There are many great games out there with fantastic OST's. Each week (when I can remember to) I'll post about one song from an OST that I think deserves attention.

This time it's Metal Gear Solid 2's Yell "Dead Cell".

My Boss claimed this sounds like something you'd trip out on whilst getting high clubbing, but I actually think it's rather good.

The original MGS and it's sequel are only set four years apart, but Sons Of Liberty's soundtrack has a certain 'futuristic' feel to it, even though both games at the time of their releases were set in the future. This is probably in part due to the games 'digital age' theme, though in all honesty MGS2 has many themes. Even the classic, now rarely heard in Metal Gear Games, Metal Gear Solid Theme is given a futuristic makeover, with electronic sprinklings during the opening, and squealing synths replaced with a military like drum roll.

What I like about Yell "Dead Cell" is that it's wild. It feels like a loose cannon, unpredictable and slightly unsettling. Words that sum up the Dead Cell members quite well. In reality it's a perfectly timed, intricately composed piece that instils excitement, panic and fear all at the same time.

In truth this week could've been one of any number from the Metal Gear games. The soundtracks to this series are consistently good. But it was Yell "Dead Cell"'s ability to take me back in time, to relive the moment I first faced Vamp and the others, that made it to this times Game OST track of the week.

Take a listen and tell me what you think.

There are many great games out there with fantastic OST's. Each week (when I can remember to) I'll post about one song from an OST that I think deserves attention.

This week I present to you Ocean, from The Legend Of Zelda: Wind Waker. It's no secret that Wind Waker is my favourite Zelda game. I've played pretty much all the Zelda games, minus the CDi triumphs, and for me none of them capture the sense of adventure as well as Wind Waker.

The music in the game is, as with most Zelda games, fantastic. I believe the audio jump from the N64's Ocarina Of time to this Gamecube title was just as impressive as the brilliant cell shading.

Ocean is the track that plays when you're sailing from island to island. At times this can become monotonous and frustrating, but somehow Ocean manages to keep you going, and converts a potentially boring portion of the game into an ambitious exciting and grand voyage into the unknown. The beat matches the rhythm of the sea, and the odd crashing symbol fits the turning of the waves perfectly. All of this is done whilst keeping the melody extremely close to the Zelda theme, making it feel familiar yet new at the same time.

I actually really enjoyed the sailing sections, it was new and different, the colours were bright and bold and the music adventurous. It's a track that has always stuck in my mind, and that can only be a good thing.

Take a listen, and tell me what you think.

I gotta say, I haven’t played a variety of games this week. I usually find myself having played a series of different genres, somehow or another, but this week it’s just been Persona 4 and Crystal Chronicles. I’ve already spoken about both of these, but I’m going to speak about Persona 4 a bit more, because this game just keeps on giving.

Persona 4 (PS2)

If you’re looking for spoilers, endurance runners, skip to the next section.

I’ve just finished the void quest. I really liked the style of this dungeon. I have a little gripe with Persona 4, and that’s all the floors within a dungeon look the same. P4 makes up for this on the most part though, because each dungeon (I’ve seen so far) is totally unique. The boss was great, and really enjoyable. It did have me going ‘Oh Christ, no!’ a couple of times, mainly when the heavy elemental attacks started to crunch my probably under levelled party of MC, Yuki (S.Link max), Teddie and Chie, but I managed to pull through.

The visuals during the battle were a cool little extra too, showing up a retro-style battle command menu from the point of view of the boss, letting you see what it looks like for you to be the enemy in a battle for once.

After the battle came the omelettes, and I thought that whole little sequence was pretty funny, and heart-warming, something many RPG’s don’t really manage to do. Persona 4 really makes you feel a connection to the characters, and isn’t dissimilar to Mother 3 in that respect, including the omelette eating.

Nintendo- DSi Burauzaa

DSi Browser (NDSi)

This isn’t a game, I know, but I downloaded this today and my god is it poor. I really didn’t want it to be, but it just is. Maybe it’s the hardware, but I tried to load giantbomb.com a couple of times, and each time it failed to load due to memory constraints. I’m not sure who’s using the DSi browser, but apparently they’re browsing sites made in 1996, because the DSi can’t handle anything else.

That’s a little (or very) harsh, because it did load bbc.co.uk eventually, even if it didn't play any flash content. But I recommend people stay well away from this as a main browser. Then again, people who are using the DS or DSi to browse the internet are clearly nut jobs, so...

A pretty uneventful week, as Persona 4 and Final Fantasy took up most of my time. Next week though, a whole plethora of games will be played, and with a SNES (pronounced SNEZ where I'm from) and a Mega Drive hooked up, it's gonna get retro!

There are many great games out there with fantastic OST's. Each week (when I can remember to) I'll post about one song from an OST that I think deserves attention.

Today it's Mother and Pollyanna (I Believe In You). I remember reading somewhere that at the time of it's release, a comment was made about Mother's music, and it went along the line's of 'it actually sounds like a song', rather than a generic sounding backing track I guess, which was somewhat more common to video games back in 1989, and I'm sure that Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu Tanaka, the composers, would've taken great pride from that. Pollyanna, for many Mother fans, is a special song. It's actually quite a moving peice too, and the way it achieves any emotional stirs form its listener are quite subtle.

Take a listen, and tell me what you think. Then, learn you some Japanese boy, 'cos you buying Mother 1 + 2 for the GBA! Ahem... Sorry about that.

Oh, and I'm aware in the video it's Ness walking about, instead of Ninten.

As far as I see it, if someone is buying a game used, that means it was once bought full price. So the publisher isn't losing money there, and the new owner might become interested in that game and buy the follow up when it's realeased, new. If the game wasn't cheap due to use, then that buyer wouldn't have bought it... because they didn't when it was new. Phew!

Anyhow, if the game is selling well used, it must have sold well new.