Aliascent's blog

Let's be honest: as far as I'm concerned, the first Medievil, released in 1998 and developed by SCEE is a masterpiece and is perfect. If I were to name a single game as a standard for all to follow, this would be it. Everything was well thought and beautifully crafted with the utmost care, from the simple gameplay that gradually evolves into something more intricate, levels that were neither too short nor too long, to a clever design that never holds your hand and lets you put all the pieces together, making every puzzle solved, every quest completed feel like a victory. That alone would be enough to make a hell of a game, but there was more: the plot was simple (You went down in history as a hero, but, in truth, you died in the very first seconds of a battle against your arch-enemy. Your army, however, managed to rout him and victory was yours. Now, some time later, this villain comes back, raises an army of zombies and mind-control the living, but also resurrects you...

Let's get it out of the way right now: Nightmare Creatures is one of my all-time favorite, and I won't be partial.  Released in 1997, developed by Kalisto and edited by Activision, it had everything a horror-themed game should have: a great, gloomy and gothic atmosphere, reinforced by the dense fog severely limiting your view distance; making it easier for the monsters to ambush and jumpscare you, detailed modeling (for the time) which made the monsters scary, different, and the scenery fairly realistic (which is good since it's based on real locations) and memorable. Even better: level design was quite good. As linear and easy to navigate as it is, you never knew where the next attack would come from, or where the items were placed, and you had to focus and stay sharp if you wanted to stay alive or gather much needed supplies to help you in your quest. Still, taking your time and strolling through the game wasn't really an option: you had to move quickly, bec...

While this is my blog, I've decided that once in a while, I'll have guests. Not out of laziness or lack of inspiration (I still have over 100 tracks to write about) , but because I thought it'd be interesting to see what others like, what they used to play, and what they have to tell. Because I firmly believe that no matter which kind of gamer you are, as long as you've played at least one game, you'll have memories. And it's very likely that some of those memories will be linked to that game's soundtrack. Long story short, my first guest is  B.Dandelion , and she will be driving the bus today. I'll see you all at the end of the month. Also, I'd like to ask all of you, my dear readers, for feedback. Just tell me in the comments (or at aliascent@gmail.com) your thoughts, comments, what do you enjoy the most, what was your favorite post, what should I improve, etc. Feedback. -Aliascent Alia asked me if I’d like to write an article for his bl...

It's been a while since the last post, but we're finally live again. New theme, new font, new background, everything is now nice and shiny, as it ought to be. And I thought I'd get things started again by telling you about a game I've spent 400h playing: Nuclear Throne. Back in june 2015, I bought this little game for the low price of 12,99€. And boy, that was money well spent. This game is crazy, fast-paced, unfair as hell and extremely hard, but also very rewarding and satisfying. But I somehow couldn't stop playing it; its simple yet addictive game play (grab a weapon, dodge bullets, shoot back, die because why not, and restart asap) was enough to keep me interested. But what would a game with good game play and lovely graphics be without a good soundtrack to back it up ? The answer is : nothing. And Nuclear Throne sure isn't lacking in the "awesome tunes" department. Sometimes creepy, sometimes sad, but always enjoyable, NT's soundtr...

A few months late, but here his the 10th post. On a sidenote, since I restarted this blog, I managed to reach almost 400 views. It's not much but still way more than I expected. About 400 times more. Back on music. Today's piece comes from an old strategy game, first released on Amiga and Atari, and later on NES. The game is called "Supremacy: Your Will Be Done " which,-let's be honest- is an awful title, and "Overlord" in the US.Yes, they basically managed to sum up the whole thing in one word. Why did they not think about it earlier ? I don't know. Anyways, in 1993 the game was ported on the NES, and this version is known for not having lots of music, mainly the main title. But god, what a main title it is. Carried by a deep, powerful bassline (I know, this always comes back in this black. But I love poweful basslines.), that only a NES could produce, with a wavy, sweet melody on top of it, conveying an immense sadness, or maybe a kind of nosta...

It's been a while since the last update, almost 2 months. Life kept me pretty busy, but here is for you: a shinny new post. And today we're going to have some Medal of Honor. This series started back in 1999-2000, on the PSX. It was one of the few FPS on the PSX, and due to its incredible ambiance and the "realism" of the AI, it became a renowned game. Circa 2002, MoH:Allied Assault definitely made the series incredibly popular and praised for being awesome. Although the latest entries destroyed the series ( modern stuffs ? in my Medal of honor ? WHY ?), in 2007, Medal of Honor Airborne was released. Even if it suffered from the same defect as most of the MoH games between Allied Assault and the reboot, being ok-ish games but not unforgettable, Airborne kept an essential point of the MoH series: its soundtrack. For those who have read this blog before, you'll know that orchestral soundtracks are really common, and are the easiest way to give a...

Released in 1995 by Epic Megames ( which later released an obscure game called Unreal Tournament), Tyrian was a really fun shoot'em up. Not only fun, but also well made in every aspect, from graphics to music. It featured everything: Funny gameplay, cool customizable ships,tons of weapons, eye-candy explosions, humor everywhere and some trolls by the developpers were also built in. Yep, really. And in this perfection, there is something that got carved in the brain of evryone who played it. The buy and sell music. Although Tyrian is quite a light-hearted game, this music has dark undertones on it, and it fits quite well, because it's in this menu that you'll get to read the datas you've gathered. And some of those datas are far from being funny (go play the game, it's free). So basically, this tune is the perfect representation of Tyrian: it's fun, yet scratch the surface and find the gloomy stuffs. Needless to say, everybody who played it had it stuck in ...