Mighty well done

The year 2006 is a good year for the gaming community: the latest The Legend of Zelda-spin-off Twilight Princess is released for the Wii, the first Gears of War is launched for the Xbox 360 and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion makes gamers' hearts beat faster on the PC. But it's not just mass-market blockbusters that shape the picture, but also smaller titles such as Gothic 3, Heroes of Might and Magic V, SpellForce 2 as well as Dark Messiah of Might and Magic - or at least that's my personal perception.

Not only were these games absolute time wasters that sweetened my limited gaming periods; no, they also had a decisive influence on my taste in music (at least as far as the soundtrack genre is concerned). That's why there's a big nostalgia disclaimer not only at the end of this review, but also at the beginning. Dark Messiah of Might and Magic accompanied me during one of my most formative phases and the music still gives me goosebumps today. I imagine that this is due to the quality of the compositions, but I'm under no illusion that you could just as easily be bored by them.

Games from the Might and Magic-series

Heroes of Might and Magic: A Strategic Quest (1995)

Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars (1996)

Heroes of Might and Magic III (1999)

Heroes of Might and Magic IV (2002)

Heroes of Might and Magic V (2006)

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic (2006)

In fact, while doing research for this article, I found a forum entry in which someone was looking for a workaround to replace the music in the game with their own tracks because it was too boring - the nerve! Or rather too repetitive, which I can understand to some extent. Because the game is pretty linear in fact, while the fights are often accompanied by the same track. That might be annoying if the music sucks. This one doesnt - at least if you ask me. Now I don't want to waste any more space justifying my opinion, because after all, this is really about how I feel about this soundtrack, which I will try to dissociate as much as possible from my experiences in the actual game. In my game review , you can read all about those.

The score was composed by Sascha Dikiciyan and Cris Velasco, who were still relatively new to the business at the time. The latter in particular is now an established heavyweight in the world of video game music, having written for the Assassin’s Creed-series, Mass Effect, God of War and Bloodborne. The trademarks of both composers are somewhat brute, pompous pieces that roar out of the speakers with orchestral force and get the blood pumping. A meeting that, judging from what we got in the Dark Messiah of Might and Magic–soundtrack, was probably a match made in heaven.

While the original soundtrack only contains 11 tracks, it incorporates almost everything worth listening to from the game. Or at least that's what you might think before you listen to the gamerip and realize that there are a few bangers hidden among the 15 missing songs. But first things first: The music in Dark Messiah is massive and impressive. As mentioned, Dikiciyan and Velasco fire off an orchestral fantasy feast that is at least on a par with many film scores in this genre.

Yet the soundtrack begins very restrainedly with the overture The Gates of Stonehelm , a sweetly pensive melody that lulls us almost cheesily with its strings and paints a picture of harmony, serenity and peace, before darkness sweeps over the composition like a roll of thunder in the middle and minor tones cloud the idyll. An introduction that is rooted in the narrative of the story and is juxtaposed in the subsequent score as the before, as the missed future diametrically opposed to what comes next. Starting with The Battle of Stonehelm from the gamerip, which blasts towards us with a choir and trombones proclaiming that the battle has begun.

The next tracks alternate between action and suspense, only very rarely are we presented with serene tones. This is no particular loss in view of the comparatively spectacular action tracks, because here, as announced, the composers shine: Crawling from the Deep is an instrumental struggle for the dominance of winds and strings, which break over each other like waves and sweep us away in their surges. Avatar of the Goddess , on the other hand, is a threatening backdrop turned into music, while Summoning the Soul-Dragon , with its enthroned vocals, creates excellent tension that is captivating.

Combat (Fire in the Blood) , on the other hand, seems almost simple, but its heartbeat-like rhythm gives it a dirty, inciting quality, as if we were hunched over and scurrying through a corridor in search of prey. These fireworks of sound are followed by many other excellent tracks that oscillate somewhere between chase and mythical menace. Leanna’s Themein particular, which is played on a harp, stands out pleasantly and underlines the magical aspect of Dark Messiah of Might and Magic skillfully.

Having said that, I am very pleased that such details reveal a certain musical relationship to the fifth part of the Heroes of Might and Magic-series. After all, its story is interwoven with Dark Messiah , making it all the more wonderful that Dikiciyan and Velasco's composition fits so perfectly into Rob King and Paul Romero's epic. Whether this was intentional, I really can't say. Since both games were released in the same year, it is in all likelihood a happy coincidence. Just as much of a happy coincidence as the fact that these two gentlemen were commissioned to create one of, if not the best soundtrack for a first-person shooter - something they didn't manage to do with Borderlands 2 , for example.