Mood: Cold.
Music: Hummell Gets the Rockets, The Rock OST
Game: World of Warcraft (51 Rogue)
Book: Time Enough For Love, Robert Heinlein
Muffin: Blueberry-Apricot
Punchline: "Nah, man! That's just SNOW."
Aside from the sound that's already there while you play the game, I occasionally like to switch the soundtrack to something more of my liking. As a service to my game-playing bruthas and sistas, here's a collection of music that I like to play, and the games I play while listening. By the way, they're great listening, even without the gameplay.
The Rock OST - Aside from being a kick-ass movie ("I'll take pleasure in guttin' you...BOY.") with Nicholas Cage and Sean Connery, the soundtrack really rocks. Any run and gun game, such as Soldier of Fortune 2, Diablo(1 or 2), or Counterstrike can be made measurably better by this soundtrack. The track I'm listening to right now, Hummell Gets The Rockets, really beautifully tempos the action in a tactical shooter. Try starting it before a 4 minute round of Counterstrike, Ghost Recon, R6:3 or SOF2, and see how it works. It's fabulous.
Black Hawk Down OST - If you can't play Counterstrike Dust or SOF2 Bazaar to Hunger or Bakara Market, you're clearly insane. You could also play Act III in Diablo 2 to it...although I generally reserve the next one for that. You could also play Black Hawk Down while listening to this...and pretend you're in the movie...but that might just be overload.
The Mummy OST - I could listen to this over and over while playing Diablo 2...and did. The rhythm and tempo, along with the instrument selection makes this a no-brainer.
Wipeout 2097 OST - This is an odd one...there may not be a better soundtrack to play any racing game to...than a racing game soundtrack. The Wipeout 2097 OST is the soundtrack I immediately switch on when I'm racing anything, from PGR2 to Rally. The selection and bpm are perfect for high speed mayhem.
Gladiator OST - Fantasy RPGs could do no better than this soundtrack. From exploring to battle, cities to travel, this soundtrack provides the mood you need. World of Warcraft's soundtrack is good...probably the best I've heard from any game to date...but this is a good replacement when that one gets old. Try "The Battle" when heading into an almost certainly fatal encounter...I played it when me and four others I didn't really know rode our mounts to try to defeat two elite dragonlings in the Badlands. Chills. And we were victorious.
Crystal Method/Legion of Boom - Wipeout 2097 missed this one by a few years. It should definitely be there. Racing to this one is a great experience. You could also try taking on a mess of bad guys being armed with only a few health kits and a machinegun...it's that kind of song. Doom 3 and HL2 should have had this track on it.
Paul Oakenfold/Bunkka - Ready, Steady, Go. Defines a racing song. 128bpm, drops to 64bpm for a few measures, with a few percussion parts at 256bpm. Beautiful. You can hear where you're supposed to be cornering.
There are more...and I'll add 'em as I put 'em in my playlist. I know most of them are soundtracks already...but thematically, it's what works for me. What can I tell ya?
Posted by Glenn at January 25, 2005 03:40 PM