So this year has been a FANTASTIC one for music in games. So many great original scores, all around, that I couldn't help but make a list of my ten favorites. Now, I am by NO means a music critic, so maybe my descriptions for the things aren't the best, but hey.
As always, number 1 is down at the bottom. So without further ado,
Showing 1-10 of 10 items
Number 10 Standout tracks: Pyrates Beware, In This World or the One Below I have always enjoyed the soundtracks to Assassin's Creed games, and Brian Tyler's pirate themed take for Black Flag is no exception.
Number 9 Standout tracks: Main theme, Short Change Hero Sure, this might be a little bit of cheating, but the jazz covers of songs from Borderlands, Portal, Sam and Max, The Venture Brothers, and Army of Darkness are all fantastic. And perhaps the only good things about Poker Night 2. Except the Pandora joke. That one made me laugh.
Number 8 Standout tracks: Hypertension, Peace Some fantastic mystery-solving jazz if I ever heard any, and it is composed by the same person who composed Streets of Rage. You literally cannot go wrong.
Number 7 Standout tracks: Dig, Electric Fedora I really wish I had enough room left over on my Game of the Year list to include Gunpoint. Easily the hardest decision on making that list was deciding to cut Gunpoint. Its jazz soundtrack made running through (and failing hilariously) its levels an absolute blast.
Number 6 Standout tracks: BOWSER WORLD (World 8 Overworld), Credits Theme Super Mario 3D World's live, big band soundtrack is the best music the Mario series has had. There. I said it.
Number 5 Standout tracks: A Stranger I Remain, Red Sun If you can't tell from the games and tracks I listed above, I tend to gravitate towards things that other people would call "easy listening," I suppose. I like music light, gentle to listen to, and not necessarily loud. So imagine my surprise when I found out I really enjoyed Jamie Christopherson's heavy metal soundtrack for Metal Gear Rising. Especially the boss fight music. Go figure.
Number 4 Standout tracks: A Legitimate Business Man, A Haze of Patriotic Fervor Many, MANY things have been said about Grand Theft Auto V. But one thing that I feel needs to be said more is how absolutely stellar its original score is. Rockstar's fleet of composers (Tangerine Dream, Woody Jackson, The Alchemist, Oh No, and DJ Shadow) put together a fantastic, Heat-like soundtrack that fits perfectly in the crime filled world of Los Santos.
Number 3 Standout Tracks: Maintenance, Speak Loud (Rising Superstar Irie) A soundtrack that blends acoustic and synthesized sounds fantastically well, CombatPlayer's score for episode one of Dysfunctional Systems makes fantastic reading music for the events of the visual novel.
Number 2 Standout tracks: Memory Reconstruction, Fragments In my regular game of the year list, I mentioned how much I loved the soundtrack to Remember Me. Olivier Derivière's fantastic score, blending sweeping orchestras with glitchy, jumping synthesized effects fits perfectly in Remember Me's cyberpunk world.
Number 1 Standout tracks: Discothéque Rouge, Hôtel De Monaco Also in my regular game of the year list, I mentioned that I thought Monaco had the best soundtrack of the year, bar none. Well, I do. Truly the best work from composer Austin Wintory (sorry Journey), Monaco's frantic piano soundtrack ramps up the tension and atmosphere, in addition to just being a standout soundtrack to just listen to, means there's really no other choice for me. (PS: No seriously. Play Monaco.)