 A bleak and nihilistic fantasy-horror, the game boasts vampiric entities, spectres, wraiths and even Lovecraftian abominations, all of which Raziel must negotiate in order to meet his erstwhile Father at its climax. Thirteen For Halloween 2022: The Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver Ask any video game fan of a particular age to name a soundtrack that affected them profoundly, and odds on there will at least be a passing mention of The Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. A surprising franchise to make the quantum leap to three dimensions and 32-bit systems in the late 1990s, Soul Reaver was the sequel to a much less-regarded PC title by the name of Blood Omen. Whereas that title was a more classic, top-down RPG, it made a name for itself by being one of the very few gothic-horror titles in that genre, as well as its superb script and voice acting (a true rarity at the time, when the vast majority of video game voice-acting consisted of poorly-recorded and compressed lines read by whoever happened to be hanging around the studios at the time). Boasting the voice talent of numerous inveterate voice-actors such as Simon Templeman, Michael Bell and the legenday Tony Jay, Blood Omen was one of the first video games to boast an entirely voice-acted script and to tell its story without vast reams of text scrolling across the screen. As well as fantastic voice-acting (unequalled in its era), the game also boasted a moody, gothic-horror soundtrack to complement its visuals. Whilst not particularly remarkable, it served its purpose well, enhancing what was a gaphical archaism beyond what might otherwise have been a diverting but ultimately flawed work. Skip forward a year or two, and we have the game's sequel: the technically ambitious, three-dimensional adventure that is Soul Reaver. Whereas the original game explored the origins and intriguing destiny of the vampire-noble, Kain, Soul Reaver hurtles the action forward by a measure of millennia, to a time when Kain has swollen beyond any lingering humanity he might've boasted to become the vampire-tyrant of the land of Nosgoth. Rather than playing as the monarch himself, the protagonist of this sequel is Raziel, first and foremost of Kain's vampire sons, who, in the game's opening sequence, is mutilated by Kain in an apparent fit of jealousy over his evolution of a set of demonic wings (a “gift” Kain himself has yet to achieve). Cast into the swirling waters of Nosgoth's abyss, Raziel's vampiric flesh is burned as though immersed in acid. Enduring an eternity of torment, he eventually finds himself in the twisted alternate reality of the spirit realm, where he has been reborn as a soul-devouring ghoul, seemingly at the behest of a faceless Elder-God, who acts as Raziel's guide throughout the game. The game is a graphical and technical marvel compared to its predecessor, boasting a three-dimensional environment that can be altered and manipulated by Raziel as he transitions between spirit and physical dimensions. As before, its script, story and voice acting are exemplary; what begins as a simple quest of vengeance becomes more nuanced and convoluted as we and Raziel learn more of his labyrinthine destiny, which is somehow bound up with Kain's own. A bleak and nihilistic fantasy-horror, the game boasts vampiric entities, spectres, wraiths and even Lovecraftian abominations, all of which Raziel must negotiate in order to meet his erstwhile Father at its climax. From the first notes, the soundtrack is a step beyond almost anything else on the market at the time: mixing gothic, operatic scores with discordant, shrieking guitars and rock and roll riffs, the main Soul Reaver theme -that continues in various forms throughout the subsequent series of games- is a masterpiece of mythological epicness, communicating not only the nihilism of Nosgoth's metaphysics, but also the profound significance of Raziel's quest (not to mention the unspeakably complex game Kain himself is playing). The intro alone is epic enough to leave the player breathless, its FMV (Full Motion Video) graphics extremely impressive for the era, the soundtrack complementing and enhancing every moment. Following Raziel's resurrection, he finds himself in the spirit realm; a twisted, distorted, eerily lit parody of physical reality. Here, buildings and structures warp or stretch in impossible ways, moving objects trail phantasmal after-images of themselves, and light flickers all manner of unnatural, pellucid colours. The subtle score of the spirit realm is more muted and recessed than in the physical realm, emphasising its strangeness and lack of substance. Just as the graphics shift and change when Raziel transitions between states, so too does the score: In the physical realm, tracks are always clearer and more pronounced, emphasising the cataclysmic decay Kain's empire has wrought upon Nosgoth. This is a world on its knees, brought to the brink of metaphysical unraveling by the decisions of a solitary man. The score shrieks and wails that quality: as well as complementing the action of the game, it also echoes with utter despair, a moribund sense that, no matter what Raziel does, Nosgoth is doomed to succumb to its cancer.  As the game progresses, Raziel encounters all manner of incredible environments, from the graveyard-realm of his brother, Melchaia (swollen over the aeons into a rotting hulk of necrotic flesh) to the infested cathedral that houses the spider-like swarms of his sibling, Zephon. Each of these areas boasts their own soundtracks, that alter or change depending on Raziel's circumstances. When he finds himself in combat with the twisted progeny of his vampire brothers, the soundtrack becomes more rapid and urgent, redolent of the threat he faces. In moments of relative serenity, it settles into a more sedate condition, but always echoes with the faint horror of Nosgoth's unraveling condition. Each of Kain's monstrously mutated vampire sons has their own peculiar themes, composed to complement the unique horror-archetypes they've come to inhabit. The aforementioned Melchaia, for example, boasts a piece that is simultaneously horrific and epic, being the first of Raziel's brothers the emergent Soul Reaver encounters, and therefore the first indication he has of how degenerate the vampire empire has become. Zephon's, on the other hand, is more discordant and classically horrific, redolent of the scuttling of insects and the skitter of spiders across their webs. As the game progresses, and the mystery not only of Kain's agenda but Raziel's true nature deepens, so too does the soundtrack shift in synchronicity. Whereas before, the score cried and howled with Raziel's vengeful rage, as he becomes more befuddled and intrigued by his own destiny, the music adopts a contemplative, mysterious quality, making it plain that, whatever Raziel -and, via him, the player- has assumed, it is profoundly misconceived. Kain did not mutilate and “murder” Raziel on a jealous whim. Rather, his agenda is more ineffable, relating to the broken metaphysics of Nosgoth itself, which Raziel may be the key to redeeming (or, indeed, destroying utterly). As an early example of three-dimensional, gothic horror, Soul Reaver boasts a score that is as memorable as it is unique. There is nothing in its era that is quite the same, and very little that equals its peculiar meshing of visual style and auditory epicness. Even today, the soundtrack stands as a profound influence on much of what has come later, and is a fantastic example of the new vistas video game designers and composers were exploring during an era when evolving technology had blown wide the parameters of previous assumptions. Check out George's other entries in this series belowHORROR SOUNDTRACKS - SHADOW MAN CHECK OUT TODAY'S OTHER ARTICLES BELOW  THE HEART AND SOUL OF HORROR PROMOTION WEBSITES Comments are closed.
|
Archives
April 2023
|
RSS Feed
|
|