning to each an entirely subjective score out of 100 points:

Gameplay: Gameplay is the most important category. This is where I will talk about whether the game is fun to play, if the controls are intuitive, what games are similar to this one, how steep the learning curve is for new players and so on. This is the most general category, and will typically include the brunt of my thoughts on the game among its competitors.

Graphics: The aesthetic feel, the quality of the games effects, the colors, and so on will be critiqued here. Game graphics, in my opinion, tend to get more attention than they deserve, yet they still make up an essential element of what separates a video game from other mediums like movies and books. There are a lot of ways that graphics can add to the experience of a game beyond mere realism, and this section is where I intend to make that point should I feel the need to do so.

Sound: While graphics tend to receive too much emphasis, sound tends to receive too little. A game's sound effects, music, and voice-over work are important parts of making a good game. More than just the quality of the sounds themselves, sounds can provide useful cues to the player and using sound for more than just background noise is important to a really great game.

Playing Time: Some games are worth hours of your time, some others are worth days. Some games you play for a few minutes at a time, others can consume entire afternoons in the blink of an eye. Understanding how you are going to play a game can be a helpful tool in deciding whether to play it at all.

Value: There are a lot of games around vying for a slice of your disposable income, and here is where I'd like to talk about  how that money is going to be converted into entertainment value. I look at a lot of F2P games, where the expense is time rather than money, but value-for-time is just as important as value-for-money. This is also where I can discuss the value of the game in other ways, as an artistic work or as an innovator in the industry.

So, with all of that, I'll be getting to work on putting this formula into practice.

HD Remakes

A trend is growing in the gaming industry: outdated games are being re-released with graphical updates. Last December, GameInformer posted an article about their five favorite remakes and the folks at IGN have also posted their opinions. As for me, let me speak from my own experience.

Most recently, I purchased Age of Empires II HD. AoEII was a game from my childhood, one that I poured countless hours into. I still think that the scenario builder in that game is one of the most fun to play with, and that was a large part of why I wanted the remake. Since downloading the game, though, I've spent maybe an hour with it. I went back for the nostalgia once, but not again. That leads me to my critical feelings towards the gaming trend.

When AoEII HD was announced, I was interested. When the twenty dollar price point was set, I was disappointed. I waited until I could get the game on sale for five dollars before I would even consider it. And that seems to be the norm for re-releases lately. A number of Final Fantasy games from the Playstation era are popping up for sale on Steam, but they're just too expensive. I can't say I'm familiar with the degree of difficulty in re-texturing an entire game, and it's likely that there's more to getting an old game to run on modern systems than changing the image files, but I can't believe that I'm expected to pay as much for an old game as a new one. I feel that these re-releases will never sustain momentum in the market if they can't be marketed to more consumers, and I feel that many consumers are like me in feeling that the price points of these games holds them back. Would I like to go back and play through Final Fantasy VII again? Sure, maybe not all the way through, though, so I don't feel that I would be getting eighteen dollars of entertainment there.

In the particular case of AoEIIHD, new DLC was also released. I like this idea quite a bit. If I'm going to buy a game I already own (or used to own), it is a definite incentive for there to be something new to do in that game. At the same time, however, making an old game new somewhat defeats the purpose of branding it as a re-release. If I want to play the game again, I could buy a re-release, but if there is new content to be had why put it in an old box? I think this idea worked for Age of Empires, where adding a new campaign was facilitated by the form, but in other cases it would be awkward. Imagine adding side missions to Final Fantasy VIII--they would be necessarily impotent in the story and probably not considered canon by  those who played the original. Such treatment of narratives has been treated with derision before, and in the microcosmic narrative of a straight story-line it would be irritating to fans of the original (which is precisely what a re-release is meant NOT to do).

And speaking of not irritating fans of the original, Fable: Anniversary (the re-release of the original Fable) is set to be released at some point this year. Seeing the multitude of posts coming up on my Facebook feed is what originally got me thinking on this blog post. I was a fan of the game back on Xbox, and played through it's two sequels despite their diminishing entertainment value. Thus, it was on my list of favorite games and thus I get to see every post about the HD remake. I'm sure I don't want to play the game again myself, but the re-release has gotten me thinking that there are people I might like to introduce to the series if it's being brought up to a modern standard. I think that's the most valuable aspect of this trend: the opportunity to get an old favorite into new hands without having to excuse anything.

While I don't believe that HD remakes are a good time for fan service, I do believe they have real value in two ways. First, there is a feeling of nostalgia in going back to an old game. It wears off relatively quickly, but it's enough to sell some units. Second, there is the opportunity for that game to be shared again and for a second wave of gamers to get to enjoy it. This is the way that the trend needs to develop, and this is the way that HD remakes can solidify their momentum and become a real part of the growing game industry. There are a lot of gamers who, like me, might not want to buy the game again for oneself but would for a friend. If publishers can facilitate that kind of action, then old titles can become relevant again.

SolForge, Again.

Since my last post was a repeat, I thought I'd make a thing of it. SolForge is another game that I've kept on playing since I posted about it. That's where the similarities end.

My last post praised Smite for its updates and innovations, but I can't say the same for SolForge. Still, I will begin with the positives. SolForge has had two things going for it after their most recent update. First, they added a few new cards and changed both the art and abilities of a few existing ones. Stuff like that makes me feel like the game is getting worked on, getting polished, and getting ready for a full release. Second, Stoneblade Entertainment's latest e-mail blast informed me that the game has been released on iOS. I have an iPhone, so this was great news for me, but my brother (who plays the game with me) is not so lucky. I was pleased to find that the game is nearly identical on an iDevice, but that left everything feeling a little cramped. I'd think that on a bigger screen that wouldn't be much of a problem, and considering that I think it would be great to play on an iPad. Games can be played between iDevices and PCs which is convenient, as your ongoing games and saved decks are available anywhere.

But the game is stagnating. The new cards are few and the balancing they tried to do did not even touch Grimgaunt Predators, which is one of the strongest creatures in the game. Still, new art and new cards are what the game needs right now, and I'll take anything over nothing. I feel like I've run out of things to do in the game, and that's a huge no-no. Sure, I can play a few games every few days and earn a few chances for the rare new cards, but I have no reason to desire those cards. I can keep using the same deck I've been using for weeks now to win game after game, or try something new only to be faced with a variation on my last deck. In short, the game is not yet balanced. There isn't enough of a "come back and win" feel to most of the matches. They end up feeling tedious. Like reading short sentence after short sentence. There's too much punctuation--not enough flow. Nothing to excite me. Nothing to entice me.

Simply put, I wish there was more I could say about SolForge at this point. In the weeks since my first post on the game nothing has gotten me excited to keep playing. New cards, I feel, are something that the game needs and so the most recent update is a step in the right direction, but it's like giving a starving man a cracker. There has also been a "campaign" button grayed-out on the main menu since release that I would like to hear more about. There does seem to be some backstory to the game (some explanation of just what a "SolForge" is will be nice) and I would hope the campaign aims to explore that, but obviously at this point it is impossible to know. Maybe Stoneblade is planning to wait for an official release before bringing out the campaign mode, which would seem to make sense, but why sacrifice the opportunity to get feedback on it? Furthermore, as the game is starving for attention at the moment, it seems like it would be a better idea to make what they have available sooner than later.

I hope that SolForge will make some improvements and expansions soon, because my interest is waning. It's the kind of game I want to like, but I don't see the developers making the effort for me right now.

Smite is (still) the best game you aren't playing

Back in August, I wrote my first post about Smite. Lately, I've been playing the game again quite a bit. A few friends of mine are playing it with me regularly and I find myself wanting to post about it again.

Since August, the game has received updates and new gods. The interfaces have undergone numerous face-lifts and the game modes have been expanded and refined. The new mode, Assault, is a copy of League of Legend's ARAM (All Random All Middle) and works very well in Smite. Randomly assigned gods push players to learn new characters and play-styles while making teamwork essential to victory. Not only does this make the mode exciting, it also encourages players to branch out in other gametypes. Several older gods have gotten new looks along with brand new gods from Central American and Chinese mythologies. Unlike new characters in LoL, they don't come out overpowered to garner interest and instead require the player to learn a new combination of abilities.

The game does a great job of just being fun to play. Since I've been learning to play with more gods, I've grown more enamored with the variety of play and importance of teamwork. Over the course of just a single game, as a team learns to play with one another, you can witness huge swings of momentum that turn a blowout into an exciting comeback. Too few games offer that kind of emotion.Smite is a game where even when things seem lost you can come back and win with a little luck and the right items.

And speaking of items, it's one of the things I still don't love about the game. There are a few that are essential, and a number that simply aren't. It would be nice if there was a greater variety in what items were good for each character, but as it is there are a few that are simply too good. It's not a huge problem; there are some items obviously geared toward certain styles of play while others offer better all-around stats. That said, it makes the game a little easier to learn, and that's good for helping out new players a bit.

In certain gametypes, the right items can be game-breaking. Hi-Rez removes some items from certain types, but it's still possible to make certain gods nearly unkillable and others so deadly that, all other things being equal, some games are decided before they start. In the real world, of course, "all other things" are never held equal, and sometimes you can have a lot of fun stealing victory from a match you shouldn't win. But, in any case, it's a problem when the players are being assigned gods (like in the ARAM-style Assault Mode) that can't do the job.

A good game lets you start it up and get playing fast. Smite could do this better. Queues tend to take about a minute and a half, whereas in games like LoL and Starcraft 2, queues can take only a few seconds. Their current queuing system is pretty dedicated to the countdown aspect, with a new round of each game type beginning every 4 minutes, but if I never had to sit in another 3-minute queue I'd like the game more.

All that aside, there is truly just one thing keeping me in this game: I'm playing it with friends. The simple fact is that without a few people who want to play with me I wouldn't still be playing this game. It takes too much teamwork and I haven't found many other amiable players online. I worry that the community in this game is toxic in the same ways as the LoL community. Old players should try to be more understanding of new players and, if they can't be encouraging, should at least offer substantial criticisms that describe what was being done wrong. It doesn't do the team any good to throw insults--if something isn't working, you should fix it, not yell at it.

If this game keeps finding ways to improve itself, and if my friends stay interested in playing it, then I expect this will not be my last post about this game. I really look forward to people finding the game and the community of players growing. It should be coming out of beta in the near future and so I'm hoping to see it make a splash with a little well-placed advertising (Steam sale, anyone?).