[OCR01207 - Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind "The Final Stage"]

Beautiful, just beautiful. I didn't particularly care much for the game, but there's no denying that Morrowind did come with a great, if somewhat repetitive soundtrack. This remix is a great complement of that, slow and with an almost sorrowful undertone to it. This is just one of those tracks you can unconsciously find yourself listening to for hours, and that's saying something, right? Now I regret trading off Morrowind for Bloodrayne...

[OCR01189 - Beyond Good & Evil "Frame of Mind"]

Wow. I mean wow. Unfortunately, this is a game I've never had the opportunity to play--but damn if this isn't a stellar remix. Amazing vocals, nice piano work, great electronic snippits...I could work overtime trying to think about negative things to say about this piece, but it would be a futile effort. Download this and experience it for yourselves!

This is a testament to the greatness that are Ocremixes, and the people that put them together. Keep up the great work!

[OCR01184 - Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past "Triforce Majeure"]

Well, unfortunately I never had the privelage of being able to play this game, so I can't really judge how well this remix fits in with the original--but I'll be darned if this incredible mix doesn't make me want to play the game. The orchestral bit just rocks and picks up at several key places, then drops right off again with a continuous beat. It's incredibly well-crafted, overall. Unlike the Halo remixes, I don't have anything to compare this with, but if the music in the original game is even REMOTELY as cool as this is, that fact alone would justify buying it. Very cool piece.

[OCR01075 - Hitman: Codename 47 "Chained to a Barcode"]

I guess I stand alone when I say I actually liked 47's dialog at the end. However, when putting the song on "repeat" to listen to it while, say, browsing around the internet or what have you, the endless loops of the dialog can try your patience...maybe there should have been dialog and non-dialog versions, perhaps? I just wish there were more Hitman remixes--I love it, especially Silent Assassin's soundtrack (done by Jesper Kyd who also composed the Freedom Fighters score...I think.) Great remix, this one is.

[OCR01182 - Halo "Mahabharath Highlands"]

Did I mention that these Halo remixes just never get old? Again, this one utilizes a great and driving military-like strings setup, with a unique (to me, slightly oriental-style) percussion (forgive me if I can't type right--it's like 2 am here...yikes) and flute section. I know the idea is that it should probably sound like something you'd hear in the Colonial Revolution, but to me it just comes off as downright Chinese-folk to me, and I love it all the better for it. Absolutely great--you gotta hear it to know what I'm getting at. 6 outta 5 for yet another imaginative Halo theme remix...and a stylish and original one to boot. Excellent work, and let the quality remixes roll on.

[OCR01159 - Shenmue "Reflections"]

I absolutely loved Shenmue--one of the Dreamcast's shining gems, and a game few have rarely matched when it comes to character complexity. Don't get me wrong--I absolutely love chewing through Marines with my trusty crowbar, turning opponents to dust with rocket launchers, what have you, but sometimes I like to enjoy a game that's had more than 5 minutes of plot thrown into it (that's not to say games like Half-Life are pointless, however...) Though some tend to disagree, human emotion is just as important in a good game as explosive action, if not more so, and Shenmue had the music style to fit its vast, nicely woven plot and interesting characters. The main theme, next to the Sha Hua song (is there a remix for that yet?) just so happens to be one of my favorites not only in the game itself, but even among an impressive list of cherished tunes. This game came at a time when just about every game was dominated by a hard rock or otherwise intentionally rough, electronic kinds of music--and it was arguably Shenmue that came along and showed people just how cool quieter music could be, even in a brutal action sequence. It's nice to see that this remix continues that "legacy," and it was even better to go back and hear a great song I probably never would have gotten the opportunity to hear again otherwise. Throughout, this is generally a soft and gentle piece, and intentionally feels less out-and-out Japanese in comparison to many of the other songs in the game. It was meant to be a somewhat solemn, emotional piece that tried to convey the somewhat distraught feelings of the main character to the player in the best way possible, while retaining a bit of mystery as to what exactly those feelings were--thankfully, to me at least, that wasn't lost in the slightest in this faithful re-realization. This is the kind of music you might find yourself getting lost in for a great while, and that's what actually makes it most difficult to describe. Although the showcase here is a gentle, mellow piano, this remix is by no means simple. It rises, it lowers, it pulls you in, just as it did in the game, and makes for a nicely enjoyable (and reasonably lengthy) song you'll want to listen to again and again. I would have to whole-heartedly recommend this one...and now I wish I still had Shenmue...

[OCR01152 - Halo "Ruined Desert"]

I don't quite understand how someone could have a distaste for Halo without playing it, but, before I'd even BOUGHT the game a few months back, I was already well-accustomed to its interestingly strange, even tribal-like musical style, which featured a roller-coaster of brass swells and high-quality vocals--just my kinda music. Just listening to previews of its soundtrack alone drove me to play the game (I can easily imagine the people in charge of this game thinking "hey, how about we throw some killer hard-rock in there--that would be SWEET!" but I'm relieved to see they didn't act on the norm, given the more intense subject-matter a beefier soundtrack like this compliments perfectly.) Good music strikes an emotional chord in the player, making intense scenes in a game that much more memorable. Halo's orchestral dips, tribal drums, haunting vocals, driving beats, and some generally emotionally-charged strings sections are top of the line when it comes to inspiring, emotive music. Make no mistake, people, Halo's soundtrack was professionally done, and this inspired remix is no exception. How can a piece of music be solemn, mellow, heartfelt, thought-provoking, and incredibly intense at the same time? Play Halo and find out--listen to this remix and get a taste. All in all, it's essentially an oh-so-unfortunately-brief showcase of a few of the more modern, string-style aspects of the original soundtrack. Featuring a nice, smooth beginning replete with mellow woodwind instruments, sharp, nicely timed military-like drum beats that sound every bit as good as something you'd see in the latest war movie, a rising brass segment highly reminiscent of the aptly-named Halo Action Theme of the game's soundtrack itself, you'd swear this should be in the game, though it's original enough to stand on its own. I absolutely love the quiet start to this one, which gradually builds into a wonderfully militaristic, definitely-Halo march-like brass segment. The chorus sounds great, but, like a couple other elements of the piece, is a tad muffled. Although the brass sounds quite nice, it doesn't seem as clear or nearly so crisp as it should have been--it's got the beat, feel, and pace all down, but darn it if it's just not as LOUD as it seems it should've been. In all honestly, I thought my speakers were malfunctioning for a second or so--I knew it was supposed to be blowing me away with an incredible swelling brass section (starting at about 2:15) but it just didn't seem right that something so bold and intense should have sounded so...muffled. That's not to say this is a pedestrian, mellow piece by any stretch of the word, though. Although I'd have no qualms just listening to this for leisure, Ruined Desert does manage to come across as a strong, driving, though ulitmately short homage to Halo's unique style of music, and one that I'd be downright stupid not to recommend. The gong at the end just makes you wish there was more to it, though...

[OCR01161 - Halo "Fall from Above (You Can't Stop)"]

I thought this was an amazing track (I get so much flak for using that word, but what the heck, it grew on me), that manages to strike a nice (not to mention rare) balance between maintaining the game's general feel and mixing in a sweet bit of originality for good measure. The vocals are quite inspired, I think, and complement the overall sound nicely, and its clear that the artist even made the effort of altering the original vocals at a few points. (or maybe it's just me, but I think it's a brilliant touch), and the aforementioned orchestral swell at roughly 1:25 really manages to draw you in, just as in the original piece. Also, the great blend of electronical/ochestral instruments make a truly unique piece you should certainly give a try, even if you've never played Halo. But seeing that the main Halo theme just so happens to be one of my fave songs ever, this one rings particularly well for me. Give it a download, and you might be surprised (and even get a slight feel for the musical goodness that is Halo.)

[Silent Hill Discussion]

What the hell do you mean, "woo-hoo," dammit?! lol, seriously though, I really do get where you're coming from. Though I enjoyed all three SH games immensely, and have in fact become a bit of a hardcore fan of the series (I'm listening to Silent Hill: Nay Tomorrow right now, man!) I have to say that the original just feels more like...er, Silent Hill. It's hard to describe, but the feeling of treading about a creepy, fog-laden town filled with things that would very much like to make you lunch is better realized in the original, and the bizarre, alien feel of the story resonates as much more creepy simply because it's so darn different than what you find in most games. I gotta hand it to Konami, they made a game that challenges the minds of its players still today, and continues to have us guessing as to what final, conclusive link the series-ending game will reveal, where the story weaves the incredibly different plots of each of the so far three different characters together, and what final mystery will be solved, finally showing us what each and every little clue actually MEANS. I mean, look at how many replies there are in this forum--it's just like Half-Life in it's peak. Silent Hill is THAT different, and THAT intriguing. It's not about blowing away mutated freaks (though that's in there for a nice effect) or running for your life (there, also in occasion,) but is rather more about discovering the hidden secrets of each character, every one having his or her own story to tell, which the player gradually learns about in sometimes disturbing ways, and therefore makes the series that much more compelling. A survival-horror game with CHARACTER?! Hm...discuss.

By and large, Silent Hill has affected a lot of us in the light that the game itself broadened our perspective of horror. Those dumb slasher movies (which might've terrified the hell out of us a few years before Silent Hill's release) now just seem stupid having witnessed something completely different, which actually uses the eccentricities of the mind to instigate fear, which Silent Hill does quite well. Instead of using buckets of blood and gore to chill you, Silent Hill actually taps into the subconscious, using horror effects from the likes of childrens' books or such out-of-the-norm sources of media to leave its own mark in the genre. Of course, it's not a particularly terrifying game, and it's really not meant to be, but it does on it's own end make you think, and the chills you get walking down a long, dark hall aren't entirely from the dread of accidentally stumbling upon a hellish apparition, but rather stem from the morbid anticipation of what strange new direction the plot will take once you go through a door to meet a pivital character another time. Its that creative use of the plot elements that makes the game score so well with me: the desire to find out what the hell is happening next, or what that weird scrawling of grafitti decorating the walls stands for. The beauty of it is, you really never quite figure it out, and it leaves you thinking at the end like a good book, instead of being another simple, static "story" with a simple beginning and conclusion.

Another great example is the weird air surrounding the protagonist of the second game. From the start, just by the overall design of the character, you know he's a troubled man. From his voice to the clothes he wears, he exhumes an aura of...for the lack of a better word, darkness. It's these clever design niches that seperate the series from it's others, and make it a truly different game. I went into the first one expecting a simple RE clone, in which you were charged with the over-worn task of blasting hordes of zombies. I was quite surprised--especially with the second game. It REALLY took an interesting twist when you find out that the main character actually is responsible for...well, I won't spoil it (if it hadn't already been revealed earlier in the forum.)

I think I've babbled enough, so I'll shut up now.

[Silent Hill Discussion]

26 pages. Heh, I thought I liked Silent Hill. My current fave is the original, before it got a bit...weird. The voice-acting was really quite good, and the game felt distinctly American, and thanks to that felt like this could very well happen in some town down the road, you know? The game felt more fresh and interesting than most RE games, and the story had more beef to it than your average Living Dead movie rip (ie, Resident Evil.) I didn't much like the sequels, simply because they went a bit overboard with the strange cultural references and consequently lost a chunk of the game's originally "close to home" feel (you'll never look at hallways the same way again.) Silent Hill really resuscitated the sruvival-horror genre with a new kind of horror that didn't revolve around "big evil thing jumps through window," but rather through subjecting the player to a unique, psychologically-centric environment that is still underappreciated today. Wow--can't I run my mouth...