Relaxing Lamentations of Rouge Warrior

Rouge Warrior(2009) is a military shooter where the player follows Dick Marcinko on his many adventures. It's based on self-insert novels of Richard Marchinko, an US Navy veteran. The game is remarked as unremarkable shooter by the most, but it's notable for Dick's one-liners and the credits theme which uses said one-liners
Regardless of how good the game is, I find the song to be deeply enjoyable and meaningful. Let us look at it deeper.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVoyGUcXepc

Fuckin ninja style
Im gonna bring it to em
Im gonna show em what time it is.
Its fun to bring the noise
AH
you morons'll love this
Hope you assholes like fireworks

Dick is a covert-op soldier, so stealth is the bread and butter of his job. However, although Dick is quite capable at it, he doesn't really like sneaking. From first lines, he makes the operations very personal as he is "gonna show what time it is" and "it is fun to bring the noise", despite having no connection to many faceless enemies he kills. Also notable is the "ninja style", a rather cheesy description from a professional soldier like him.

OOH
Fucking commies getting in my way
Well surprise mutherfuckers!
Happy fucking birthday
Thats right Nighty-night you sweet piece of shit
Enjoy the ride, cocksuckers Have a nice trip
Boom time baby
Trick or treat
Looks like a party,
C'mon I got places to go, people to meet.
Assholes are everywhere
Fuckers are out in force
Hi ho, hi ho This fuckers gonna blow.

Although it contrasts with his deadpan voice, he is clearly having fun or at least does not really take the combat seriously. For him, this is often a game, just like US Army advertises itself as, but just as often, simple chores. There are two equally plausible readings. Either Dick sincerely enjoys war or as his cold voice suggests, he is too desensitized to see any pain and pretends to be in action flick to not get bored. However, it is pretty clear he takes particular delight in explosions, not even in a chauvinistic, or even masculine way, but more like the same way children enjoy doing mischief: "Hi ho hi ho", the childish search for a joy stands with a rather chilling contrast with a grizzly hyper-masculine warrior.

Anytime Anywhere Anyplace
Kickin ass and taking names
Who's the hardest motherfuckers around
HAH
Rock and roll, motherfuckers Rock and roll

He is the tough action hero, and in cartoonish way, but looking beneath, it's rather troubling. Because Dick actually doesn't really have a higher motive, an ideology or even blind patriotism. He just fights, "anytime anywhere anyplace". "Kicking ass, takin' names", but over the course of game, he just kills many, many nameless people. He, deep down, wants to find some meaning; so he inflates the importance of his actions. Unfortunately for him, his skills are rather unmatched, there are really no "names" to be his rival. Dick Mackenzie, is the ultimate subversion of edgy alpha hero. He is forever bitter, empty and tries to have some pleasure in the persona of a cheesy character and shiny "fireworks". Just like a child, he needs to constantly prove that he is the "hardest motherfucker around", he needs to get that affirmation, "HAH". Pay attention to the way he brings together random insults, he swears just for profanity itself, just like an adolescent child would do. Yet he is not a child, he is a middle-aged man, he can't truly act like one, he has only mere glimpses of that age "rock and roll". Perhaps, he never did a proper childhood himself, perhaps this is why he came to the path of killing nameless people in unknown places...

OOH AHHH
Hide and seek, motherfuckers
Anybody home? Daddy's here c'mon, glad to see me fuckers? *bang bang bang*
Send me the bill Motherf*cking c*cksuckers
Im over here fuckface!! (gunshot)
<Theres gonna be fucking asses bleeding all over the place>
Sorry, assholes, but your quiet day at the office is about to get severely f*cked up

He feels so empty that he actively desires the rush of a physical injury, particularly blood. He yearns blood, but particularly his own, "Anybody home" is another cheesy line on surface, but it really reveals his search for a rival, someone who might bleed his own asshole. It is followed by a particularly striking line. "Your quite day at the office" is something he will never get. He has a heroic life many people will get jealous, he is held as a masculine icon, yet all he wants inside "a quite day". He has torn apart by this very conflict, his desire for "quite day" is so strong, yet he detest being quiet. This is why he hates stealth, constantly talks and is loud as possible. Explosions, gunshots, anyway to make him possibly get hurt are his way to keep the screams of "quite day"s at bay. This is a contradiction he can never get away, he hates silence, but also frequently finds himself in needlessly dangerous stunts, so he might can have some peace, the only "quite day" he can ever have.

Anytime Anywhere Anyplace
Kicking ass and taking names
Whos the hardest motherf*ckers around, HAH?...
Gimmie a goddamn break!
But, he can't get an eternal rest normal ways, if he goes down, it needs to be epic and manly, "he is the hardest motherfucker", so he will continue to "kick ass and take names"
Good place to blow some shit up.
AH OOH MM AH HNNNGH
What the fuck was I doing again? Oh, yeah. F*cking sh*t up. (bomb sound)

Yet, he is getting old. And it is are catching up to him more and more strongly. Each kill, each pointless operation crushes what remains of Dick Mackenzie. He requires stronger and stronger stimuli, just as one can require stronger painkillers if they are overly dependant on them. In every bomb he detonates, there is more explosions and less anything else inside Dick's heart. What could he do in any given moment? "F*ckin shit up". A true murder machine, the perfect soldier, but barely anything human...

Goddamn, cock breath commie motherfuckers!
You fucking asshole You fucking pig farmers!
Drop dead motherf*cker, you fucking amateurs
I own your fucking souls fucking commie bitch
Yeah, some capitalism for you, pussy shitty pig
Time to move
I got bad guys to send to Commie Heaven
...

As typical of Cold-War era, his worldview is shaped by anti-communist propaganda. However, as I mentioned, he really doesn't care. The politics are just one-liners to him, he might just as well fight against USA, Nazis, zombies or his own parents and his ferocity, his cold demeanor would not change. In a way, he represents the players of shooter games. The main appeal of the shooters is shooting after all, we often don't care who we shoot. As we see here, this aversion to ideology can be just as, if not more dangerous than outright propaganda. Reducing "capitalism" to power of your army and "commie" to just another insult is a more insidious indoctrination than maintaining an illusion that capitalism is benevolent. Remember that, fascism often is also marketed as to be above ideology and purposes glory as the human achievement. Fascism expects you to carry about a lot of really abstract concepts, but is that really different than a man whom nothing matters besides some explosions, some epic kills, some badassary. Dick Mackenzie, the broken man, is really the model citizen of the class society under capitalism. And a true Edgy Manly Hero like him is really different the Great Man of the fascist ideal" . Notice that one of the insults Dick uses is "pig farmers". Not only "pig farmer" is a type of quiet life he can never have, but one also he seems himself above. He has a man destined for Greatness after all. But as we clearly see, the glory is just more and more of the same, to the point even being a Great Man loses its meaning. Perhaps being a nobody does not bring glory, but it does bring "a quite day in the office". Fascism promises many things, but never peace. Capitalism is also the natural enemy of the simple life. You can't be "a pig farmer", where you just work enough to feed yourself and your community. No, you have to be more and more productive, you need to optimize yourself, grow and grow forever, until we run out of everything it all gets empty. "Time to move", we have work to do. More people to shoot, it's just gun and a bad guy to blow. Personalities, emotions, thoughts, faith are all mere caricatures; just make things blow, get another kill, send another one to "Heaven". The place you can never reach, a quiet, peaceful place. But you are really cool at least, right?
The tune of the song itself confirms the same feeling. Dick might be a broken man, even his inner struggles became mundane. Despite the storms raging inside him, from outside he really is no different looking from an ordinary man, having a quiet day at his office; as if he had lived none of this, as he if he is just a grandfather trying to impress his grandchildren by telling adventures from bygone era, half-truth, half-fiction. Above all else, the adventures are fun to listen, despite whatever pain they hide inside, just like this very song itself; story of a broken man in a chill tune by colorful lines from a middle-aged man who is on a lunch break...
And, that's to me, what this song feels like!

An Orchestra of Bards and Soldiers: Knights of Honor Soundtrack

Ah, Knights of Honor, one of my favourite childhood games... It's still a pretty good and memorable experience and the soundtrack is one of its most powerful assets. Specifically, it has three qualities that makes it so great:

• They are reasonably catchy , listenable for a long time and avoids being generic despite all being orchestral.
• They have a medieval air to them while avoiding sounding like they try too hard to be stereotypically medieval.
• They compliment the mood and fit to game's pace nicely, avoiding being to overwhelming or getting drowned in background.

In terms of themes it can be said that game has actually too soundtracks: A lighter, slower, more peaceful one is for overworld; and a heavier, more boisterous, more punchy one for the battle map.
First, let's listen some tracks from the overworld.















https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKghZxlbTLo
A light, chill and energetic song. Harp strings followed by guitar and flutes with slowly rising bells and tambourine give it a nice flow. It functions both as a nice background tune while playing and a pleasant piece on its own.













https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82rfU4Wo4hQ
An excellent two phrase sound. Until 1:20, it's a melodramatic sound, reminding us the aftermath of wars and generally gives a sour tone on your action. Then, it gets livelier but still low-key melodramic, as if reminding there are hopeful days again, but not celebratory. It encourages you to look proudly when your country prospers and at peace but also warns you that it all might come to an end.














https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5A3lWkUTd8
This is probably the most atmospheric track in the game. Among more energetic tracks, it gives a nice feeling of cooling down. It also gives a little weight to your decisions, reminding you behind those colorful maps you are affecting real people.











https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRjNcbDuxrs
If you guessed this music is exclusive to Muslim countries, you get zero points. Well, it is borderline stereotypical, but still, it's such a relaxed piece, actually fitting to a safe haven in a desert. It might feel a bit too relaxed even but when you actually listen it while playing it feels pleasant. Or, maybe I just listened it too many times.
Now, let's look at some of the battle themes instead:









https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MHZCYVqIPw
All battle music in Knights of Honor is similar in that they all have a slow waiting time, waiting  for the pre-battle speech, then rising slowly in anticipation of close combat and goes full streptioso near end. This song in particular does it twice, first peaks 1:13 calms down until 1:48 then strikes with full streptioso again.







https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EowWuNkj638
This one is more tonally consistent and typically medieval sounding ones, especially chants starts to kick in the latter half of the song. My personal favorite is the flute segment at 1:11, really brings down the melody to earth, making it strangely feel proud and humble at the same time





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTRYte36nx8
I really like the feeling of the "hunt" in this one. Even when it goes fully orchestral, it still has a very distinct feeling; a more direct, brutal side of the battle rather than an adventurous one. It really increases the tension in battles between otherwise somewhat goofy (in an endearing way) looking character models.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogxCLi4CG9U
Ah, here is the most medieval-sounding track. I will be honest, as long as I enjoy it, I am not a huge fan of this type of music getting overused, it can get overwhelming sometimes. (I am looking at you, Medieval 2: Total War) But in KoH, it is used with maximum efficiency, sounding daunting and holier-than-thou, but still retains its distinct Knights of Honor flavor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6u4EsjBlb8
If this song sounds like it is almost made of two different songs, because yeah it is, kind of. The part after 2:35 is used as the main menu theme. This song as a whole might be the theme of Knights of Honor itself, the most glorious, forceful one, yet it still gives breathers to the listener; building and releasing tension beautifully. As the menu theme, it gives a nice welcome to the player, instantly giving a sense of adventure.
Knights of Honor soundtrack is one of the best among strategy games and orchestral soundtracks. The game's solid sound design also helps a lot. Horses running, swords clashing, soldiers crying, weather sounds all blend nicely with music. The game also sometimes plays no music at all, letting players rest before pulling into the atmosphere again. The only improvement I can see is the soundtrack playing independently from events happening from game. But honestly, that's not very easy to do while keeping a consistent athmosphere, so I don't see it as a flaw. Overall, it is definitely worth checking out and you can listen the whole soundtrack from here.
This article is written thanks to my dearest Patrons and special thanks to: Alexandra Morgan, Laura Watson and Spencer Gill.