I don't think music is enough to hold a game. however it can add a lot to it. give you a reason to turn it back on. the other side of this effect though is that if you have no music or terrible music, it can almost kill the game.
i often play games with itunes on anyway, only for certain types of games though. usually ones that don't have a strong soundtrack that's necessary for the theme of the game.
overall it's just one piece of the puzzle, the gameplay is still most important to me but good music can help and bad music and hurt.
I once saw an interview with a composer (he worked on tv shows and films but the point is still the same) He said a great piece of music should "lift the scene without the audience noticing"
It's like a cake, you don't go "wow that flour's amazing" but at the end of the day if it's not there, it's not a cake.
Alas i only recall that damn theme that goes with everything [http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=guiles+theme+goes+with+everything&oq=guiles+theme&gs_l=youtube.3.1.0l5j0i10j0j0i10j0j0i10.5121.7025.0.8086.12.12.0.0.0.0.86.926.12.12.0...0.0...1ac.BcXNTQZ6_iA].
Well, Audiosurf is basically all music. Granted that's probably the worst possible analogy. But I think the music, if good enough, is what helps define the game. Hell, mass effect 2, the soundtrack made the game epic win! Mass effect 1 was a lesser game because the soundtrack was garbage IMO.
I'm one of those people who turn off music in every video game. For me it's an immsersion type of thing. I wanna imagine I'm the guy in the armor and having an orchestra in my ear kinda spoils it for me.
Some games make it hard though.
for CoD4: Modern Warfare I had to download a patch/crack to remove the music, since there were no menu options. I don't know if there was music in the Tchernobyl-section, but just thinking about that makes me cringe.
Mass Effect and the Witcher are examples of another stupidity: removing music EVERYWHERE and not having any ambient sounds. Both these games have cutscenes without ambient noise, so if you turn off the ingame music, you're left with silence.
And Mass Effect turned off the music in clubs/bars/discos too. So you had people dancing to chatter.
Several people have already stated some of what I was going to answer so I won't say anything about those points. But I want to add this:
I consider not using music at points to be a clever use of music in it's own way. The same way animation, character design, and other aspects can benefit from some restraint and not going whole hog. A good example is Shadow of the Colossus, they don't play music when traveling from place to place. you only have the wind, the sounds of Wander calling Agro or grunting as he climbs, rocks tumbling, waves crashing, atc. and it really helps to hammer home the utter loneliness of the land and how undisturbed it is. But the second you run into a Colossi music starts playing. Starting slow, ominous, and quiet matching as you slowly figure out how to approach the monolithic creature and . But the second you manage to begin your climb the music suddenly grows fast, heroic matching as you make your dangerous climb. Music plays in other points but these three aspects are what stand out the strongest for me.
Music is very much a tool like art, story, gameplay, and everything else. Can it carry a game? Possibly, lots of things out there have manage to cut corners in certain areas by having something outstanding make up for what it is lacking. One aspect can really stand out to the player but like a good dance, play, or piece of visual art it proves to be at it's best by figuring out that particular weaving of it's pieces that work best for it.
Also:
The game that is from... Really isn't that popular, no one really seems to HATE it in particular. But reviews and general consensus is that it wasn't horrible, but it's wasn't anything special either. Granted it is one of my favorite JRPGS but I can see very well where they are coming from. It had an AMAZING soundtrack... But it really never became popular or well known. So this is pretty strong evidence that music doesn't always carry a game.
I would go as far to say that many times music or sound is more important than what you're looking at.
Remember the Regenerators from Resident Evil 4? How scary would they be without their claustrophobic weezing?
Hearing certain sounds or music can put us in a state that no visuals or gameplay can, so ofcoure removing it would dampen the experience. That unsettling, sneering musical intro you hear when entering Ravenholm in Half-Life 2 immediately plants the seeds of anxiety for the duration of that chapter. Without it that first cold splash of fear would've been lost.
Not in my case at least. I never notice music in games, unless it's a song that really sticks out - and it's not often I come across those. Only game music I can think of right now is the Prince of Persia: Warrior Within theme.
Though in a twist of events, I think that theme might've been the reason I started up the game so many times after not progressing anywhere. Believe it was the starting point of my love for electric guitars even.
Yes, some games seem to lose their 'charm' without music. But answering the question in the thread title? No. Music in the game alone cannot hold up for clunky controls, shitty story, crap animation and just a terrible game altogether. I'm not mentioning anything specific, and while music is very important, it's not essential. GTA games are perfect. Aside from the opening cutscene, the credits and the radio stations, that game had no music (As far as I can remember). And that game was amazing. But if a game was entirely shit ecept the music, I'd just get the soundtrack and never play the game again.
Yeah but that's only because Crush 40 are awesome anyway and had been doing the songs since adventure who are now trapped to forever be apart of that doomed franchise.
I would say yes, case in point would be the Mega Man franchise which has fantastic music AND because of this has spawned bands such The Protomen and Powerglove etc who base there songs around the tracks from the series. Mega Man of probably just become another platformer on the market that faded into obscurity if it wasn't for the music.
Examples...
and
and
Other good examples of Retro game music: Castlevania, Zero Wing, Final Fantasy 1-6 (Nobuo Uematsu is a god) and Metal Gear (solid as well)
Sonic isn't doomed its getting better a lot of people have just lost hope and will refuse to give it another chance. Some are perfectly reasonable in that belief like I am with Megaman (I'm just bored at this point) and others just ***** for the sake of it.
Yeah but that's only because Crush 40 are awesome anyway and had been doing the songs since adventure who are now trapped to forever be apart of that doomed franchise.
I would say yes, case in point would be the Mega Man franchise which has fantastic music AND because of this has spawned bands such The Protomen and Powerglove etc who base there songs around the tracks from the series. Mega Man of probably just become another platformer on the market that faded into obscurity if it wasn't for the music.
Examples...
and
and
Other good examples of Retro game music: Castlevania, Zero Wing, Final Fantasy 1-6 (Nobuo Uematsu is a god) and Metal Gear (solid as well)
Sonic isn't doomed its getting better a lot of people have just lost hope and will refuse to give it another chance. Some are perfectly reasonable in that belief like I am with Megaman (I'm just bored at this point) and others just ***** for the sake of it.
Yeah, I know the games are getting better, Sonic 4 was great, but y'know the series is doomed because of creepy obsessive fans with their fan fiction (that's what I meant by what I said before).
One of the most under appreciated of the Silent Hill 2 OSTs and moments. The moment where the little comfort/hope you had was lost (thats as much as i'm willing to say with fear of entering into spoiler territory) It is a piece comprised of a 4 note melody and 2 chords, thats it. no expansion or building on the that, it's minimalism done right.
In regards to the question no. But god damn is it important, but only for achieving tone. Music never really effects gameplay unless its a core part of the experience e.g. guitar hero, the impossible game etc.
While on the subject there are instances where the music is quite literally the first thing I think of when I think of a game, remaning a core part of the memory of a game in hindsight. Take these for example.
This mostly due to a simple memorable melody that is normally constantly repeated throughout the game. But IMO only main themes or out of gameplay music should be built mainly around melody as a strong melodic piece can draw attention away instead of reinforcing the game and creating atmosphere when needed (obviously no one needs immersion and atmosphere when playing more simplistic games like Klonoa or SMB).
Personally, while I don't think that music can carry a game all by itself, I do consider music to be one of the most important elements of a game, and a bad or uninteresting soundtrack can easily be a deal breaker for me, regardless of how good the rest of the game is.
As for your Silent Hill 2 example, I agree, and I think that Akira Yamaoka's soundtrack elevates that game way above what it would've been without it. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love Silent Hill 2, but let's cut the crap here. The voice acting in it was not very good, and the dialogue was awkwardly written, making all the characters in it come off as completely unrelatable. If not for Yamaoka's score, the entire game would've played out very differently, and some key scenes in it wouldn't have been half as effective as they were.
Not even close for me. If the gameplay isn't good, it is very unlikely that any other part of the game is going to be good enough to make it worthwhile to me. I might enjoy it separately but I won't be able to play the game and have fun just because the music is good.
Only if it's a music game. Seriously though, music can't hold an entire game. That is a stupid question. Graphics can't save a crappy game nor can music. Good music can make a bad game more bearable or a good game awesome, but music plays a small role compared to the big "The game is fun to play".
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