# Your favorite game score(s)



## ghostnote (Oct 7, 2013)

Any favorites?

here're mine:

Wrath of the Lich King (Storm Peaks and Grizzly Hills)
Medal Of Honor European Assault: Christoper Lennertz
Command & Conquer (II)
Guild Wars: Jeremy Soule
Modern Warfare 2: Hans Zimmer & Lorne Balfe
Assassins Creed I+II: Jesper Kyd
Tomb Raider and Mass Effect
The old Mario themes never get boring


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## Resoded (Oct 7, 2013)

The Elder Scrolls scores and Crysis 2 comes to mind.


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## mark812 (Oct 7, 2013)




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## SimonCharlesHanna (Oct 7, 2013)

ETERNAL SONATA


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM3BIOvEJSw


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## ghostnote (Oct 7, 2013)

Resoded @ Mon Oct 07 said:


> [...]Crysis 2 comes to mind.



Terrific score. I really liked Alex Pfeffer's "Close Encounter" and "S.O.S New York" by (I guess) Borislav Slavov.


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## Resoded (Oct 7, 2013)

Oh, so that's what Pfeffer did? I've been trying to figure out what he wrote for the score, the official soundtrack only says Tilman Silescu.


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## Walid F. (Oct 7, 2013)

Metroid Prime (mainly Kenji Yamamoto)
Shadow of the Colossus (Koh Otani)
Bioshock 2 (Garry Schyman)
Amnesia&Penumbra (really cool stuff from Mikko Tarmia)

These are probably a few of my favorite soundtracks for games!


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## Cruciform (Oct 7, 2013)

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

For me, nothing else comes close. Suited the game superbly and I like to listen to the OST. The main theme as used in the trailer remains one of my favourite pieces of music ever.


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## DanielBeijbom (Oct 7, 2013)

Final Fantasy 7 (Nobuo Uematsu)
Ni No Kuni (Joe Hisaishi)

Final Fantasy 7...the memories. The music just blew me away when I first played the game about 16 years ago.


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## Dan Mott (Oct 7, 2013)

I am not saying this because of nostalgia, but Croc, Legend of the Gobbos had an amazing soundtrack.

Metal Gear Solid

The Last of Us

Many more


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## ghostnote (Oct 7, 2013)

Resoded @ Mon Oct 07 said:


> Oh, so that's what Pfeffer did? I've been trying to figure out what he wrote for the score, the official soundtrack only says Tilman Silescu.


as far as I know every composer at dynamedion did at least one track. Close encounter was pretty obvious because it had no theme and was completely different from the rest of the score.



Dan-Jay @ Mon Oct 07 said:


> I am not saying this because of nostalgia, but Croc, Legend of the Gobbos had an amazing soundtrack.


I remember I had played the demo, but that was ages ago. My very first PlayStation game was Crash Bandicoot. Very catchy melodies.



Walid F. @ Mon Oct 07 said:


> Shadow of the Colossus (Koh Otani)


Great Score! Ace Combat 6 - The Liberation Of Gracemeria was very cool too.


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## Greg (Oct 7, 2013)

Journey
Deus Ex: HR
Halo 4


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## Ciaran Birch (Oct 7, 2013)

Cruciform @ Mon Oct 07 said:


> Deus Ex: Human Revolution
> 
> For me, nothing else comes close. Suited the game superbly and I like to listen to the OST. The main theme as used in the trailer remains one of my favourite pieces of music ever.



+1

Plus Alex Brandon's original Deus Ex score was unreal. That was the first game that made me go "wow".


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## apessino (Oct 7, 2013)

The Dead Space series by Jason Graves - amazing in every way, especially when you consider it was almost all done with samples.

Journey by Austin Wintory - one of the greatest scores of all time, game or otherwise. The music literally transcended the game and became an integral part of the its fabric, not just a complement to it. Amazing.

BioShock by Garry Schyman - beautiful and distinctly original

God of War series by various (princ. Gerard Marino) - the definition of epic. :mrgreen: 

Diablo II by Matt Uelmen (in game portion) - I am partial to this one because I worked on the cinematic part, but it was and still is one of the most atmospheric and iconic scores ever written.

Castlevania Symphony of the Night by Michiru Yamane - rich and fun

Chrono Cross by Yasonuri Mitsuda - one of the finest JRPG scores ever

Red Dead Redemption by Bill Elm & Woody Jackson - one of the finest and most underrated scores ever

Skyrim by Jeremy Soule - of course

Pretty much anything by Uematsu...

Many others I am forgetting now... :D


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## Luca Capozzi (Oct 7, 2013)

Skyrim, The Secret of Monkey Island I & II, Dreamweb.


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## TheUnfinished (Oct 7, 2013)

Deus Ex: Human Revolution by Michael McCann
Journey by Austin Wintory
Metal Gear Solid 2 by Harry Gregson-Williams
Tomb Raider: Underworld by Colin O'Malley
Medal of Honor: Frontline by Michael Giacchino
Alan Wake by Petri Alenko
Uncharted series by Greg Edmonson

They're the only game soundtracks I've bought for pleasure.


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## MA-Simon (Oct 7, 2013)

> Ni No Kuni



I had such high expectations for this one. But the score is just fluff and the same elements all over. It is nicely written and very good performed. But... It was also very, very boring to listen too. Even the bad guys have uplifting happyface cues.


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## Ryan Scully (Oct 7, 2013)

Freedom Fighters - Jesper Kyd


This was the first score when it was released years ago that really turned my attention to the medium. Ridiculously innovative with the traditional, Russian choral arrangements mixed with great analog synths - highly recommend.

Also agree with many listed here



Ryan :D


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## DanielBeijbom (Oct 8, 2013)

> I had such high expectations for this one. But the score is just fluff and the same elements all over. It is nicely written and very good performed. But... It was also very, very boring to listen too. Even the bad guys have uplifting happyface cues.




Sorry to hear that. I thought the music was fantastic, well written and fit the atmosphere perfectly! I listen to the soundtrack a lot, and I'm learning a lot from listening to it, so win win


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## Timberland70 (Oct 8, 2013)

There is an older score for the game "Knights of Honor" from Borislav Slavov, the composer from Crysis 2 and 3. Amazing music with beautiful motives and ethnic elements. Still one of my favorites.

Helge


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## kfirpr (Oct 8, 2013)

GOW 2
Borderlands 2


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## Neifion (Oct 8, 2013)

Homeworld
Donkey Kong Country 2
Journey
LA Noire
Monaco
To The Moon
Ilomilo
World of Goo


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## Jdiggity1 (Oct 8, 2013)

Giacchino's MOH
DKC2
Killzone 2 (and 3) - Joris (Da man!) De Man


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## bbunker (Oct 8, 2013)

Heavy Rain. Pretty Horrible game, I thought, but the score!!! Inspired clearly by Ravel, Faure and Bach, but never becoming pastiche or homage. Brilliant.


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## Ron Snijders (Oct 8, 2013)

The first Donkey Kong Country and the Zelda games spring to mind.
I guess lists like this tend to be equal parts music and nostalgia, though. But that's no problem


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## choc0thrax (Oct 8, 2013)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHmRr7JAQlg


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## paulmatthew (Oct 8, 2013)

Bulletstorm 
Skyrim
Borderlands


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## R.Cato (Oct 8, 2013)

Timberland70 @ Tue Oct 08 said:


> There is an older score for the game "Knights of Honor" from Borislav Slavov, the composer from Crysis 2 and 3. Amazing music with beautiful motives and ethnic elements. Still one of my favorites.
> 
> Helge



+1 

It has 2d graphics but the gameplay is amazing as is the score.


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## RasmusFors (Oct 8, 2013)

The music in the old heroes of might and magic are favourites of mine. I made some classic game scores myself too. 43,160 in space invaders ~o)


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## midi_controller (Oct 8, 2013)

Axiom @ Mon Oct 07 said:


> The Secret of Monkey Island I & II



Hell yeah! Love me some Monkey Island! Link for those who haven't heard it before:



I'll be honest, with certain notable exceptions (the above and the Bioshock games for example), I rarely pay attention to game music. It's not very often that it catches my attention in the first place, which can be either a good thing or a bad thing. That isn't to say that it isn't good music, I just don't think developers give game composers a hell of a lot to work with. Graphics, size of game worlds, and weapon arsenal seem to be the number one priority still, and we are lucky sometimes if we even get something that slightly resembles a plot (nevermind an _original_ one). 

I'm really hoping that complex characters and meaningful story arcs will become a bigger part of games in the future. It might help if everyone would stop pandering to 12 year-olds who like to curse at people online though.


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## Consona (Oct 9, 2013)

Age of Wonders

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4EqvJk5sf0&feature=share&list=PLC040490DF6C56A36 (Perilous Quest)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbLglPCKC5s&feature=share&list=PLC040490DF6C56A36 (Heartwood Forest)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJXSq9MeApY&feature=share&list=PLC040490DF6C56A36 (March of the Halflings)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HpYppLlfJI&feature=share&list=PLC040490DF6C56A36 (Ruins)

The whole soundtrack is fantastic.


Heroes of Might and Magic III

http://youtu.be/EsYjN4wFw4o (Fortress Town Theme)
http://youtu.be/LXGBh_3J25g (Necropolis Town Theme)

Another wonderful soundtrack.


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## peksi (Oct 10, 2013)

C64 Monty On The Run!

Am I old?


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## Astronaut FX (Oct 10, 2013)

apessino @ Mon Oct 07 said:


> Chrono Cross by Yasonuri Mitsuda - one of the finest JRPG scores ever



+1 o-[][]-o


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## clarkcontrol (Oct 10, 2013)

Another vote for Metroid...


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## Neifion (Oct 10, 2013)

midi_controller @ Tue Oct 08 said:


> I'm really hoping that complex characters and meaningful story arcs will become a bigger part of games in the future. It might help if everyone would stop pandering to 12 year-olds who like to curse at people online though.



Beyond: Two Souls seems to be taking the story and character-driven route. Of course, it's by Quantic Dream (makers of Heavy Rain), so that's no surprise. I played the demo and the music fit well, though nothing jumped out. I think it's supposed to be more ambient and atmospheric though.


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## Justin Miller (Oct 10, 2013)

Matt Uelman - Diablo 2 Lord of Destruction
Derek Duke and others - Starcraft 2 Wings of Liberty
Jeremy Soule - Guild Wars 2
Jesper Kyd - Hitman
Most Castlevania games regardless of system


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## Dan Mott (Oct 10, 2013)

bbunker @ Wed Oct 09 said:


> Heavy Rain. Pretty Horrible game, I thought, but the score!!! Inspired clearly by Ravel, Faure and Bach, but never becoming pastiche or homage. Brilliant.



Hey... Common. Heavy Rain was great! :D


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## SimonCharlesHanna (Oct 10, 2013)

Dan-Jay @ Fri 11 Oct said:


> bbunker @ Wed Oct 09 said:
> 
> 
> > Heavy Rain. Pretty Horrible game, I thought, but the score!!! Inspired clearly by Ravel, Faure and Bach, but never becoming pastiche or homage. Brilliant.
> ...



I love heavy rain! fantastic atmosphere. Score is brilliant in its atmos too! That composer died too young :(


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## Goran (Oct 10, 2013)

Max Payne 1 & 2 (whoever did it)... and Oblivion (Jeremy Soule, if I remember correctly...)


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## Daniel James (Oct 10, 2013)




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## Phil M (Oct 14, 2013)

Deus Ex: Human Revolution
American McGee's Alice
The Path
The Misadventures of PB Winterbottom
Eve Online


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## ghostnote (Oct 15, 2013)

new interview with hans and lorne on Beyond: Two Souls. Lorne Balfe did an incredible job. Definetely one of my favorite game scores.


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## synapse21 (Oct 15, 2013)

The 2010 Medal of Honor (Ramin Djawadi) is one of my favorites. Gorgeous theme:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmqcxxV81so

- Rodney


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## TMRodrigues (Oct 20, 2013)

Oh, i could name so many! I'll just share a few.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zfNTThhwag&list=PLp_nLDzWK5NVySU8f04YibyteCOKKH3zX (Nobuo Uematsu on Lost Odyssey)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn72ub3It0E (Paul Anthony Romero on Neverwinter Nights 2 Storm of Zehir)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6pfstI4A2A (Kai Rosenkranz on Gothic 3)


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## Per Lichtman (Oct 20, 2013)

@tekkentool I disagree - I've been playing video games since the 80s, have had various PCs, an NES, Game Boy (original model), SNES, 3DO, Sega Genesis, Sony Playstation, PS2 and PS3 and I've never thought "man, the problem with games is the over-emphasis on story".

Indigo Prophecy/Fahrenheit, Heavy Rain and Beyond:Two Souls are all a bit different from most other video games, in terms of not only their storytelling approach, but also their scores and gameplay. Sometimes I like the gameplay, sometimes I don't but there are things that I really like about them (especially Heavy Rain) that made me share the game with people I don't normally share the game with.

The video game industry in it's current era (that is after the crash of the industry in the pre-Ninentendo era as epitomized by the landfill space filled by unsold E.T. games) is evolving towards becoming a rich and multi-faceted artform. The gaming magazines and Internet culture largely focus on what would in movie terms be thought of as the "summer blockbuster" or at the opposite end "kid friendly". Occasionally we get games like Flower or Journey or Ico or Shadow of the Colossus that spark a larger discussion and seem to expand the definition of games a bit, much like indie films have served to do in film. But in the past we had to look primarily to Japanese RPGs for long, linear stories, American and European adventure games for humor and a select few other genres for things that were not primarily just "gameplay driven".

The paradigm that Quantic Dream has taken, of making the gameplay serve the story as opposed to the other way around, is one I would like to see more companies explore.

The fact that David Cage has done justice to his scoring background by placing such prominent importance on the music (as evidenced by everything from the composers employed to the recording venues of the last two games) makes the works especially intriguing.

Are their issues with the QD games and their stories? Of course! Is there room for improvement in the gameplay? Without doubt. But that is why it is important they continue to evolve this expansion of the video game rather than to try and make it conform to what a lot of other video games are doing.

If you want to look at a video game series that embodies both some of the best and some of the worst in terms of summer blockbuster style spy-movie style narratives, I would look at the Metal Gear Solid franchise. Metal Gear Solid 

I remember Doom and Quake II for their music and it was enough to get me to play games that were not ones I would normally play. Even as recently as the first Halo game, the musical theme for the game used in the pre-release trailers made me take notice. But this many years later, I do not have much interest in playing yet another shooter, even when I greatly respect the composer, because there's nothing in the story that makes me want to get involved.

In the world I live in, I can go talk to the people around me and they have complicated feelings and emotions and motivations and they are more than a strings of one-liners or individuals defined by a single personality traits. Even in cases where games are filled with characters that have more personality, they are often given personalities I would consciously make a great effort to avoid in my life.

The last three Quantic Dream games have all been filled with characters I wanted to know more about. Sometimes playing the game meant I got to, sometimes it left me wanting . But I always felt like it was trying in a way that few other games made me feel.

Anyway, I'll end my rant by saying I want more stories in games, not less.

*End thread hijack*

Favorite scores? Tough one but here's just a handful of the composers that wrote scores that really brought their games to a whole new level.

UPDATE 2:
Nobuo Uematsu
Normand Corbeil
Angelo Badalamenti
Yoko Shimomura
Yasunori Mitsuda
Hiroki Kikuta
Koji Kondo
Matt Uelman
Marty O'Donnel
Michael Salvatori
Kenji Yamamoto
Minako Hamano
Peter McConnel
Austin Wintory
Vincent Diamante
Harry Gregson-William
Takanari Ishiyama
Gigi Meroni
Kazuki Muraoka
Lee Jeon Myung
Hiroyuki Togo
Maki Kirioka
Rika Muranaka
TAPPY
Jeremy Soule
Jesper Kyd
Keiji Yamagishi
Ryuichi Nitta
Mayuko Okamura
Sonic Mayhem
Jeehun Hwang
Bobby Prince
...

I am definitely forgetting a ton of people. Hopefully I'll remember to update this list later.


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## Per Lichtman (Oct 20, 2013)

@TekkenTool As a side-note, as soon as you said Streets of Rage, I found myself thinking about Streets of Rage 2 and The Shamen "Move Any Mountain". Good times.


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## Per Lichtman (Oct 20, 2013)

Also, looking back at the last couple decades, is anyone else surprised by the sheer number of phenomenal composers that were composers at Squaresoft (now Square-Enix) during the 90s?

Nobuo Uematsu, Yoko Shimomura, Yasunori Mitsuda, Hiroki Kikuta and Jeremy Soule to name just five of the iconic composers that concentrated their talent at the same studio in the same decade. 

I'd be very happy to hear people tell stories of other video game studios that were home to several iconic composers early in their careers. These stories fascinate me.


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## Per Lichtman (Oct 20, 2013)

Also, to those talking about the sore for Beyond: Two Souls, I felt like the cue "The Infraworld" was easily the strongest of the whole score and helped to really create an identity for the game that was completely different from the previous two QD games (where my favorite score moments were actually more introspective).

What parts of the music in the game did you connect the most with?

EDIT: Also, to anyone involved, I would be very curious to know more about what parts were drawn from Norman Corbeil's work vs what parts were entirely Lorne Balfe's creation?

Either way, Balfe's work on the project is probably my favorite video gaming scoring I have heard him do far - and an excellent illustration of his range taken in conjunction with some of his happier game scores.


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## Per Lichtman (Oct 20, 2013)

tekkentool @ Sun Oct 20 said:


> > "man, the problem with games is the over-emphasis on story".
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I think there's an argument to be made for "absolute game" in the same way as there is "absolute music" and I certainly think that creating a game like Tetris (which as you say is stellar example of gameplay) should be recognized rather than maligned for a lack of story. It makes perfect sense for the style of game it is.

However, the Tetris versions for me without the Russian folk song found in the popular Game Boy version released originally simply did not do it for me. In other words, while there are some games I can enjoy either without story or without music, I cannot think of any game I enjoyed that lacked both. Sometimes one picks up slack for the other.




tekkentool @ Sun Oct 20 said:


> this isn't saying that all story is bad, it's not the case. More stories in games is fine. What's not fine is 5 hour long "cinematic" bullshit that serves to wow mouthbreathers with gigantic baked physics events and shiny lightshafts that's "story driven" (read: lots of cutscenes and no substance).



Mouthbreathers isn't an insult that goes over well with people like myself that spent a large portion of their life struggling to be able to breathe at all (blocked airway for 7 years, etc.), but I see your point nonetheless. I agree with you that the length of cutscenes should be justified by the narrative and that having lots of them that don't advance the story is just as annoying as when we get endless spectacle in certain films that does not advance the story.

On the other hand, when high quality graphics are provided in service of the story, they enhance it every bit as much as poor graphics (or poor concept designs for those graphics) detract from the game.



tekkentool @ Sun Oct 20 said:


> (With heavy rain/b2s. Come on dude, do you really think having the QTE's taken away and just making a movie would change that much? I'd just rather the movie).



Yes, I do think it would take an awful lot away. I don't know if you compared the way you played those games to the way some of your friends did, but in my experience there were some really great moments where we talked about choices we made or the things we did or did not do in the game.

Part of the genius of Heavy Rain was the level of dramatically meaningful impact that the player could have on the story. Did you see the tremendous amount of variation between the possible endings in Heavy Rain? So many of the main characters could end up dead, several relationships did or did not happen... and for the players that really enjoyed the game, they cared about those choices.

So even if we were to ignore questions of content and format (Heavy Rain is too long to be a single movie without cutting lots of it out, for instance) the fact of the matter is that the narrative was conceived natively for the medium of interactive narrative: a huge part of the game is the question of what choice you make.

On top of that, gameplay mechanics were such that several of my friends (that often did not like to play video games) found themselves enjoying it.

Like I said, there was a lot of room for improvement and there were certain things I hoped Beyond: Two Souls would improve on in that area that it didn't. But I still was invested enough in Beyond: Two Souls to get it on day one and play all the way through by the 2nd night. There are some real moments of greatness in there and the performance by Ellen Page, William Dafoe and Caroline Wolfson (Young Jodie) are some of the very best the video game industry has seen to date.

Heavy Rain is one of my favorite games ever made, up there alongside such other story-driven titles as Final Fantasy VI, Star Control II and Full Throttle and many others. It has flaws (as do the others) but its strengths leave it active in my mind years after I completed it.


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## Per Lichtman (Oct 20, 2013)

Also, to revisit the necessity of story vs type of game for a moment.

Tetris: No character is specified making a story seem optional by design. The game revolves around the completion of a single task, the importance of which is arbitrary and not dramatically questioned, defined primarily by the presence of a "lose" condition that the player is aware of and tries to avoid.

RPG: It's in the name "role-playing game" that you will play a role. In other words, a story seems all but prescribed by the genre.

First Person Shooter: There are several questions suggested by the very virtue of the actions that are being taken. Who is shooting? Why are the shooting? Who or what are they shooting at it? Etc., etc. In other words, there are building blocks for the start of a narrative all but built into the genre here as well.

It is one thing to exclude a narrative from a genre that does not powerfully suggest one and another entirely to avoid constructing a narrative for a game where the genre implies a strong need for one.

EDIT: And I'm not saying a game has to belabor a grandiose narrative to make the game seem important. Sometimes simple is just fine and there's nothing wrong with showing rather than telling (in fact it's often preferable).

The original Doom had very little narrative and yet what little there was, was important to the game within the context of the time it was made in.

Your character starts out in a world that was filled with your colleagues and a disaster has happened that has done great damage to them and thrown you into a hostile environment. The game places the impetus on you to take care of the threat rather than to simply try and escape and the music (especially in the first level) is used to motivate you to do just that (as does the movement speed, etc.) In other words, nothing about the game suggests cerebral contemplation.

There's no one else for you to talk to and to hear your character monologue about it wold have been indulgent. But there is a skeleton sense of purpose and context and there is a tremendous amount of effort that went into differentiating those environments - and a large part of that was done by the music. So there was a story to it, there just wasn't a lot of complexity or dialogue.

It fit the game well.


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## Consona (Oct 22, 2013)

I've just discovered the whole Guild Wars 2 soundtrack is sample based, no real orchestral recording.


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## midi_controller (Oct 22, 2013)

I never said they _need_ to have stories, there are plenty of games that I play and enjoy that don't have one at all (especially racing titles). I also never suggested that games full of quick time events or cut scenes are the only ones worth playing. Why you automatically assumed this I have no idea.

My problem is with games that have little plot or are completely unoriginal with their storyline, which unfortunately is the majority of them. You say stop playing AAA shooters? Then I would miss fantastic gems like Bioshock, which not only had an original story with complex characters, but also wasn't a "hallway simulator" with poor game play filled with cut-scenes. That game is a fantastic example of a game that was built around a great concept. What about, just to name a few, Mass Effect, Half-life 2, Max Payne 2, or the Alice games? All had really interesting characters and story-lines, along with great-game play.

But these are the exception to the rule, unfortunately. There are countless others where if you asked me to name a single character I wouldn't be able to, or story-lines so dull that I forget about them within a day. These are games that built the plot around the game world instead of the other way around, and it shows.

But even with all the above, there still is much room to improve. Character development in games leaves much to be desired, but games like Bioshock Infinite and the Half-Life 2 episodes are sure as hell trying. I just wish more developers would follow their lead. I want to get attached to game characters, to actually care about whether they live or die. I want to be part of a story, not have the story revolve around me. I want to be motivated to go after those bandits, not because some old lady wants me to get her earrings back, but because I know if I don't they will do something horrible to someone or some place I care about. I want my choices to matter and have a direct impact on the game world in very tangible ways. 

If you are happy with the way games are today, fine, but some of us still want to see the medium evolve and become something even better.


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## Alex Cuervo (Oct 22, 2013)

Awesome Halloween-themed game music bundle:

http://www.loudr.fm/gamemusicbundle

And also...

My favorite game score is Super Metroid for the SNES.


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## Per Lichtman (Oct 22, 2013)

midi_controller @ Tue Oct 22 said:


> ...there still is much room to improve. Character development in games leaves much to be desired, but games like Bioshock Infinite and the Half-Life 2 episodes are sure as hell trying. I just wish more developers would follow their lead. I want to get attached to game characters, to actually care about whether they live or die. I want to be part of a story, not have the story revolve around me. I want to be motivated to go after those bandits, not because some old lady wants me to get her earrings back, but because I know if I don't they will do something horrible to someone or some place I care about. I want my choices to matter and have a direct impact on the game world in very tangible ways.
> 
> If you are happy with the way games are today, fine, but some of us still want to see the medium evolve and become something even better.



+1

Examples aside (I think everyone will choose different games to illustrate the point depending on their personal taste), I couldn't agree more with the overall point.

When there were greater technical limitations, it was easier to overlook when a game showed a lack of sophistication in its story or characterization. At the same time, there was a clear forward progression in terms of the ambition of the stories told - often alongside powerful expansion of the game music genre.

Final Fantasy I (1987) for the NES had only most rudimentary story, with little characterization of any kind and no written dialogue for any of characters in your party (at least none that I could remember). Your character were all generic archetypes that had come forward to fulfill a prophecy but we never got any sense of their motivation. They could have been any set of heroes and the game would have been largely the same. The limitations of the NES sound chip inspired Nobuo Uematsu to rely heavily on either melody or arpeggiation as opposed to more expansive orchestrations. Nonetheless, the main theme is instantly recognizable to high percentage of video gamers playing today.

Final Fantasy IV (1991) for SNES (Final Fantasy II in the U.S.) leaned very heavily on genre archetypes but featured a plot largely driven by personal challenges. Within the game's earliest moments, your main character is explicitly challenged by another character as to whether what he's doing is right - he's to a certain degree in a position of power and it is his choice to face the question, to figure out whether what he's doing is right, that sets the story in motion. Several of the characters are drawn broadly and there's a lot of melodrama but the story is a huge improvement upon Final Fantasy II. Meanwhile, Uematsu made use of the more advanced sound chip in the SNES to make larger orchestrations and use a wider variety of timbres.

Final Fantasy VI (1994) for SNES (Final Fantasy III in the U.S.) featured a highly unusual story for its time and dedicated more of its story to exploring connections between characters and their motivations based on fear, loss or compassion than either Final Fantasy I or IV and there is a clear difference in tone and approach between the more linear first half and the more non-linear second half that shows the writers and designers being willing to take a lot of risks together. The characters are generally clearly differentiated in their personalities, challenges and frequently their backgrounds as well (and who you controlled frequently shifted in a story-motivated fashion). The oft talked about set-pieces (such as the opera house) were naturally woven into the story and never felt like they were added "just to have something cool". It's difficult to quickly sum up the importance of the soundtrack (which tried all sorts of things that no previous entry in the series had) but suffice to say that it remains one of the most widely covered, arranged and performed to date.

Final Fantasy VII (1997) for Sony Playstation was a the first game in the series that made use of long pre-rendered cinematics - it was also the first game to feature actual sung words in the soundtrack. Whether you love or hate the story, it placed a greater emphasis on characterizing the villains than ever before and devoted large chunks of the story to developing the conflicts, motivations and even mental state of some of the main characters. It too, remains one of the most widely covered, arranged and performed soundtracks to date.

In other words, there were concurrent progressions in both music and story that expanded what the games were doing throughout the 90s in that series, at the same time as people praised gameplay changes as well. For example:

- Final Fantasy IV streamlined the user interface greatly from Final Fantasy I while giving the player access to a larger party, more spells and more different types of skills.

- Final Fantasy VI featured an entirely new game mechanic in terms of learning spells, gave the player more frequent access to vehicles and featured more "optional quests", almost all of which expanded upon the story.

- Final Fantasy VII was the first game in the series to really the idea of using mini-games to explore other game genres (motorcycle combat, snowboarding, animal racing, animal breeding, etc.) and managed to use these to provide important rewards to the player in the context of the core gameplay that was useful in advancing the main story.

In other words, during this period fans of the series were used to seeing improvements in all areas of the game at once. There was no artificial dichotomy between "should it focus on a good story or on good gameplay". Gamers expected the game to improve in all those areas - and the company frequently delivered on those expectations during the decade described above.

I really love a lot of things about the games above, but I would not argue that their dialogue contained the fluidity of my favorite writers in print or film. It was the 90s and the industry was a lot younger, so I think many of us expected that would come with time.

Now it's 2013 and yet really good writing is extremely uncommon in video games. So the question would I think a lot of us are asking (and have a right to ask) is "why?" Why aren't there more games that want to expand the story instead of giving another rehash of what's in vogue? Why is that (unlike the examples above) we aren't seeing the sorts of evolution in story that we are seeing graphics?

If I dedicate a lot of my time to making the soundtrack for a game as appropriate and powerful as I can, then it is truly inspiring to me (and I would hope to many gamers) for that music to serve an evocative and well-crafted story. So I think that's part of what a lot of us are asking for: let's see the games industry put an emphasis on nurturing good stories in the way that it's emphasized improving game engines. I'm hoping we get the chance to see where that takes us.


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## Per Lichtman (Oct 22, 2013)

Alex Cuervo @ Tue Oct 22 said:


> My favorite game score is Super Metroid for the SNES.



I agree - easily one of the best atmospheric scores of the 90s. Many kudos to Kenji Yamamoto and Minako Hamano.


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## Neifion (Oct 22, 2013)

Oh yeah, Christopher Tin's "Baba Yetu" for Civ IV is also a good one.


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## Nathan Allen Pinard (Oct 24, 2013)

> I've just discovered the whole Guild Wars 2 soundtrack is sample based, no real orchestral recording.



It's the same case for everything he does. He creates his own libraries.


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## Conor (Oct 28, 2013)

Michael Chrostek @ Mon Oct 07 said:


> Wrath of the Lich King (Storm Peaks and Grizzly Hills)



Damn straight! I'd put Howling Fjord up there too... but it kinda runs together with Grizzly Hills in my head... It's definitely half music and half nostalgia value. 

Donkey Kong Country
Zelda in general
Halo 2
Bioshock
Bastion <-- PLAY THIS GAME.


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## dcoscina (Oct 29, 2013)

john Debney's LAIR is a tour de force orchestral delight even if its derivative of Conan and other scores.


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## ghostnote (Oct 29, 2013)

CobraTrumpet @ Mon Oct 28 said:


> Michael Chrostek @ Mon Oct 07 said:
> 
> 
> > Wrath of the Lich King (Storm Peaks and Grizzly Hills)
> ...



Donkey Kong Country 1+2, loved it 

Howling Fjord was cool too, but IMO not as outstanding as the Grizzly Hills. For those of you who don't know "Totems of the Grizzlemaw" here it is:


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## SamiMatar (Oct 29, 2013)

First score that comes to mind is Resident Evil 2, still one of the most effective soundtracks I can remember.

Kevin Riepl did a great job on Gears of War.
Michael Giacchino took game music to another level with his Medal of Honor work.
Clint Bajakian created a wonderful soundscape (Although a bit satirical) for Outlaws in 1997.

I have many favorites, but to start, these scores are game changers for me.


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## jhtakalo (Nov 1, 2013)

Here are some that come to mind:

Nearly all of Final Fantasy by Nobuo Uematsu.
The Legend of Zelda music by Koji Kondo (The Japanese surely know their way around melodies).
CnC / RA by Frank Klepacki.
Diablo by Matt Uelmen.
All Metal Gear Solids, especially the stuff by Harry Gregson-Williams.
Assassin's Creed II by Jesper Kyd.


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## syashdown (Nov 1, 2013)

Discovered Austin Wintory's score to Journey because of this thread - Stunning, what a work!


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## ModalRealist (Nov 1, 2013)

Technically not a game score, but Valtonen's arrangement of music from "Secret Of Mana" for Symphonic Fantasies is pretty fantastic to my ears: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Geygart0ZsM The arrangement of Chrono Trigger's score from the same concert is also very good.

Another of my favourite game scores which I haven't seen mentioned that much are those for the Ace Attorney series (Masakazu Sugimori, Akemi Kimura, Noriyuki Iwadare). Sugimori also did the soundtrack to Ghost Trick, which has some fine moments to it. There have been some decent orchestral arrangements of the Ace Attorney series, and a couple of not-quite-as-good jazz arrangements (not enough big band for my liking!).


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## Consona (Nov 8, 2013)

http://youtu.be/acTBp9PK8fo (Heroes of Might and Magic IV - Hope)
http://youtu.be/xukCtTFfFJA (Heroes of Might and Magic IV - Searching For A Dream)
http://youtu.be/MHKYBM8H3lw (Heroes of Might and Magic IV - The Mountain Song)


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## JoKern (Nov 8, 2013)

So many great game scores are mentioned already ... 

but I would like to add the Rayman Soundtrack (doesn't matter if it's the old Rayman 2 score (by Eric Chavlier) or the new ones by Christoph Heral and the hommage pieces in "Rayman Legends").

And this cool version of Donkey Kong - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8OdTYFFV8s

:D


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## stprodigy (Jan 2, 2014)

Ahhh video game music.... 

My favorites include:
Banjo - Kazooie and Diddy Kong Racing (in short, all the stuff Rare did back in the N64 days....Grant Kirkhope and David Wise were absolutely killing it)

Metal Gear Solid 2 (its Harry Gregson-Williams...it just had to be good)

and a Gameboy Advance RPG called Golden Sun (composed by Motoi Sakuraba). The music in that game is phenomenal, especially considering the audio limitations of the platform it was on. The soundtrack had so many memorable and deep songs, all of which fit the game perfectly.


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## dryano (Jan 2, 2014)

The good old WW2 Game Scores by Giacchino.


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## Qomodo (Jan 13, 2014)

ROME TOTAL WAR!!! <-- The best evah
Tiberiun sun
Dune 2000
Crysis 1 + Crysis Warhead

-D-


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## JonFairhurst (Jan 13, 2014)

My favorite game score?

Seahawks 23, Saints 15.


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## lucianogiacomozzi (Jan 13, 2014)

Grim Fandango! Bioshock. I liked Broken Sword but due to game mechanics it drove you mad after a while! Left 4 Dead was pretty cool too.

Oh and of course, Monkey Island!


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## ghostnote (Jan 17, 2014)

Looked up my old bookmarks and found these gems:
Shadow of the Colossus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14eX8UgQWvk

and Halo 3 - Unforgotten:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5NNVg1pFCs&hd=1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5NNVg1pFCs&amp;hd=1) goosebumps, beautiful.


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## apessino (Jan 17, 2014)

If you want to hear something truly amazing, Austin Wintory's soundtrack to The Banner Saga just came out. This is Great Music... capital G, capital M! 8) 

Of course not a sample to be found anywhere here - The Dallas Winds steals the show, and man.. Austin transcends the score and draws you into a world within a few tracks. It is all so full of ideas and personality.

http://austinwintory.bandcamp.com/album/the-banner-saga

If you are going to listen to only one track, how about this one - 10 minutes of bliss:

http://austinwintory.bandcamp.com/track ... -the-hills

My dog that is good... :shock:


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## Shuriken (Jan 17, 2014)

*Koji Kondo*s many Nintendo titles

*Jeremy Soule* - Oblivion and many others, although i found Skyrim rather disappointing. 'Fear not this night' from Guild Wars 2 is truely angelic

*Gustaf Grefberg* - Dark Athena / Butcher Bay

*Steve Jablonsky* - Transformers (Yes, i consider it an interpassive video game too) :lol:


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## danielcartisano (Jan 17, 2014)

Matt Uelmen's work on Diablo 2 and Diablo 2: LOD. By far my favourite.


----------



## jleckie (Jan 17, 2014)

sonic the hedgehog.


----------



## JFK (Jan 18, 2014)

For me, it's hands down FFVIII




Close runner-ups:


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## ghostnote (Jan 19, 2014)

lots of great tracks guys

Here's another one I found inside my old bookmarks, Mafia II - Main Menu:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59dvZS44fuI


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## Ganvai (Jan 20, 2014)

I'm just into Gamesoundtracks since a few years but a lot of them entertained me much more than any other movie score.

*1. Halo 4* by Neil Davidge
*2. Deus Ex - Human Revolution* by Michael McCann
*3. The Last Of Us* by Gustavo Santaolalla
*4. Assassins Creed 2* by Jesper Kyd
*5. Metal gear Solid 2* by Harry Gregson-Williams

Somehow Crysis 2 should stand in this list but it doesn't. I loved the theme but the rest didn't get me at all.

Also Far Cry 3 had a great soundtrack, better said, a good choice of music tracks for some ingame missions, but the score... mh, I don't know, it didn't give me anything.


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## Waywyn (Jan 20, 2014)

Resoded @ Mon Oct 07 said:


> Oh, so that's what Pfeffer did? I've been trying to figure out what he wrote for the score, the official soundtrack only says Tilman Silescu.



Sorry for the shameless self plug and thank you! Yes, I wrote three tracks for the game, but the credit list was suposed to stay small!


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## dcoscina (Jan 20, 2014)

Lair- John Debney.


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## cadalac (Jan 23, 2014)

Terrain theme - Starcraft 1
Dusk hour - C&C TS
Urban jungle - Future Cop

I also liked the Golden Eye (N64) sound track back in the days....


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## Rasmus Hartvig (Jan 29, 2014)

The exploration themes in The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind is a standout for me. They have a certain magical, impressionistic vibe that that later games haven't really captured.


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## Consona (Jan 29, 2014)

cadalac @ Thu Jan 23 said:


> Terrain theme - Starcraft 1


Grammar Nazi!




It's _Terran_.
Yea, the original StarCraft had wonderful soundtrack. They've remastered it and put it in the SC2 but the atmosphere of the original game is still superior to the sequel, imo. 

Some tracks from Westwood games are great too. Like The Harkonnen track http://youtu.be/tP2ZgqnNKqI (Tribute to Evil) from Emperor: Battle for Dune.


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## Walid F. (Jan 29, 2014)

Shuriken @ Sat Jan 18 said:


> *Koji Kondo*s many Nintendo titles
> 
> *Jeremy Soule* - Oblivion and many others, although i found Skyrim rather disappointing. 'Fear not this night' from Guild Wars 2 is truely angelic
> 
> ...



You have a very good taste!

I would just like to add:

*Koh Otani* - Shadow of the Colossus
*Nobuo Uematsu* - FF series

I'm actually making a cover on Koji Kondo's "Dark Overworld" from A Link to the Past:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12797960/darkworld_cover_02.mp3

W


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## scarred bunny (Jan 30, 2014)

Consona @ Wed Jan 29 said:


> Some tracks from Westwood games are great too. Like The Harkonnen track http://youtu.be/tP2ZgqnNKqI (Tribute to Evil) from Emperor: Battle for Dune.



Yeah, the Emperor: Battle for Dune stuff is great throughout. Actually I still rate the House Ordos soundtrack as some of my favorite electronic music ever :shock: always wondered what happened to Jarrid Mendelsson after that. 

Arkenstone and Klepacki are also great. Pretty consistently great. I still listen to Klepacki's soundtrack to Dune 2, with the old AdLib sounds and all  and all that C&C stuff. 

Some more random honorable mentions, IMO: 
- The Mass Effect series. Great blend of electronic and orchestral. Really great games too. 
- Total Annihilation. The original. Jeremy Soule has done a lot of fantastic work, but this one still has a special place in my heart. 
- Unreal. The original. Yeah, the .mod format is kinda primitive, but it's still great. 

(Actually I could mention a ton of other old soundtracks using .mod music that I really really like... Pinball Fantasies... Terminal Velocity... Fury3... but on second thought, maybe that says more about my age than anything  )


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## Consona (Jan 30, 2014)

@ scarred bunny

Yea, Unreal music is great. Michiel van den Bos is one of the best imo. The whole Age of Wondes soundtrack is just perfect. 

And I really like Alexander Brandon's soundtrack for Jazz Jackrabbit 2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E8LSvpyULw&feature=share&list=SP26B6C4A53442CD04&index=1 (Jazz Jackrabbit 2 - Menu), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHCGUriLNrQ&feature=share&list=SP26B6C4A53442CD04&index=2 (Jazz Jackrabbit 2 - Jazz Castle), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsisGqvXP8I&feature=share&list=SP26B6C4A53442CD04&index=5 (Jazz Jackrabbit 2 - Labratory Level),...

And their music for Unreal Tournament is brilliant.  http://youtu.be/Au0hnQyp6R4 (Unreal Tournament - Alexander Brandon - Organic), http://youtu.be/2yrrAEpMfuQ (Unreal Tournament - Michiel van den Bos - Foregone Destruction).


For Arkenstone I like his music for taverns in World Of Warcraft a lot. http://youtu.be/NvD3h4etv0c (World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade - Taverns).

And my the most favorite soundtrack from Jeremy Soule is for Icewind Dale. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go0h5jtgGQQ&feature=share&list=PL0CFF7FD5BD804DD9&index=8 (Kuldahar Theme), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq5pT1pYrOY&feature=share&list=PL0CFF7FD5BD804DD9&index=2 (Easthaven in Peace), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QKM6m0NTeQ&feature=share&list=PL0CFF7FD5BD804DD9&index=3 (Hrothgar's Home), http://youtu.be/L8t3g8gRhYo (Arundel's Home), etc. 

So much great music.


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## Lassi Tani (Jan 30, 2014)

Nothing can beat Monkey Island's intro music :D:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipkkdjGymCQ


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## scarred bunny (Jan 30, 2014)

Yeah, Jazz Jackrabbit also brings back fond memories. And the Unreal Tournament stuff. I only played the original UT, but I like the music from all of them. Something special about the original Unreal for me though, both the game and the music. 

I haven't heard Age of Wonders. Guess I should, thanks for the tip.  

Monkey Island is a great one too. Especially the PC speaker version, for that true retro vibe  ...or maybe not.


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## Consona (Jan 31, 2014)

scarred bunny @ Thu Jan 30 said:


> I haven't heard Age of Wonders. Guess I should, thanks for the tip.


Np, here is a link to my previous post with some examples from the soundtrack, the rest of it is on the same youtube channel: http://www.vi-control.net/forum/viewtop ... 35#3733335

And you could also check his soundtrack for Overlord 2. Just take a listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRa2d2cd2Xo&feature=share&list=PL68523B0F7A8D1D08&index=10 (Overlord II - Everlight Beach)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGffEiUjS34&list=PL68523B0F7A8D1D08&feature=share&index=6 (Overlord II - Arcadia)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsoGx8ROZ2o&list=PL68523B0F7A8D1D08&feature=share&index=8 (Overlord II - Everlight Jungle)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4mrsfJNEuo&feature=share&list=PL68523B0F7A8D1D08&index=12 (Overlord II - Netherworld)


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## JonFairhurst (Feb 3, 2014)

My favorite game score? 43-8.

That is all.


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## Timberland70 (Feb 3, 2014)

The Age of Conan scores from Knut Avenstroup Haugen are brilliant. Great music with a kind of viking flair here and there 

Oh and of course Gothic3!!


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## impressions (Feb 4, 2014)

gothic1, divine divinity.


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## Simon Ravn (Feb 4, 2014)

Everything that Rob Hubbard did on the C64, and what Jeroen Tel and Charles Deenen did on C64+Amiga :D


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## impressions (Feb 4, 2014)

Simon Ravn @ Tue Feb 04 said:


> Everything that Rob Hubbard did on the C64, and what Jeroen Tel and Charles Deenen did on C64+Amiga :D



what about david whittaker? shadow of the beast? or tim wright?


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## Simon Ravn (Feb 4, 2014)

Sure they were good too, but my favourites for doing consistently good tunes were the ones I mentioned. There's also Richard Joseph, Ben Daglish, Chris Hülsbeck and many more who did a lot of great work back then.


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## impressions (Feb 4, 2014)

wow yes ben did Auf Wiedersehen Monty. what an awesome tune.

that tune did the whole thing.
chris, giana sisters-brilliant. couldn't get enough of it.
richard did gods and speedball2? i thought those were the bitmap brothers.

p.s.
apparently ben did "the last ninja" which is also an incredible soundtrack. one of my favourites.

matt grey did a fantastic job on last ninja 2. one of the best soundtracks of c64(and amiga).


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## Hanu_H (Feb 5, 2014)

Broken Sword 1 and 2
Splinter Cell Conviction
Call of Duty
Unreal Tournament 2003
Super Mario Galaxy
Bioshock
Curse of Monkey Island



Goran @ Fri Oct 11 said:


> Max Payne 1 & 2 (whoever did it)... and Oblivion (Jeremy Soule, if I remember correctly...)



It was a finnish guy called Kärtsy Hatakka who wrote the Max Payne soundtracks. He's a singer from a metal band called Waltari. First one was done with synths and samples mostly. In the second one they brought in Perttu Kivilaakso from Apocalyptica to record some live cellos for a more sophisticated sound. Still has one of the best atmospheres ever.

-Hannes


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## jaredcowing (Feb 5, 2014)

scarred bunny @ Thu Jan 30 said:


> - Total Annihilation. The original. Jeremy Soule has done a lot of fantastic work, but this one still has a special place in my heart.



+1 !

I also remember playing Myst III and being really drawn in by how the music integrated with the game so well- that's another sentimental favorite.


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## SterlingArcher (Feb 8, 2014)

At the moment currently on my iPod

Alan Wake and Alan Wake: American Nightmare
Assassins Creed Series
Batman: Arkham City and Arkham Origins
Borderlands I & II
Call Of Duty Ghosts
Darksiders II
Dead Space Series
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
DMC Devil May Cry
Far Cry 3 and Far Cry Blood Dragon
Gears Of War Series
Ghost Recon Future Soldier
The Last Of Us
Mass Effect Series
Max Payne 3
Red Dead Redemption
Splinter Cell Blacklist
Tomb Raider (Jason Graves)


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## boogyman (Feb 8, 2014)

Here are some of mine,

Call of Duty Black Ops
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 
Crysis 2
Assassins Creed Series 
Company of Heroes 2
Many Nintendo Games


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## ghostnote (Aug 1, 2014)

Batman - Arkham Origins, very cool Score:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFqAgstWO7I

and another gem I've found in my bookmarks Ace Combat 6:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhdNjzX4waA


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## Dan Drebing (Aug 1, 2014)

Most of my favorites have been covered, so I'm not going to rehash all your other posts.

I hesitate to call it a score, but Yuzo Koshiro's Streets of Rage 2/ Bare Knuckle 2 soundtrack was lightyears ahead of its time and pretty much invented the dirty electro house sound. There is so much energy in his music and he was a genius FM synth programmer. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZFloT80zWc



Credit to Emily Reese's great MPR podcast Top Score for these two (you should all listen, it's great despite it's short format):

Lorne Balfe's work on the "Skylanders" series (credit where credit is due: Hans Zimmer wrote the theme on the first game's soundtrack). I haven't played the games, but the music is so much fun to listen to and I think Lorne's themes are just awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Sf-ZD6njqk


I don't know if it popped up in the thread yet, but Jesper Kyd's Darksiders 2 score is great. He's got a cool unique sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ugQlcCAJdg


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## Neifion (Aug 1, 2014)

The Puppeteer soundtrack by Patrick Doyle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vedry2aAN1E&list=PL0b4SOBRy-iHPDNFTvYQ3ONHZod9DJhzw&index=1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vedry2a ... zw&amp;index=1)


----------



## Walid F. (Aug 1, 2014)

Michael Chrostek @ Fri Aug 01 said:


> and another gem I've found in my bookmarks Ace Combat 6:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhdNjzX4waA



I LOVE this soundtrack! Very varied and original. 

W.


----------



## JoKern (Aug 2, 2014)

Timberland70 @ Tue Feb 04 said:


> Oh and of course Gothic3!!


! :wink: By the way - https://www.facebook.com/kairosenkranzmusic?fref=ts

Yep, Ace of Combat - The Liberation Of Gracemeria is one of the pieces you can listen to from time to time. 

As well these both:

- Baba Yetu by Christopher Tin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJiHDmyhE1A
and Donkey Kong - Games in Concert - Live Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8OdTYFFV8s


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## Kejero (Aug 3, 2014)

*Outcast* by Lennie Moore. Grand and beautiful, one of the first game soundtracks recorded by a live symphonic orchestra.

*Grim Fandango* by Peter McConell.

*The Last of Us* by Gustavo Santaolalla. Absolutely perfect for this game.

*Uncharted 1, 2 and 3* by Greg Edmonson. The second one is my favorite, but all the music is great.

*Divine Divinity*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pVdCtm44fg by Kirill Pokrovsky. Very unique style.

Also love a bunch of old gameboy soundtracks (Asterix, Donkey Kong Land, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md-bv9Hlw4A (Nemesis II), Double Dragon II, Darkwing Duck...) and SNES (absolutely nuts about the Donkey Kong Country trilogy), and of course the Ducktales game, the *remake* of which I love as well.


----------



## Jetzer (Aug 3, 2014)

Because of the synth topic lately I re-discovered Deus Ex - Human Revolution by Michael McCan. This track is genius:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8EUJGmYudo

I hear good things about Last of Us, haven't yet played it though.


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## José Herring (Aug 3, 2014)

JH @ Sun Aug 03 said:


> Because of the synth topic lately I re-discovered Deus Ex - Human Revolution by Michael McCan. This track is genius:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8EUJGmYudo
> 
> I hear good things about Last of Us, haven't yet played it though.



I've been trying to get an ear for this aesthetic for some time and can't quite to seem to understand it. 

To my ears this track is utterly boring. It comes up now and again as people seem to love it.

I don't play games at all. So my question is, is the associate of the game playing experience tied to this music and thus you have an appreciation for it? Or do you really find this stuff musically appealing?

I'm asking in all sincerity, what do you find attractive or aesthetic about this music? 
Not to offend you, but I'd really like to know.


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## Walid F. (Aug 3, 2014)

Kejero @ Sun Aug 03 said:


> ...absolutely nuts about the Donkey Kong Country trilogy...



Who isn't? :D I know that soundtrack straight up and down!! Nintendo surely has done such a great job in that department ever since they started making games.

W.


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## Jetzer (Aug 3, 2014)

@Jose, no offense taken, at all :wink: 

I did play the game, but didn't really like it, so I stopped playing after a few hours. I liked the concept though, and the soundtrack immediately took my attention. 

My whole experience with this game has nothing to do with my liking of this score though, although it might help to get the concept of it. 

I genuinely like this kind of music, it connects with me emotionally. What makes it does that, I have no idea, it just does. The sounds, the notes, the atmosphere. 

So yes, I really find this stuff musically appealing. Call it a genre. It's a taste thing. I love Inception's score, I really dig Cliff Martinez' work. The good stuff is really, really well structured, I find it really hard to do that. I respect those guys who can pull it off without making it boring. 

I remember being fifteen when I showed my best friend this rock band I was totally crazy about. He didn't like it, said he was into hip-hop/ r&b. I could't believe it, how could people not like that...? That was my first real experience with taste. It is indefensible, an undefinable thing. 

I appreciate that you are at least trying to get it, but if you don't like it, you don't


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## choc0thrax (Aug 3, 2014)

josejherring @ Sun Aug 03 said:


> JH @ Sun Aug 03 said:
> 
> 
> > Because of the synth topic lately I re-discovered Deus Ex - Human Revolution by Michael McCan. This track is genius:
> ...



That music is alright whether you're a gamer or not. But as someone who has played a lot of games I know that even lousy sounding tracks can become nostalgic favourites because you become so familiar with them. Especially with RPG and RTS games you can end up in a particular area or on a map hearing the same music over and over again. Warcraft, Starcraft, Final Fantasy, KOTOR, Resident Evil(the first two, not the current trash), Goldeneye etc are all burned into my brain.


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## Neifion (Aug 3, 2014)

Walid F. @ Sun Aug 03 said:


> Kejero @ Sun Aug 03 said:
> 
> 
> > ...absolutely nuts about the Donkey Kong Country trilogy...
> ...



That was actually Rare's composer David Wise; Nintendo wasn't involved with the game, other than licensing out the DK characters.

Speaking of Rare, I always loved the soundtrack to Diddy Kong Racing. It's often overlooked, but man are those songs catchy. I did an OverClocked Remix of the Haunted Woods theme a few months ago:

https://soundcloud.com/kekopro/monster- ... headlights

Another recent soundtrack I liked was for The Wolf Among Us games. Great 80's noir vibe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99nnDQWwuYI&list=PLItG-Y7CSImdgGA0-8k6Iw6gNGCp3gtvV&index=7 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99nnDQW ... vV&amp;index=7)


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## kmlandre (Aug 3, 2014)

I'm sure it will love some poo-pooing and aghast, but Martin O'Donnel's Halo 1, 2, & 3 for me. 

It's what got me to break back out of songwriting and pick up instrumental composition again...

Kurt M. Landre'
https://www.SoundCloud.com/kmlandre


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## Mystic (Aug 5, 2014)

Dragon Age: Origins (Inon Zur) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ5S8vs2n0U
Ultima Online (Kirk Winterrowd and Joe Basquez) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSSR95J92_s&list=PL57042CB373BD8132 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSSR95J ... B373BD8132)
Chrono Trigger (Yasunori Mitsuda) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veD_Q9M79bM
Earthbound (Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu Tanaka) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hBF1WZeT_M
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Michael McCann) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyG6YMLEWus


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## Neifion (Aug 5, 2014)

kmlandre @ Sun Aug 03 said:


> I'm sure it will love some poo-pooing and aghast, but Martin O'Donnel's Halo 1, 2, & 3 for me.
> 
> It's what got me to break back out of songwriting and pick up instrumental composition again...
> 
> ...



I loved these soundtracks as well. When I first popped in Halo 1 when it came out, and the menu screen faded in with that haunting choir melody, I was pleasantly surprised; not what I expected from a sci-fi shooter at the time.


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