The sound of Doom

Yesterday I stumbled into retro alley. More specifically the corner where Doom lives.

Back in the day I played DOOM and DOOM 2 like crazy. They were great games by all standards, but today we're taking a short look at the soundtracks.

The soundtrack in both games always stood out to me. They were just magnificent, and remember, back in those days, a PC's sound card wasn't exactly what it is today. But the melodies were both haunting and exciting at the same time. They gave you a foreboding feeling of well, doom, and at the same time pumped you up for the fights ahead. What more could you ask of a games music?

The creator of the soundtracks is Robert (Bobby) Prince, a former lawyer turned composer. What really blew my mind is that apparently most – if not all – songs on the Doom and Doom 2 soundtracks were based heavily on famous metal songs. I've heard these songs countless times but I had no idea. The video below might contain some inaccuracies but most entries are more than close enough. Take a look.

That's this weeks eccentricity. I'll put some links below and until I see you again, have a great week!

Doom music sources
Doom 1 & 2 OST

Bethesda has really done it now!

When Bethesda announced that they would have a press conference at E3 this year the speculations started to buzz like flies.

At the forefront was Fallout 4 which has now been confirmed, it's even in the Steam store... Other speculations were Dishonored 2, the new Doom and Elder Scrolls 6.

It's not Elder Scrolls 6. But it's everything else!

I just sat down with a cup of coffee and had my mind blown. I'll link the videos down below due to work safety concerns, but wow...

OK, focus.

First off, the rumor that you wouldn't be able to play as a female in Fallout 4 is firmly squashed. You can indeed play female, and the character creation is perhaps the best I have seen so far. It is absolutely gorgeous. So just as I was coming down from that, I saw the building video. Yes, you can create your own houses, even an entire settlement complete with resources you can trade. Then you can set up turrets to defend it all from raiders. But if you don't want to build you don't have to. It's all up to you.

I'm very excited. And it seems like it'll be out in November, but I'm not 100% on that yet.

Now, Dishonored 2.

Oh yeah, this is going to be good. You play as either familiar Corvo or as Emily Kaldwin. Every one who played Dishonored 1 should know that name, right?

It seems that the Outsider has given her an entire new set of skills unlike what Corvo has. And it looks good. The game looks so gorgeous it belong in a museum. Not much to tell about the story yet, but damn it, I'm already hooked.

Finally Doom.

I was a huge Doom fan back in the day. The action, the demons, the setting. All of it spoke to me and I blew the ever-loving hell out of those levels both in Doom 1 and 2. Doom 3 didn't excite me that much, in fact I never finished it. Maybe I'm not really that into FPS's anymore or maybe it was the lack of light that made Doom 3 so uninspiring to me, but this new Doom does look good. It's slated for release in 2016, so plenty of time.

E3 has only just begun, but I'm having a hard time thinking about what the other companies are going to do to have even a chance against Bethesda this year. All I can say is:

Shut up and take my money already!

Here are the videos:

Fallout character creation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXzlkJEUPDs

Fallout Building:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj06B-QQJTM

Dishonored 2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnsDyv-TtJg

Doom:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NteAPGprDJk

That's all for now, I need to take some deep breaths and calm down. So until next time, have a great week!

P.S. If you didn't know, the Steam Summer Sale is on as we speak.

Cya!

Doom and Gloom

In the past few weeks, I've talked about The Elder Scrolls Online. Unfortunately I've come to the decision that I won't be playing it after all.

First off, some of the info I got from the official ESO site has proven to be somewhat erroneous. The classes are far more restrictive than I was led to believe, as an example.

There are some other reasons why I won't be playing this as well, most of which are tiny, like the banking system, but the main issues are:

1. You only get one quickbar, and it's five boxes wide! In other words, you can have five measly abilities available at any time. I had hoped this was due to beta issues, but the Devs have openly stated that they want you to have to think about your set up for each fight. Regular mobs aren't of course a problem, but to have to go into the skill page and reset and fiddle all the time, is in my opinion a deal breaker. At level 8, this was already a hassle.
2. ESO doesn't really feel like a “proper” Elder Scrolls game to me. Perhaps I'm making too big a deal of this, but I felt less like a hero the further I played.

I had such high hopes for this game, and I so want to like it, but I can't. Maybe in the future, we'll see.

In other game news, Wolfenstein The New Order has been pushed back a bit, but it seems to be out in May this year. And following on this is a new Doom game as well! Here's hoping it's better than Doom 4, which I didn't even get close to finishing.

I also took a look at the upcoming Age of Wonders III, and it made me very sad indeed. I've loved this series since AoW I, back in 2000, but I won't be touching this game with a 20' pole. Not only do I find the graphics muddled and badly disproportionate, but they've eliminated all my favorite races. Gone are the Frostlings, Tigrans, Undead and Dark Elves.

I get the Dark Elves though, since they and the Wood Elves have re-merged into the High Elves. Fine.

But the Tigrans “just left”, the Frostlings “were wiped out” and the Undead...are now just some cursed Archons that anyone can get. Either they didn't want to bother with these races, or they are looking to sell DLC, take your pick.

I spent the better part of a day researching this game, and I don't know what the Devs are thinking. In any case, this is not a game for me. I'm sticking to Age of Wonders 2: Shadow Magic.

I could go on, but I'm not going to bother you with my vitriol.

But to end on a positive note, I started playing Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, and it is amazing! Truly awesome, if you liked AC 2 get this!

That's all for me this gloomy week!