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  • Jukebox Heroes: Soul of the Ultimate Nation's soundtrack

    by 
    Justin Olivetti
    Justin Olivetti
    03.12.2013

    Yes, you're seeing the header graphic correctly; Howard Shore is the powerhouse behind Soul of the Ultimate Nation's soundtrack. Yes, it's that Howard Shore -- The Lord of the Rings guy (not to mention all of his dozens of other film score projects dating back to 1979). How this smallish MMO was able to attract the likes of Mr. Shore I have no idea, but we're faced with the reality that the game did and this exists. Other than doing a little double-take when I first found this out, I'm really cool with it. I love it when well-known movie composers dip into video games, such as when Harry Gregson-Williams branched out to do several of the Metal Gear Solid titles. Shore's works are really distinctive and give SUN a sound that's far more "professional" than many of the game's contemporaries. That said, it's not the best score I've ever heard. It's quite noisy and pulls a little too much from the LotR films. Sometimes composers crib their own works (Harry Potter's music is John William's shameless ripoff of his own Home Alone soundtrack), and that's just how it goes. Let's take a look at an MMO scored by a Hollywood bigshot, shall we?