Radiant hero orgy

Early December saw the release of Marvel’s Midnight Suns, a game from the XCOM-makers at Firaxis Games set in the Marvel universe, with mixed reviews: For some, it is a logical combination of clever tactical battles and superhero cosmos, for others it's a babble-fest with too little actual gameplay. At least that's what I've gathered from the opinions of the channels I frequent in terms of opinion-forming. As someone who really enjoyed playing XCOM 2 , I don't want to rule out the possibility of a game review appearing on this site at some point. Because it wasn't just what I saw about the content that made me want to play the game.

The score

No, I was also taken with the music. It comes from the composers Phill Boucher and Tim Wynn. While the former is best known in the gaming sector from Fortnite , Wynn was involved in the later offshoots of the Total War-series (primarily the Warhammer-spinoff), Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 and Command & Conquer 4 as well as Dungeon Siege III . Both also bring experience from the XCOM-series: Boucher first joined the team for XCOM: Chimera Squad from 2020, while Wynn has been involved since XCOM: Enemy Unknown . So it's good to see that it's not just the same development studio at work again.

The duo knows how to accompany the tactically demanding battles with exciting tracks. To this end, Marvel’s Midnights Suns remains true to the usual formula of thunderous action bombast, which was also used in XCOM 2 . However, the composers infuse the music in this OST with a hint of Marvel-DNA - and it works really well! The very first tracks welcome the Avengers-disciples with outstretched and muscle-bound arms.

OriginsTim Wynn5 klingt mit seinen Fanfaren wie aus Brian Tylers Score für Iron Man 3 , before taking a step back for a short while and drifting more in the direction of Thor driftet. Darauf folgen Streicher, die erneut nach dem Mann im Eisenanzug klingen. Super heroisch. Das setzt sich in The Sanctum and the ShieldTim Wynn5 fort, wo sich düstere Bedrohung und orchestrale Strings gepaart mit Percussions dem Superhelden-Trope gemäß fortsetzen. Weitere Beispiele für gut gemachte Actionkino-Kost sind One of Those Off-Off-Broadway ShowsPhill Boucher4, Hello ClevelandTim Wynn5 and What Could Kill a GodPhill Boucher4. Fans von Heldenfilmen, Actionbombast und dem MCU im Besonderen werden sich hier absolut heimisch fühlen.

Deviating from this, the OST also likes to wander around in other realms. With Old Stomping Ground, New StompersPhill Boucher4 and Knock, KnockTim Wynn3 , it goes more into the fantasy department, which gives the composition its own spin and, above all, identity. After all, Marvel’s Midnight Suns not only brings together the A-listers and their familiar motifs from Marvel's popcorn machinery, but also comparatively smaller characters such as Ghost Rider, Blade and Magik. This creates a bit of a Dragon Age-atmosphere or - if you want to stay in the cinematic realm - memories of the later Harry Potter-games.

The picture is completed by rock and metal intermezzi in Return to the MotherlandPhill Boucher4 and The Prophecy of the Midnight SunPhill Boucher3, which shred beautifully - rock on! My highlight of the soundtrack, however, remains the blend of Marvel and XCOM, that Boucher and Wynn have achieved here, which is why I'm already looking forward to the OSTs for the DLCs that have already been announced. Meanwhile, if the music sounds too much like the original from the silver screen, you'll find epics on an equivalent level with Overwatch Epos auf gleichwertigem Level finden.