The Starcraft: Remastered announcement along with an incoming update for classic Brood War that will make the core game free-to-play has gotten me hyped beyond belief. Brood War is one of my all-time favorite games, and I've played it on-and-off for the last 15 years.
Being in a Brood War mood currently, I found myself listening to the original soundtrack on YouTube and taking note of how good it was and still is.
A common criticism (among many others) of Starcraft 2 is that it failed to cultivate the same gritty sci-fi atmosphere that the original was known for. Starcraft 1 had that late-90's Paul Verhoeven brand of intergalactic sci-fi that I think resonates with a lot of people who lived through that era. SC1's Terran structures and armaments felt heavy and metallic, where everything was technologically advanced yet bulky and cumbersome. It was like a cross between Starship Troopers and Killzone's Helghast. The Zerg were convincingly menacing and alien, again sharing some similarities with the bugs from Starship Troopers while also having plenty of traits distinct to Blizzard's original creation. Finally, the Protoss were a believably advanced alien race with telepathic powers and architecture/weapons that glistened and glimmered as a testament to their technological accomplishments.
And after all of these years playing Brood War it occurred to me that I've probably heard its individual tracks more times than maybe any other in gaming history. The game's handful of compositions fit their respective races perfectly, and I feel that they heavily contributed to the game's memorable atmosphere.
Have a listen to some of the tracks linked below and bask in that moody sci-fi goodness:
Terran Tracks
Zerg Tracks
Protoss Tracks
