The topic of video game music has been covered many times on this blog however after a recent Comic Con trip when I was introduced to the score to Dues Ex, I started to really think about what soundtracks and themes really stand out. I wrote 3N3MY a couple of days later telling him that until now, I had never wanted to play a game solely because of the music. Dues Ex: Human Revolution changed that. The song Icarus (as I have it) blew me away and really drew me into a game that I knew nothing about, let alone even seen! This got me thinking about some of my favorite games and how a large percentage of them have phenomenal music scores, much like my favorite movies. A good game has good game-play and and a good story. A great game as both of these, great sound effects and a musical score that act as the glue that bring it all together. They make a game feel complete. A couple of games that really jump out when thinking about this are The Elder Scrolls games and Mirror's Edge. Yes, a game like Mirror's Edge with a score written by some composer unbeknownst to me is grouped in with Jeremy Soule (he has done more games than most of you know).
And why not, lets throw in a list of a few of my favorite songs/themes found in games. For the sake of this, I'm leaving out classics like the Zelda theme and keeping it short.
In no particular order...
Solar Fields - Introduction (Mirror's Edge)
Martin O'Donnell - Never Forget (Halo 3)
Jeremy Soule - Sons of Skyrim
Lorne Balfe - Assassins Creed Theme (Revelations)
Greg Edmonson - Nate's Theme (Uncharted)
Honorable Mention: BogusRed - Into Golden Sunset (fan remake from A Link to the Past)
And for the heck of it, some of my favorite Movie/TV scores...
John Murphy - Adagio in D Minor
Ramin Djawadi - Main Title (Game of Thrones)
John Williams - Theme from Schindler's List (reprise)
Michael Kamen - Main Theme (Band of Brothers)
Hanz Zimmer - Honor (The Pacific)
Jeremy Goldsmith - Main Title/Locutus (Star Trek: First Contact)
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I agree with your opinion about music. I'm not sure you could find anyone who wouldn't. I think it is true that as a gaming culture, we tend to focus on one or two elements of a game, and ignore the rest. The question I remember being asked and asking the most when I was a child, was "how are the graphics?", and that's probably because that's one of the only things that could be put onto a box or advertisement.
ReplyDeleteI believe music goes even deeper though. Games are a mostly collaborative effort, similar to a marching band, or a theatre troupe - many small parts working towards a cohesive, finished product. Music is a crucial piece to the puzzle... Sound design might even be a better choice of words for how games incorporate music. Some of my favorite musical pieces in gaming come from how the music helps complete the mood and completeness of the experience.
In no particular order:
Braid Soundtrack (complete)
Halo Theme
Mega Man (as a whole... it's not all good, but traditionally, they nail it)
Zelda
Limbo (this is one for sound design... the lack of music makes it awesome)
One thing about Zelda, which I'm sure won't be a surprise. In the same way Nintendo pulls from their previous games to influence their new ones, they do the same with music. It's really impressive. I remember in Wind Waker, finally going under the water, and the royal court theme from Link to the Past was played... Nintendo is always taking themes and melodies from older entries and integrating them in, sometimes direct, sometimes indirect.
And of course, sometimes a song, a new one, just stands on it's own... Brjahu, I think you'll appreciate this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrVPxmdGYw4