Release Date: 2003
Audio CD
Tracks
- Prelude
- Troubled Times
- Ride to Destiny
- The Fens of Sargath
- Descent into the Depths
- Stealth and Cunning
- Behind Door #1
- Skirmish
- Eternal Mystery
- Heroes?’ Valor
- Relic Uncovered
- Deep Trouble
- Chant
- Craft of the Wizard
- Beasts of the Borderlands
- Secret Chamber
- Lair of the Great Wyrm
- Ancient Temple
- How Strange . . .
- Army of the Dead
- Final Confrontation
- Ruins of Bone Hill
- City of Sails
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Rating 4.5
Another Dungeon Master's opinionThis disc really delivers! Not only is it great background for gaming sessions but the music definitely stands on it's own as cool listening/driving music. Dynamic pieces, a lot of instrumental variety, and just enough sound effects to enhance the mood.
As far as it's application to a game situation - I have to say this is the best fantasy RPG soundtrack I've ever heard (that seems to be the general consensus from the other DMs I've talked to on the convention circuit). The other soundtrack attempts before this one really pale in comparison in my opinion.
When I have the time, I like to go through all of my soundtracks and piece together a custom soundtracks for my games. This disc mixed with some Conan and any of the LOTR scores makes for a powerful combo.
More than often I don't have the time to devote to that. I'm pleased to say that in every session where I've JUST played this disc in the background, it's worked very well. A bit on the dark side but for a dungeon crawl I can think of no better music.The coolest Gaming and Riding I went to Amazon looking for more afordable book than the ones I had just bougth at Hastings and suddenly, I met a CD by the name of Dungeons and Dragons. I was not a Midnight Syndicate fan before mind you, but after hearing this CD in converted and now I am looking forward to gettineg other CDs by them. The tracks in it are great 2/3 of them are not gloomy or rather mysterious. But this makes sence when you are "descending into the depths" or looking in a secret chamber. I love the"Prelude" because it sets the mood of a Fantasy like wolrd, the harp is really cool too. I loved "Craft of the Wizard" and the one also after that. It is like a march and then there is some catapults hurling stones. I also like the sword sound effects. They sound metally but hey most swords are thin (except Claymores):> But the Best song of them all would have to be "City of Sails" It is great, It sounds like Final Fantasy VIII a little but its great. The great thing about this music is that you can picture the action thats going on. I pictured myself riding a horse to victory. It is also great listening to it while in the car, especially in the morning because it wakes you up and puts you in a "triumphant" mood. Also I wrote some poetry while listening to "Ruins of Bone Hill" and when i read it aloud with the music it gave it a great effect.
So all in all This is One of the few great buys that i have loved right off the bat.
I hope you enjoy it as well.A GameMaster's ReviewI agree in great part with the review by Ryan Marshall. I'll note that I have not listened to any other Midnight Syndicate works before this one, but I am making an effort to be objective.
My favorite tracks are the two `bonus' tracks, Ruins of Bone Hill and City of Sails.
The quality of this music (if you don't mind that it's synthesized and can appreciate this sort of thing) is a 4/5, which is a fairly high rating from me.
But as far as this music can be applied to roleplaying is a 2/5 at best...
Here's the problems:
1) The music all seems to have the dark/eerie flavor that seems to be the staple of Midnight Syndicate. This severely limits the themes, moods, and instrument sets that were used. The only exception is City of Sails. While this does not detract from the quality of the music itself, it would still be nice to have more variety in a collection that is supposedly `official roleplaying music'.
2) I rarely found that the intended setting for each track actually suited the music, but the sound effects that were included made it unusable for anything else.
For example, Beasts of the Borderland seemed to me to be a great track for an army on the march, until I started hearing strange `beast' noises that seemed out of place.
3) Speaking of out of place sound effects, I found that many of the sound effects were ambiguous, unfulfilling, or outright mood-spoiling.
For example, in both Skirmish and Final Confrontation, you hear the `clash of swords' at certain times. However, these `swords' sound like pieces of tin slapping against one another with minimal force rather than actual swords. Who uses tin swords? Besides, not all `skirmishes' in roleplaying actually involve swords...
Side Note: Many portions of the melodies were familiar and some outright recognizable as being nearly identical to some of those used in older console RPGs. Perhaps it was from such games that they drew their inspiration. It would have to be a very big coincidence otherwise.
If you are a roleplayer and/or enjoy background music and aren't penny pinching or if you are a Midnight Syndicate fan, then you will probably want to buy this anyway. But I would not recommend this collection to anyone else. |
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