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When a Hack& Slash game claims to be ‘as addictive as Diablo’, it is normally nothing but a farfetched, empty promise. However, there is always the occasional action RPG game that can actually live up to these lofty expectations. ‘Legend: Hand of God’ is, most certainly, one of them. In addition to its great Diablo-like gameplay, fine graphics, and top-notch audio samples, Master Creation Studios’ title introduces some fresh ideas (e.g. the mouse cursor as an NPC) which makes it more than just another clone of Blizzard Entertainment‘s masterpiece. The positive reviews in the Polish press speak for themselves. But how about the soundtrack? Is it at least nearly as good as the game itself? Let’s take a closer look…

Composing or selecting an appropriate soundtrack for a video game is a rather important issue these days— the tracks are expected to be professional and cinematic (soundtracks nowadays must be more sophisticated than The Mario Bros Theme) and must fit the overall atmosphere of a given title. Luckily, Master Creation could not have chosen a better music studio: their choice - Dynamedion—is known for composing fine soundtracks for titles such as Ankh, Drakensang, Gothic 3, Sacred 2, and the entire Spellforce series. Dynamedion’s soundtracks are particularly special in their outstanding care for music detail, as well as in the unique harmony of their seemingly-disparate tracks (while the songs individually don’t seem to fit the general ambience of the soundtrack, they work beautifully as a whole.) These attributes often result in a soundtrack that, is often better than the game itself. For example, a track from the Dynamedion-produced ‘Paraworld’ soundtrack - ‘Titan‘, to be precise - was awarded ‘Best Original Instrumental Song’ in the Game Audio Network Guild’s 2006 awards. The RTS game itself, on the other hand, was basically unnoticed. Is this the case with this new release? Is Legend’s OST better than the game?

The soundtrack starts out with an epic symphony called ‘Hand of God’, performed on a tasteful concoction of several wind instruments and some membranophones—mainly kettledrums—which help the track achieve a rather dense ambience. There is a slight sense of danger lurking somewhere over the horizon. The next two tracks—namely, ‘Forlorn Monastery’ and ‘The Great Plan’ - sustain a similar tone, but increase in intensity: they begin to build up a nearly tangible, dark atmosphere, deprived of the light, lofty motives typical in most heroic cRPG games. The gathering clouds of unease are lifted, albeit slightly, by ‘Turint’—a tranquil, melancholic tune gifted with a simple, yet tasteful form. The atmospheric difference is mainly due to the empowering effect of a female vocal that seems to grace the track with a dim beam of optimism. Unfortunately, this sense of hope is quenched almost instantly with the next two tunes: ‘Through the Deathdowns’ and ‘The Crypt’. The names of these tracks boldly state that the grim ambience has returned, and this time, is here to stay. Now, however, it is built by slightly different means; the sense of danger and mystery is achieved by distorted and distant choirs, drums and chimes. Generally, the ambience created within the first two tracks is basically maintained throughout the entire album, which is a rather rare feature for these type of productions.