SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars
SpellForce 2:
Shadow Wars
07.05.2024
When elves cry
After all, the SpellForce-series has always combined the classic party role-playing game concept à la Dungeons & Dragons with real-time strategy. Instead of exploring a map and completing quests, we explore a map, complete quests and at the same time build a base to support our hero party with a powerful army. The story is classically epic and sends us from one varied world to the next. If you want to get a feel for it, you can take a look at my game review of SpellForce: The Order of DawnSpellForce: The Order of Dawn.
Thankfully, there have also been a few quality-of-life improvements, so that, for example, our units don't disappear when we change maps and we're not faced with depleted mineral deposits in areas we've already visited - which is really annoying when resources are finite. I don't even want to talk about details such as new units, spells and our own barony, which we continue to expand as the story progresses. After all, I'm not going to get anyone here to try out this gem, let alone its one addon. And yes, there is only Dragon Storm (2007). The stand-alone expansions Faith in Destiny (2012) and Demons of the Past were an absolute travesty.
If I can't do that, then I'd like to try to convince you of the soundtrack. I have to confess that I've been putting off writing this review because I knew it would be more extensive. So here are the hard facts: The OST was released under the title Sounds of the Shadows and comprises 24 tracks, which, with a minimum length of just under a minute and a maximum of around seven minutes, results in a total length of just over an hour - very nice!
What's even better is that the quality of this hour of acoustic delight remains at a very high level throughout. There are hardly any pieces here that are not worth listening to, everything interlocks skillfully. The reason for this is probably Pierre Langer and Tilman Sillescu from the German composer studio Dynamedion, who also wrote the scores for the predecessor and its expansions The Breath of Winter and Shadow of the Phoenix . If you had to label it, 'epic fantasy' would probably describe it best. "So something like Dragon Age?" Not quite. "Then Dark Souls?" Not at all. "Okay, then rather-". Just let me tell you, and you'll get the idea.
Anyone who has listened to the music of Dynamedion's predecessors or other works, especially the Anno-series since Anno 1404, will quickly recognize the familiar and high-quality style of composition that originates here. Aspects such as the medieval feeling from The Guild 2 or the aforementioned Anno 1404, mixed with fantasy references that we also hear in Sacred 2: Fallen Angel or SpellForce: The Order of Dawn , come together in this OST to form a glorious fusion. I would even go so far as to say that this class of music is not only on a par with the Gothic 3-score released in the same year, but in many places comes close to Howard Shore's cinematic compositions for the The Lord of the Rings-trilogy! Big words, which I utter with confidence, for it's a fact. It will of course be due to my subjective romanticization, but that has never stopped me from praising music to high heaven ... so let's begin.
Sound of the Shadows starts with the title track Shadowsong, which is reminiscent of the intros to Gothic 3 and Skyrim with its thunderous drums. However, the first major difference soon becomes clear. As with its predecessor (Cenwen), Langer and Sillescu once again use German singer Talia's vocals, who warbles an elf-like ballad in a made-up language. You can find this beautiful (as I did then) or corny (as I do now), but it works well, as it did in Dragon Age: Origins . And for the hater, there is at least an instrumental version.
In addition, the track also contains a leitmotif that runs through the entire composition. I have already mentioned several times that this helps to give the soundtrack its own identity, but I will never tire of doing so anyway. At the same time, it vividly illustrates the contrast to the score of its predecessor, which was also very good, but nevertheless seems more disjointed and 'arbitrary' due to the lack of a main motif. Thanks to this thematic frame, however, the music of SpellForce 2 makes the leap onto the master's podium to compete with the greats.
The battle tracks, for example, are excellent across the board: Be it the dramatic The Shaikan, whose vocals promise titanic battles. The irrepressible Attack of the Nightblades, whose horns bear witness to heroism like an opera. Or The Realm, which chases around like a swarm of angry wasps with its strings - not for nothing does it make it into my Top 50 best battle tracks as Epilogue.
In general, the orchestration is masterful, even if the selection of strings, winds and harps is somewhat stereotypically medieval fantasy. I don't mind if I get sublime pieces like the Anno-like Hawkeyrie in return. Freedom, on the other hand, lives up to its title and explores the duality of the eponymous freedom in an interplay of winds and strings: from oppressive uncertainty to exhilarating liberation, the track floats across the expanse, light and yet heavy at the same time. Not unlike the theme to the equestrian nation of Rohan from The Lord of the Rings, this track is a tear-jerker, so beautiful, so moving.
In direct contrast to this are the clichéd rogue pieces such as the darkly diabolical tracks Sorvina and Dragh Lur or the tribal orc themes Karash and The Clans!, in which we can almost see the creatures of darkness dancing around a campfire. The Mines of Underhall is also beautifully dwarven with its hammer blows, while Fireforge sounds like something borrowed from a classic action adventure - playful and dramatic at the same time.
Before I come to my favorites of the score, a quick word about Oblivion, which should definitely not be forgotten, as well as Shadowplains and Desolation. The first is a track to savor, which has something calming and agitating about it with its undulating rhythm. The second, on the other hand, sounds more like classical music and, with its powerful horns, is reminiscent of something you would expect from Beethoven rather than Bytes. Desolation the third of the bunch, is different again. Initially stormy, it later crawls across the floor like a snake and stretches itself up here and there, almost curiously, before unleashing itself in a dreamlike symphony at the end. Give it time, please!
But now to my highlights: Plains of Chaos and Dun Mora. For me, both reach a level comparable to that of Howard Shores - for me one of the highest compliments in the soundtrack genre. Some may see it differently, but I don't care. Plains of Chaos is the 'weaker' of the two and actually only gets 4 stars, but the waltz-esque character moves me every time. I like this versatility, this complexity that turns a single piece into a journey, an experience. While we think at the beginning that we are in for the next epic, a few seconds later Langer and Sillescu are already painting a picture of an untouched landscape. The plains sung about are truly in chaos, in a musical maelstrom that promises alternation and progression.
The absolute highlight of SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars however, is Dun Mora. Without wanting to unravel the whole story of the game, I can't help but explain the setting for this track: As we journey through the world of Eo, we must unite the races of the Light to fight the Pact of Darkness. In other words, the classic battle of good versus evil. To do this, we travel to the different factions and firstly secure the alliance of the humans and dwarves. To do this, we teleport through world history. After we have reawakened the magic of the portal that leads to the Morhir tribe of elves in the swamp of Dun Mora, we look at a loading screen - and hear this song.
Like the dripping of dew on a leaf, a scale sounds, played on the harp, before a sustained violin rises laboriously. Like walking through the mire, the piece seems sluggish, oppressive and ponderous. But the darkness soon lifts and reveals a dreamlike scene in the truest sense of the word. For the Morhir are plagued by demons who feast on their immortal blood and feed their lethargy and grief. Dun Mora, also bears witness to this. It seems dreadfully gloomy and yet beautiful. It is reminiscent of The Grey Havens from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and as the first tears slowly slide down our cheeks, we reflect on Gandalf's words:
I will not say do not weep, for not all tears are an evil.
Gandalf the White, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
There is something cathartic and liberating about this track. It says that the absence of light does not necessarily mean darkness and that every sorrow was preceded by something beautiful.
Even without having played SpellForce 2, you can't deny the beauty of this score. And probably not its corniness either, but kitsch can also be beautiful. If you're looking for an even more in-depth analysis of the score, you'll find it in this review by user Simon.
Nostalgia warning
The rating of the individual tracks is purely subjective and clearly colored by my own experience with the game. You can find out more in the article About Nostalgia.
