Two of my hobbies are music and video games and when they come together they have a tendency to create some amazing works.
The music found in video games has been a continuous font of joy, entertainment and hype over the years. I still remember watching the reveal trailer for Fallout 3 and listening to “I don’t want to set the world on fire”. Then there were the great musical endings to Portal and Portal 2!
While it is nice to see shows like The Game Awards highlight the epic work that has gone into this area, I feel like it doesn’t get enough love.
Great music does so much heavy lifting
I have played any number of games where music has played such an important role in defining moment of a game or even the entire thing.
The greatest example of music setting the tone and hugely adding to the enjoyment of a game is Doom (2016) and the sequel Doom Eternal. The heavy metal soundtrack pumps you up for the fight ahead and drives you forward. Then there are games like Mechanicus where the soundtrack makes up so much of the atmosphere.
One of the most memorable things for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for me was the little songs you played on the ocarina. I am sure these tunes are incredibly memorable to people who haven’t played it in years.
A surprising impact
When I look at my playlists I’m surprised that I have become a fan of some of the composers. Games like Ixion or studios like Super Giant Games have put me on to people that I genuinely look forward to their next project. Some of the work that has come out of the video game space has made it into my all time top albums and if I had the cash I would happily buy the vinyl edition!
With all this said I would like to share with you some of the amazing work I continue to enjoy from old and new games:
The Artists
The first artist I would like to highlight is Guillaume David. They did the soundtracks for both Mechanicus and Ixion. This is a pair of games where the soundtrack makes up the majority of the atmosphere of their respective titles. Two notable examples is “Children of the Omnisiah” from Mechanicus and “Vanir’s Legacy” from Ixion.
Super Giant Games introduced me to Darren Korb when they released Bastion. It’s soundtrack was amazing and featured the wonderful narrator from the game. In my opinion the highlight of their body of work is the soundtrack to Transistor. Slotted between the wonderful instrumental tracks were songs featuring vocals from Ashley Barrett. I have never been able to pin down that style of music but if you can please let me know as I would love albums of songs like “The Spine”.
The albums
One of my all time favourite games has to be Va-11 Hall-a. The cyberpunk setting and a focus on a small cast of well fleshed out characters was amazing. Garoad made something special when they wrote the games soundtrack. I have listened to it so much that it has not only made it into my CD collection but I will eventually own the soundtrack on Vinyl too.
Another entry in my top games of all time would have to include an entry from the Deus Ex franchise. The soundtrack to Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a great listen with the opening three tracks being a particular stand out.
I mentioned earlier Doom (2016). The soundtrack contains not only the wonderful metal tracks from the game but also has some of the “lore” entries that gives the album a very dramatic feel. As someone who is finding their way into the metal genre this hit so many great notes.
The songs
There have been some stand out tracks from some titles. While I wouldn’t listen to the whole OST, these tracks have made it on to various playlists:
- Finish the fight from Halo 3 by Martin O’Donnell
- We all lift together from Warframe written by Keith Power
- Leaving Earth from Mass Effect 3
- End Times from Outer Wilds by Andrew Prahlow
- Hell March from Command & Conquer by Frank Klepacki
- Disco Decent from Crypt of the Necrodancer by Danny Barranowsky
- Devil Never Cry from Devil May Cry 3
Let me know if you have any recommendations I should be adding to the list!
The Multi Hobbyist 
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