Feedback about the Music

[Billy Blaze]

I try to be as sensitive as possible... it sucks mondo ♥♥♥♥.
At least for this game... it absolutely doesn't fit.

It feels like the devs aren't sure if the game should be atmospheric or metal... or hey, keeping the identity of the first game.
Apparently, there was an update a while ago that changed the soundtrack... you god forsaken idiots. (take it lightly, you know what I mean)
It had one or another amazing track, and now... it's just gone.

What did we get?
Atmospheric junk that tries to be dynamic... maybe... I'm not sure, the game isn't sure, and the devs don't seem to be sure.
A dynamic soundtrack doesn't work for the first episode, since there are no arenas, except for the 2 bosses.

I was afraid to start the second episode... but oh wonder... MUSIC!!!
Sure, it sounds chaotic... but it feels like "PW" got its identity back.
And here, we got arenas with... generic metal... and the identity is gone.


Here is an example of how well it could work: "Serious Sam 4"
Each track has 2 parts.
The first half is calm for exploration, the second half is 'in your face' for combat... but only a small part for each encounter is used, not the whole combat track.
It doesn't suddenly dip into generic metal, switching the whole song in the process... the transition is always buttersmooth.

Instead using random metal for the arena battles, loop the second part of the music... the one that makes your head spin.

BRING... BACK... THE MUSIC!!!


People complained about the main menu theme, and yeah... I'm totally puzzled why you did what you did.
Here is another example of how it was handled better: "Jets'N'Guns 2"
In the Early Access phase, it had "Hero" from "Machinae Supremacy" as the title theme, as a nod to the first game... and it sounded amazing.
Then they switched to a completely new track, to give the game its own identity... and it's an absolute blast!

You had a nod to the first game, which is fine... and then you... worked your magic and made the music just fade into nothing.
Great, tenouttaten...

I wouldn't complain so hard if music wouldn't be such a big deal, but in many games, it's a driving force to me... it should compliment the game so well, that I wanna play through it just to 'slaughter to some amazing tracks'.
"Hotline Miami 2", "Jets'n'Guns", "Assault Android Cactus", "Roboquest"
All games I mostly play because the OST kicks the gameplay to some serious heights.


That's it.
Gameplay is fine tho... phenomenal even.
The levels are mostly interesting... but the later half of the first episode kinda falls off.
Have only played the second episode till the start of the third level, because of some weird ammo bug, doesn't matter here, I wrote it already somewhere else.

Also, not to be too harsh to the composer, the tracks in itself are fine... they are just in the wrong game.

[MAJEPHTIC]

Ha, the music sure is a controversial topic for this game, isn't it? I used to heavily criticise the initial soundtrack for this game. Why? For two reasons:

1) The choice of synthesizer sounds / instruments.
The sounds were extremely annoying, high-pitched bleeps and bloops and outright weird noises that literally hurt the ears at times.
It was distracting and literally *unbearable* to me to listen to. It annoyed me to the degree of somebody scratching a fork on a plate. I had to turn off the music entirely, which would be fine - if the game had a soundscape that could stand on its own. You know, with environmental sounds and a pleasing mix of monster and weapon sounds. But that wasn't the case, about a year ago.
Without music, I was left with an awkward silence and repetitive monster sounds.
So just turning the music off wasn't an option either, in order to achieve a sonically pleasant experience. It was either super annoying music or weird silence. I tried running some Spotify in the background, but the music would simply often not match the action on the screen, so that didn't work for me either.

2) The overall tone of the music. The "happy" melodies. The annoying, high-pitched sounds. It simply did not at all match the expectations I have for a game with this much violence, in this well-established genre / subgenre. The "vibe" just completely didn't match what was happening on screen.
When I am speeding through levels, blasting monsters into red pulp, I don't want to hear what sounds like little Timmy's explorations of his first toy synthesizer.

Countless games have set a tone and expectations for what fits well with this type of action. Doom, Quake, DUSK, etc. - Metal is just the genre with enough aggression, energy, the right vibe to this.

------------------------

So, why do we perceive this soundtrack differently? Because I did not enjoy and therefore play the first Project Warlock. You have the expectation that the sequel should have a similar tone, because it is the same franchise.
The problem? The sequel has a much faster, more violent, more dynamic action and makes a generational jump from the equivalent of Wolfenstein 3D to something closer to Quake 1. And that's why the old soundtrack style just didn't fit anymore.

The current blend of different types of music results from a mid-development shift in tone, and therefore is somewhat inconsistent. But you know what? I can live with that.

And before you think you have to insult me for having a different opinion than you:

During my criticism back then, I did NOT suggest to "take the old soundtrack away". Because I *knew* that a portion of players would enjoy it and want to keep it as is.
I did NOT want to impose my taste or expectations on others.

Instead, I suggested to have CHOICE. An *alternative* metal soundtrack to choose in the settings. To be able to switch between a Project Warlock 1 style OST like they were going for, and something more akin to what is established by the likes of Mick Gordon and Andrew Hulshult in DOOM and DUSK.

Because I have seen that happen in Quake Champions as well - they had an initially more synthesizer-heavy OST and later patched in a more metal one, and you could choose in the settings between both artists or a random mix. That is what I suggested. Choice.

But hey, I'm way more in tune with the tone of the game now. And since there still is some development time going on, there's a chance they'll get the soundtrack more consistent until release.

[Billy Blaze]

Originally posted by MAJEPHTIC:

...

The problem is, now there is absolutely no music in some stages, especially the later half of the first episode...
It's all just some random atmospheric noises, broken up with some slightly depressing melodies.
As if the 'Quake' """"Soundtrack"""" didn't already sound terrible with... basically the same aproach.
And again, I was surprised when the second episode finally had music again.

Changing up the soundtrack wouldn't be a problem if they would have... you know... replaced it with different music, instead of basically nothingness that doesn't compliment the gameplay in the slightest.

And no... not more of this random metal nonsense.
Just because it sounded interesting in 'Doom 2016' and 'Doom Eternal' doesn't mean that every game needs to sound like this.
Just because 'Ace of Spades' worked in 'Shoot Em Up' doesn't mean I need 'Motörhead' in every single actionmovie...

[F4rhang]

I don't understand why they changed the main menu music from an absolute banger to this crap.