There are many songs that have remained virtually unchanged. The shredding, arpeggiated solos are much more present than on Symphony of Enchanted Lands, reminding me a lot of early DragonForce. For example, take Warrior of Ice, Alive and Proud (Lord of the Thunder) and Holy Wind (Riding the Winds of Eternity), all three of which are similar in the regard that their versions on official Rhapsody studio releases down the line have the addition of orchestral sections (and some major reworking on Holy Wind in particular). But this is made up for by the focus on the guitars. Rather than the grand orchestrations of Symphony of Enchanted Lands, it almost feels like the orchestra is just kind of.there. It’s very interesting to see the direction Rhapsody was headed at this point. The vocals of Cristiano Adacher are also almost drowned out by everything else going on. The entire mix really feels too quiet almost, but I don’t expect perfection from a demo, so whatever. The bass is virtually inaudible, only coming through at a few different points. The guitar tone is ok, but lacks the cleanliness and polish of later Rhapsody studio productions. Then again, in those days you had to work with what you had, and that meant scouring everywhere for a damn violin sound for your keyboard. The orchestrations are the most obvious point of this, sticking out like a sore thumb. It’s very obvious they were in over their heads at least at the time for their vision. Regarding production, it’s not exactly the pinnacle of metal demos. Luca Turilli, who had only been playing guitar for all of six years at this point shows a clear understanding of his instrument that many veteran guitarists lack, and, most importantly, the ability to absolutely fucking shred, a key feature of power metal by all agreements. Even despite its quality of production which I will absolutely touch on, it’s rather impressive that at such a young age Turilli and the gang displayed a huge level of both confidence and ability at their selected instruments. Actually, many of the songs here outdo their counterparts on Legendary Tales and Symphony of Enchanted Lands in that department. The most intriguing thing about this is the sheer skill on display. While initially Rhapsody had released a demo as Thundercross prior, this is the more complete version of this demo, and as such this is the version that should be looked at to answer the question, “Just where the hell did these guys come from?” Even in the far, far away lands of the early to mid 1990s, what has since become one of the most influential power metal bands in history was struggling with the same initial trial by fire (of Fire?): the demo tape. Fighting! Players are able to fight with eachother (on PK maps) and with various animals, in the wilderness (or even in populated areas).Every once in a while an act comes along in the endless stream of aspiring bedroom-studio musicians that catches the eye-or more accurately, the ear-of both the general public and recording labels.Implemented, but still under development. Players are able to trade their items with others. There are many outside places to explore, and caves, dungeons, insides of buildings, etc. Each player can customize the colors & hair of their avatar. It is really nice to observe the lakes in the morning/evening. Also, the color of the water changes, according to the time of the day. Furthermore, the water moves a little, having very small waves, so all the reflected objects/sky are animated. All the nearby objects, and the sky, are reflected in the water. Shadows can be turned on/off, by the player, in case their machine can't handle them properly, at a decent frame rate. In the morning, the shadows become more and more visible, while in the evening they fade out, having a very smooth transition. The shadows respect the sun position, so they move while the sun travels on the sky. The light changes very smoothly, one a minute based enviroment table. The evening starts at 3:00, and at 4:00 it's full night. Morning starts at 0:00, and at 1:00 it's full daylight. As opposed to the 2D isometric games, you can turn the camera at any angle you want, on the Z axes (perpendicular to the ground), and see new details of the objects that were previously obscured. If you are not a PKer, then you can stay on the non PK maps, where you don't have to worry about being attacked by other players. If you are a PKer, you can fight other PKers in special maps. There are 9 skills, many quests, total character development freedom, religion, a lot of NPCs, animals and monsters. Eternal Lands is a MMORPG client (massive multiplay online role playing game) currently under development.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |