Ah, the 80's. A time where cranking up the dial on everything was par for the course; guitar-playing and operatic
vocals notwithstanding. Of course, like anything, there were loads of crappy wanna-be's. But those that could, did it
ridiculously. I'm talking 5-octave ranges or get the fuck out. Of course, lyrics played a huge backseat to the
musicianship. In fact, when I asked Warrel Dane directly what the album "Refuge Denied" by Sanctuary was about, his
exact words were "NOOOOTTTHIIINNNGGGG!! It was just 80's metal bullshit. The second album is where I got my brain".
Still, there are rules. Rules like : 1. Thou shalt sing about dragons minimum twice an album with a full song devoted to them
if possible. 2. Barring rule 1, mages are an acceptable replacement. 3. Everything must contain lightning and fire
in the descriptions. 4. Swords are another good subject. Include many depictions of them cleaving evil in epic war or being
swung while riding on dragons, preferably by a mage. 5. If it's not already clear, fantasy is your friend. Theme your
albums in that direction. 6. Barring rule 5, SciFi is an ok replacement. But only if it has spacemages and cyberdragons.
7. Don't forget spacelightning and space fire. Forget that these things are completely unfeasable. In fact, forget
reality altogether. 8. Read LOtR or other notable fantasy series like Elric of Melnibone, The Black Company, or other
Dungeons and
Dragons novels at nearly all times. Take notes. Base entire albums on them. Consider doing a
side-project about them if possible with other famous muscians from other famous bands who base their albums
on the same things. 9. Read an memorize this list here.
and Rule 10. All notes must be above the staff and any that aren't must be contain vocal grit. These are the rules. Write them down.
Many of these are works in progress, so improvements can and often will come along if any parts are clunky or
just plain wrong as of now. But, as they are, many of these are just plain amazing. So, without further ado,
I... hearby... release.. the clones!
If there was ever a combination that was a figurative match-made-in-hell, and I mean that in the good way, it is old-school 80's video game soundtracks,
metalled up. Seriously, best combination ever. Better than sex. Yes, I went there. Can I really mean it?
Depends on the sex. Let's just say they're blacker than the blackest black, times infinity. Then double that. Add two. Spin in place.
Pat your head and rub your stomach. What do you mean no? Oh, forget it! How about this; When Nathan Explosion said they will make everything metal, he definitely meant video games first. Right after coffee.
Yes, indeed these songs go to 11.
Listen to these glorious 3.5 hours of metal goodness. If this doesn't
bring you back and get you all teary for the golden years when games and metal were practically one in the same, then nothing will. Volume up!
Well, let me start by saying happy 4th and all that happy crap, assuming you're a US citizen and all.
So, not missing a chance to be appropriate, I present to you, sage reader, quite possibly the best WW2
strategy game ever made.
What's this, you say? WW2? Isn't that some war some old fogies or ancient race fought aeons ago with
walkers and faded into some history book that high school students are forced to write boring reports on?
You mean there's no deserts or terrorists to deal with? Huh??? None of the above. COD fanboys go home! There's
the door. Don't let it hit you in the ass on the way out. Ok, now that they're gone...
This was the last real war the USA fought, and may ever fight. A real adversary, strong, intelligent, and
full of fight. Just the kind to make us up our game and wield some real war strategy to gain that precious
victory. The kind where the fate of the world does really hang in the balance, not just on wallets at
the gaspumps.
This game, Combat Mission : Beyond Overlord uses all of that. Like many strategy games, you play the field
commander, overseeing and orchestrating your battle plans to sweet fruition.
Unlike other strategy games,
this is conducted in a very unconventional and different way.
Say hello to simultaneous execution. No, this is not the result of a bad hit of acid or eating cheese too
late at night. Basically, what it means is both sides issue their orders, one-at-a-time, like most
turn-based strategy. But none of this is acted on until you click the big Go button, both sides' orders are dealt with at the same time through AI, and you watch your plans go
awry from any number of unexpected events. Didn't account for a potential ambush on a march order, now your
guys are pinned down with morale busted. Didn't send in a spotter to see what lies in the crossroad ahead,
now your tank is brewed up from a well-placed Panzer hit.
Didn't utilize cover, now your forces are sending
in bodybags by the truckload. Yeah boys, play time's over.
Now, I know what you're thinking... This sounds harsh and brutal. This game hands you a shitstorm and expects you to handle it. Well...
That's partially true. The other half of it is, if you didn't make such a tactically blunderous move to
begin with, you wouldn't be breaking out the mops for your guys' guts. This game expects you to think ahead
to what the grand overview of your actions is supposed to be, taking into account all that could and often
does go wrong, and do your best with it. The glorious upside of all this responsibility? Real strategy
actually applies and learning from your mistakes and applying that knowledge is hand-rubbingly oh-so-satisfying.
Since your forces are controlled by fuzzy-logic AI, same as the computer, your men will do their best to
carry out their orders as you gave them. They are, in the end, well-trained troops, indoctrinated by all
that bootcamp... er, code. Whatever... Anyways! So, all your troops do is respond offensively or
defensively to whatever happens dynamically, sticking to the plan you laid out best they can. So, you ask,
how does one succeed with such touches of reality playing part?
By really planning ahead and considering what you'd do if you were your enemy. By letting a certain number
of troops remain on opportunity fire. By using cover and considering morale. Through solid knowledge of
available units and their strengths and weaknesses. And lastly, by not treating your troops as cannon-fodder. Every last
one of them will be necessary to complete your mission. And there's a ton of missions! And, for any history
buffs, you can recreate your favorite stories from history in the included editor, giving ridiculous amounts
of replay value.
You get
as much time as you want to create your plan, and that Go button executes all of a single minute of
actual game time which you can rewatch to your heart's content, from any angle possible. It's like your own
private war movie and this game has a way of making you break out in a sweat when things go off the rails and bursting into cheers
when things beautifully come together. Gritty. Palpable. The good stuff.
The newer versions of this game upped the ante by adding better graphics, but they change very little in
terms of gameplay, and this is frankly a good thing. Even in spite of the graphics (you had to know this was
coming), the gameplay is solid, even if the controls are somewhat clunky and proprietary. RTFM! The graphics can be
updated by quite a bit via the mods link below, though I doubt anyone actually bothering to play it will much
care. Anyways, quite the good game to play on this holiday with "Band of Brothers", "Patton", or "Saving Private Ryan" playing in the background
sans fireworks. That is, unless tanks and mortar shells count.
