The greatest game/game series soundtrack/music of all time?

Dan_D said:
I've played so many games it's hard to remember. Though in recent memory, I think the sound track to the end parts of Mass Effect 2 was really good. Aside from that I can't think of anything really good in the last few years. Then again most of what I play have been first person shooters and while some of them had good music, none of it counts as "epic" or worth listening too outside of the game.
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This not epic enough?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiN6t7K7txw
 
Evil Genius theme by James Hannigan : http://youtu.be/gqNs7APC6A8

Total Annihilation theme (Forest Green) by Jeremy Soule : http://youtu.be/qP2spT0TwCw

Simcity 4 - Terrain : http://youtu.be/rCfimZEArAQ

I tried to link some that people might not know off the top of their heads. I liked some of the tracks from Devil May Cry series as well.

Off topic, but a little on the same wavelength. Some memorable video game cinematics from back in the day that was made alot better from their music and atmosphere.

Quake 2 intro : http://youtu.be/vdJVyfDuc_g

Descent 2 ending : http://youtu.be/fTZuxGAUbro

Anyone agree with any of these?
 
ShogoXT said:
Evil Genius theme by James Hannigan : http://youtu.be/gqNs7APC6A8

Total Annihilation theme (Forest Green) by Jeremy Soule : http://youtu.be/qP2spT0TwCw

Simcity 4 - Terrain : http://youtu.be/rCfimZEArAQ

I tried to link some that people might not know off the top of their heads. I liked some of the tracks from Devil May Cry series as well.

Off topic, but a little on the same wavelength. Some memorable video game cinematics from back in the day that was made alot better from their music and atmosphere.

Quake 2 intro : http://youtu.be/vdJVyfDuc_g

Descent 2 ending : http://youtu.be/fTZuxGAUbro

Anyone agree with any of these?
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I don't agree with anything that isn't Super Sonic Racing....try to keep your feet right on the ground...when your Super Sonic Racing.

See what I did there.

TA theme is awesome though.
 
Dan_D said:
I've next to no idea who composed the music for any game I've ever played.
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A handful of the more prolific video gamer composers:

Bill Brown
- older Tom Clancy games (R6, GR)
- Wolfenstein games
- C&C

Tom Salta
- newer Tom Clancy games (GRAW, HAWX - yes there's a reason why you hear the GRAW theme in the first HAWX mission)
- various console games I don't really care about like PGR

Matt Uelmen
- Diablo
- Starcraft
- WoW
- Torchlight (surely you could already guessed that based on the similar sound to Diablo)

Harry Gregson-Williams
- MGS (Sons of Liberty and later)
- CoD4
More well known for his movie work though.

Inon Zur
- BG2, IWD2
- DoW, CoH
- Fallout, FO3
- DA:O
- various RPGs and MMOs (Lineage, Everquest)
- full list here

Jeremy Soule
- REALLY not gonna bother listing everything

Video game composing is a bit like video game voice acting, you see some big names like Jennifer Hale that are really prolific.
 
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Jesper Kyd (wikipedia)

2012 - Heroes and Generals
2011 - Forza Motorsport 4
2011 - Assassin's Creed: Revelations (with Lorne Balfe)
2010 - Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood[13]
2009 - Assassin's Creed II
2009 - Borderlands (had a few catchy themes)
2008 - The Chronicles of Spellborn (has some great stuff in it)
2008 - The Club (main theme)
2007 - Assassin's Creed
2007 - Unreal Tournament 3 (with Rom Di Prisco)
2007 - Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
2006 - Hitman: Blood Money
2006 - Gears of War (concept music)
2005 - Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (cinematics)
2004 - Dance Dance Revolution ULTRAMIX 2 (songs .59 -remix-, Istanbul café, and Red Room)[14]
2004 - Robotech: Invasion
2004 - Hitman: Contracts
2004 - McFarlane's Evil Prophecy
2003 - Freedom Fighters
2003 - Brute Force
2002 - Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
2002 - Minority Report: The Video Game
2001 - Shattered Galaxy
2001 - The Nations: Alien Nations 2
2000 - Hitman: Codename 47
2000 - Messiah
2000 - MDK2
2000 - Soldier (unreleased)
1999 - Time Tremors
1996 - Scorcher
1996 - Amok
1995 - Adventures of Batman and Robin
1994 - Red Zone
1993 - Sub-Terrania
1993 - AWS Pro Moves Soccer
1989 - USS John Young
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My personal favorites of his bolded. I'd argue those are some of his best works but YMMV. ;)

Jeremy Soule: Look his name up. Anything you see is awesome. Another vote Bill Brown here as well.
 
AmberClad said:
A handful of the more prolific video gamer composers:

Bill Brown
- older Tom Clancy games (R6, GR)
- Wolfenstein games
- C&C

Matt Uelmen
- Diablo
- Starcraft
- WoW
- Torchlight (surely you could already guessed that based on the similar sound to Diablo)

Harry Gregson-Williams
- MGS (Sons of Liberty and later)
- CoD4
More well known for his movie work though.

Inon Zur
- BG2, IWD2
- DoW, CoH
- Fallout, FO3
- DA:O
- various RPGs and MMOs (Lineage, Everquest)
- full list here


Jeremy Soule
- REALLY not gonna bother listing everything



Video game composing is a bit like video game voice acting, you see some big names like Jennifer Hale that are really prolific.
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Nice information. I recognize and pay attention to voice actors. For some reason I can't help but do so. I can recognize voice actors almost immediately even if all they've done was fairly obscure. It annoys some of my friends. I can't watch anything animated or see clips from games without identifying the voice actors.
 
Q-BZ said:
Jesper Kyd (wikipedia)



My personal favorites of his bolded. I'd argue those are some of his best works but YMMV. ;)
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I played a lot of those games but some of them were played so long ago that I don'r really remember them all that well. Some of those games, I simply haven't played. I started Assassin's Creed 1 and couldn't get into it. Far too repetitive for my tastes I guess. The only Hitman game I liked was the second one. I never really bothered with the rest after playing their demos. But some of those I recall well enough.
 
Dan_D said:
Nice information. I recognize and pay attention to voice actors. For some reason I can't help but do so. I can recognize voice actors almost immediately even if all they've done was fairly obscure. It annoys some of my friends. I can't watch anything animated or see clips from games without identifying the voice actors.
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I'm the same way with a lot of soundtracks. Certain composers I can identify their styles pretty quick. Movies or games.

Yes, it's pretty nerdy. What can I say? ;)
 
Dan_D said:
Quake I had a better sound track. I thought Quake I was a better game aside from a graphics standpoint but that's another topic entirely.
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Agreed on both points. Definitely liked the gritty gothic style of Q1 over the tech/sterile Q2...and both were so much better than rainbow and bubble-wrapped Q3.
 
Q-BZ said:
I'm the same way with a lot of soundtracks. Certain composers I can identify their styles pretty quick. Movies or games.

Yes, it's pretty nerdy. What can I say? ;)
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For films I can do that. For games like Call of Duty, I noticed it was Hans Zimmer, but for games I rarely notice. I think part of my problem is that I'm too picky about the games I play. Or rather which ones I'll stick to and finish. I rarely buy games either, only doing so when a game seems interesting enough to me.
 
Dan_D said:
For films I can do that. For games like Call of Duty, I noticed it was Hans Zimmer, but for games I rarely notice. I think part of my problem is that I'm too picky about the games I play. Or rather which ones I'll stick to and finish. I rarely buy games either, only doing so when a game seems interesting enough to me.
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Games or movies it just depends.

Voice acting it's a bit tougher unless it's an obvious big name like say, Samuel Jackson or Patrick Stewart or someone like that otherwise it might be me saying "Hey, that's the guy who voiced the terrorist in Rainbow Six Raven Shield" or something like that.
 
I'm glad to see somebody else mentioned Total Annihilation before I had to. I'm also a fan of the DoW soundtracks.

One I haven't seen mentioned yet is Homeworld. I remember from the first game right at the beginning as you were saving what is left of your race, this song played in the background. I had to look it up and never realized it was actually a remake of a classic song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIUxwEJ-GXI

After listening to multiple versions of Adagio For Strings, I still like this vocal version the best.
 
Here are some of my highlights

Cave Story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vtxp70tVHyM

Splinter Cell Double Agent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5x97apRTXE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ1g364H22k
The full score is available for free download at http://www.behaviormusic.com.

Homeworld 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0vPMjBdLws (bonus points for Campbell Lane)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-NkB9M9mks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3atjcvIvRKg

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB9Rbn4SkWo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqTPpdZB4UQ

Mass Effect 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGWYQY-EEnw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTsD2FjmLsw

Surprised I haven't seen anyone mention the Halo series
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFOJ13sw8o4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGXbwb7K_kg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fPFtDdqnJI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HAzqdqPxtQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWIGrdHUxmI

Independence War 2 - Christopher Mann
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE_83i_KUWc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SlUiLT_0jI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23VLS11mAqo

Freespace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUPWcsXCcVk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldGnXNiD3X4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDrlRq-ZjNk&feature=player_profilepage#t=58s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ-xcgBL1mY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ-xcgBL1mY

Hans Zimmer did some nice stuff with MW2 as well.
 
RedTalon19 said:
I'm glad to see somebody else mentioned Total Annihilation before I had to. I'm also a fan of the DoW soundtracks.

One I haven't seen mentioned yet is Homeworld. I remember from the first game right at the beginning as you were saving what is left of your race, this song played in the background. I had to look it up and never realized it was actually a remake of a classic song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIUxwEJ-GXI

After listening to multiple versions of Adagio For Strings, I still like this vocal version the best.
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Famously used in the movie "Platoon" as well. Very moving.
 
LstOfTheBrunnenG said:
Here are some of my highlights

Surprised I haven't seen anyone mention the Halo series
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFOJ13sw8o4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGXbwb7K_kg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fPFtDdqnJI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HAzqdqPxtQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWIGrdHUxmI
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I'm glad someone else mentioned Halo. I absolutely LOVE the Halo music. I find that when comparing the overall quality of the sound it isn't as good as other more recent AAA titles, but the MELODIES, man! They are so memorable and emotional!

Halo 3 Final Tank Battle: "I repeat, two scarabs!"

roaf85 said:
Flying Battery Zone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx60...otation_155207&src_vid=_T7hdIh-gtw&feature=iv
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YES!!!

...

YES!!!

I'm SO glad someone else appreciates S&K music!
 
Totems of the Grizzlemaw - World of Warcraft
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEY8WlMN4V4
Love that song so much, I could just park my character in the zone and listen to it for hours.

Nerevar Rising - The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P09R8xhEHGo
Spent so much time playing that game that the song brings waves of nostalgia.

Can't believe no one mentioned the only game song ever to win a grammy award..
Baba Yetu - Civilization IV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJiHDmyhE1A
One of the best songs I've heard in a game.
 
Why did you just decide to waltz in here and make everyone cry their damn eyes out?
 
From the Killer Cuts CD

Its a Jungle - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2A4TVeqv7g

Another from Total Annihilation because frankly the battle music from that game was simply awesome. In some respects the battle music reminds me of some modern huge bombastic scores done for films today.

Brutal Battle - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WulGs5aDCb4

I'm just going to say this, but Final Fantasy XIII had a really awesome soundtrack. Masashi Hamauzu did a wonderful job on it. Even if you do not like the game (at all) at least give a listen to the OST.

Prelude to Final Fantasy XIII - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMacrDEwwsU
Chocobos of Pulse - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3VReA9kq5
Fabula Nova Crystallis - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlWNUfkbKDU

From Metal Gear Solid 4, which yet again, had a great score.

Old Snake - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RICZNZXEFs

The Mass Effect series as has already been stated had great music. But I like the opening theme to Mass Effect 1 more than Mass Effect 2 personally.

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

Finally, Mirror's Edge, love it or hate it, had not only a highly striking art direction. But an excellent score. If you have it just play through the introduction of the game for that one piece of music.

Still Alive - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUXyoyuJZ8Y
Edit: Actually I found that track. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V0N-OKegB4
 
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