VGCulture - Friday Ranting on Music and Call of Duty

Hey everyone, it's Friday!  Yay!  I honestly didn't know what to write about today since my mind has been clouded from last night's horrible experience on Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Source: http://www.news.com.au/technology/call-of-duty-black-ops-offers-offline-multiplayer-practice-mode/story-e6frfro0-1225913375352

I'm not saying that it's a bad game (gracious no) because I sincerely enjoy playing it.  But I haven't had as bad of a night playing the game as I did last night (5-8 consecutive loses, avg 0.68 kdr, frequently repeated death sprees, etc.).  I decided to try out new loadouts with new weapons and different strategies.  When I did, the night became progressively worse.  I realized no one used akimbo attachment, or in Black Ops it's simply called dual-wield, and wanted to try it out.  I tried it out on a sub-machine gun (I don't remember the name since I got it just last night) and could not aim to save my life (which is true for the most part but more so this time).  The recoil was unruly and popped my aim up faster than I could kill a player with.  I wasn't expecting that since I use Akimbo P90s in Modern Warfare 2.  I replaced my three-shot burst M16 for a single-shot M14 to try out on Hardcore Deathmatch and it simply doesn't kill the player fast enough compared to those using a Galil or AK47.  I still can't use a sniper rifle since I am terrible at it.  I never liked sniping in Call of Duty, and it's one of my favorite weapons in FPS games (I use it in Medal of Honor, MAG, Resistance 2, and sometimes Counter-Strike Source) just because of how difficult it is to control it and how heavy the camping it has to be before successfully getting a good snipe.  And I also tried out a dual wield shotgun which granted me no kills whatsoever.  Among my failure for constructing solid loadouts like I did before, I always ended up in losing teams against players who were in their 5th and 6th prestige.  I would get killed by players I never see or spawned behind me.  What frustrated me most were all the attacks I made that never connected.  Lag has been an issue in the game since the day it launched, but I can't complain about bugs, glitches and lag in the game because it balances itself out (oddly enough).  Getting killed when I'm well behind cover because of lag really bugs me, but I have to admit that I get ridiculous kills too like when I killed someone with one shot with an M14 at their leg last night.  I ended the night feeling overwhelmed, but what surprised me was all the things that were going through my mind.  Instead of thinking "freaking camper" like I usually do, I was thinking "what worked and didn't work?  What weapons should I change and did changing the kill streak really help?  How can I react and aim faster?  How should I face players who camp and snipe?"  I think that's what I like about FPS like Call of Duty, being able to progressively grow as a player and get better at something I have an interest in.  I guess it's the RPG gamer inside of me thinking up strategies with equipment, levels, and skills.  As much as I hate getting repeatedly owned by high prestige players, I'd go against any pro player versus an aimbot hacker any day.  I just keep in mind that I get better faster when going against players that much better than everyone else including me.

ANYWAYS, before I got into the night of playing Black Ops, I was searching and listening to music since I haven't had new music in a while.  I had finished watching Scott Pilgrim vs. The World a few nights ago and really enjoyed it.  The music really stood out to me and I did some research and found that a lot of musicians contributed to the movie.  What surprised me was that Beck created most of the songs in the movie.

Source: Youtube Channel ScottPilgrimMusic

Along with the movie, I played the demo to the game a while back and was excited to hear that the animation was done by Paul Robertson (his art is insane and scary as much as it is awesome) and the music was composed by Anamanaguchi.  I didn't learn of that man and the band until they were mentioned by friends within my game development class and club.  The game's first level has a really catchy tune to it, but it's hard for me to remember it for some reason.  I know it when I hear it.  I listen to a lot of videogame music and have been running into some great composition and mixes lately from games that I've bought.

Source: Youtube Channel BlackRyuOmegaIII

This song sounds best loud and with heavy bass.  It's an amazing experience listening to it.  I have to admit that I never played through the original Bionic Commando and always meant to since I've always heard so many great things about it.  I bought Rearmed on Steam and planned on playing it, but feel the need to play the original to fully appreciate this reboot.  Power Plant is actually a remix from the original game.  I like listening to a lot of peaceful tunes like ones that Nobuo Uematsu composes for Final Fantasy, but sometimes I want to find songs with high energy that makes me feel excited and "in the zone".

Source: Youtube Channel IndieGameMusicHD

I finished VVVVVV 1-2 weeks ago and really enjoyed the challenge it gave.  The music really got me into the mood and really contributed to the whole experience throughout the game.  It has an atmosphere of high energy, traversing, and a bit of 8-bit flavor (it doesn't feel nostalgic for me, but it's not a bad thing).   The soundtrack can be bought HERE!

Source: Youtube Channel ARGCi
Do you hear that Bass?  The bass is amazing.  I haven't finished Shatter yet, but I had a really good first experience with the game mainly due to this song.  It really got me into the grove of the game.  The game was alright.   It's break-out with some twists.  I find the most exciting part of the game to be the boss battles.  It really put me on edge and felt like a really nice challenge.  The rest of the soundtrack is alright, but not as amazing as this one track.  It can be bought HERE!

Other than that, I went back to listen to songs from Street Fighter IV, Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3, and a game called Lord of Arcana which had Nobuo Uematsu's compositions in it.  That's it for now.  I think I'm going to try playing some Call of Duty Black Ops and redeem myself for last night's disastrous matches.