Order of War Composed by Jeremy Soule
Direct Song (2009)
Rating: 7/10
Not yet available for sale.
“ORDER OF WAR contains all of the epic-goodness that a gamer (or
World War II enthusiast) might ever look for.”
New Order. Old World.
Review by Christopher Coleman
ORDER OF WAR is a real-time strategy game set in the latter stages of the
European theatre of World War II. Some gamers say that the World War II
foundation has been over mined as a game premise and environment and while
I might tend to agree, I certainly remain open to something new and fresh
that a developer can bring to the genre. In the case of developer's,
Wargaming.net, and publisher's, Square Enix, ORDER OF WAR might just be
that "something fresh.". No ORDER OF WAR is not another FPS (first person
shooter) set somewhere in Europe, but a real-time strategy (RTS) game that
takes a step beyond even in terms of that sub-genre. Interestingly, in
ORDER OF WAR, the player is allowed to participate in the final thrusts of
the European theatre on both fronts; controlling the Allied Advance or
Germany's defense against the Russian counter-offensive in the East. Here
we get much more than a few squads or divisions to control, but entire
armies! ORDER OF WAR also allows the player to control just how these epic
battles are viewed; allowing the game to become much more "cinematic" in
experience than any other WWII strategy game. Given the scope and
breadth of this game, the developers made an epic choice in bringing on
veteran game score composer, JEREMY SOULE.
Composer JEREMY SOULE is no stranger to scoring video game titles
requiring both dramatic depth and fast-faced action music; his best known
works to date being from game franchises such as GUILD WARS, ELDER
SCROLLS, WARHAMMER and HARRY POTTER. Soule has clearly proven his hand at
capturing the sci-fi/fantasy sub-genre, but what about the more realistic
realm of World War II? ORDER OF WAR is, in fact, not his first foray into
these battlefields. With his 2006 work for the well received title,
COMPANY OF HEROES, Soule proved that he could equally handle a real time
strategy game set in the European theatre. Since it's release, Soule's
original score for the game has been praised as highly as the game itself.
And it is this score that ORDER OF WAR most closely compares to. While
there have been recent attempts at putting a new musical spin on World War
II shooters, JEREMY SOULE keeps to the more familiar palette used for this
historic subject matter whether it be for a game, television documentary,
or feature film. In ORDER OF WAR, we are treated to a powerful entrée of
epic, orchestral engagements that occasionally bring to mind some of
Hollywood's best-ever composers. No. ORDER OF WAR doesn't necessarily
offer anything "new," but it does manage to return to that idealized sound
associated with this world war. And somehow, while sticking to
conventions, JEREMY SOULE is able to keep his score fresh and avoids
becoming a second-rate, knock-off of some of the better known WWII games
of recent years.
ORDER OF WAR contains all of the epic-goodness that a gamer (or World War
II enthusiast) might ever look for. To start, Soule employs big brass
fanfares and anthems in tracks such as "A Call to Arms" (1), "A Summons to
Madness" (7), Prelude to Battle (10), "March of the King Tigers" (13), and
"Deployed" (15). Interestingly enough, there is very little thematic
consistency from one track to the next, yet the staple instrumentation of
brass, strings, and heavy percussion provide a foundational consistency.
The effect of offering so many different themes and motifs in this score
is unique. Upon first listen, you might not be bowled-over by the overall
listening experience; not having any single theme ingrained in your brain
as you finish the soundtrack. The flip-side to this is that the listening
experience never becomes tiresome due to that recently documented disease
TLF (of Thematic Listener Fatigue) where one becomes thoroughly worn out
on a particular, over-utilized musical theme or motif. Thankfully,
listening to ORDER OF WAR will not cause symptoms of TLF syndrome...nor
epileptic seizures.
What Soule's music does do is realize the cinematic
goals of the developers. It's big. It's bold. It's brash. While there are
some darker, more subtle tracks that bring needed contrast to the score:
"Dreadful Skies" (3), "Outflanking the Enemy" (6), or "A Soldier's Lot"
(14), the high points of the listening experience are generally found in
faster paced, action cues. The best example is "High Ground" (5). Here we
have five minutes of quintessential, battle music. Brass battles. Snares
and timpani detonate. Strings lift the piece to its very satisfying
climactic moments. Along the way we get moments that will stir the
attention of John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith fans alike. "Prelude
to Battle" (10) invokes a bit of GOLDSMITH, but also the anthem maestro,
BILL CONTI. For more JOHN WILLIAMS-isms, look no further than "Farewell to
Arms" (17), where Soule crafts a march worthy of the next Olympic games.
Despite budgetary constraints that are occasionally reflected in the
music, ORDER OF WAR is a fairly solid listen. Some synthesized instruments
do call attention to themselves sporadically and at such moments the
listener can be brought out of that "cinematic" experience. Certainly,
this is a small gripe against a decent score, but it does cause one to
wonder at just how good this would sound performed by a large, live
orchestra. Pretty fantastic, would be my guess. That
said, due credit has to be given to JEREMY SOULE once again for milking a
realistic performance out of his kit of electronics and sample libraries.
It's true that the sparse thematic cohesion may detract from the
experience for some, but for most, ORDER OF WAR will prove an engaging
listen. On another sad note, even with there still being plenty of
room in the console market for such a game, ORDER OF WAR is being released
for Windows PC only. But all ye Console-faithful don't lose heart and
don't let that deter you from checking out the music. There are
rumored plans of an abbreviated soundtrack release with a collector's
edition of the game, but the full and official soundtrack is to be
released as a digital download (320 kbit) from DirectSong in late
September 2009. If you are looking for some music to bring you back into
the story, strategy and hardware of World War II, then take a look and
listen to JEREMY SOULE's ORDER OF WAR.
