Halo, Modern Warfare 2, Bioshock 2, Brutal Legend, Mass Effect even Gears of War has a great soundtrack and they seem to be getting better.
Poll: [Poll] Game Soundtracks: Are They Getting Better?
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Totally, categorically, unequivocally one-hundred percent wrong. I am a composer, and it's far easier for a composer to create chords and pads than write a theme that is timeless and "catchy." Composers (the good ones) strive to create something that sticks to memory. The constraints brought about by the 8/16-bit era concerning the amount of MIDI instrumentation available at the time forced composers of that era to be more creative because they had less tools to work with.ciortas1 said:
Those "crappy 16-note themes from the 80's" are regarded in the composition world as the stuff of genius ranking up there with the Goldsmith's and Williams'. Limitation breeds creativity, just ask Shakespeare.
Can't remember any good game soundtracks in recent history. And with good I mean songs that just stick with you
I really like rayman 2 music, it might just be nostalgia but in my opinion every single piece of music in this game is just so right. This piece plays while you enter a cave where nightmares come to live and it fits it so perfectly, it creepy while enchanting at the same time.
Same goes for the music in silent hill 2.
Nowadays I have a feeling most games go for a generic brass&drum sound which is okay, but just feels bland after you heard it in every other game. Silent hill 2 had a mix of all sorts of music ranging from melodic to industrial which is something I don't hear to often aswell. Most games go with a general theme and stick with that throughout the entire course of the game, which makes you forget it rather quickly.
I really like rayman 2 music, it might just be nostalgia but in my opinion every single piece of music in this game is just so right. This piece plays while you enter a cave where nightmares come to live and it fits it so perfectly, it creepy while enchanting at the same time.
Same goes for the music in silent hill 2.
Nowadays I have a feeling most games go for a generic brass&drum sound which is okay, but just feels bland after you heard it in every other game. Silent hill 2 had a mix of all sorts of music ranging from melodic to industrial which is something I don't hear to often aswell. Most games go with a general theme and stick with that throughout the entire course of the game, which makes you forget it rather quickly.
for all intents and purposes, Bobby Prince is one of the greates Video-Game composers to have ever lived. he made the soundtracks for DOOM, Duke Nukem, ROTT, Comander keen. and this is back in the 90's. classic tunes are where it's at
I could listen to 8-bit Pokémon themes, Tetris songs or the LoZ soundtrack all day.
Old school Megaman and Castlevania soundtracks are still utterly freaking awesome.
I voted they're about the same, as some soundtracks are utter ear rape, but some are utterly freaking awesome.
TF2, Ragnarok Online, bigger epic games, they've all got an excellent soundtrack, but to me most games of old have a far more memorable soundtrack than most newer games.
Old school Megaman and Castlevania soundtracks are still utterly freaking awesome.
I voted they're about the same, as some soundtracks are utter ear rape, but some are utterly freaking awesome.
TF2, Ragnarok Online, bigger epic games, they've all got an excellent soundtrack, but to me most games of old have a far more memorable soundtrack than most newer games.
I don't really know... overall, video game music is shifting to more high budget and elaborate music. But that's pretty much what bothers me; nowadays, video games take up insane amounts of space, and can afford to have a fully orchestral soundtrack and all, while a decade ago, they had to cram the music alongside the game in a few kilobytes, which in some cases was quite a feat...
Also, I've got a sort of feeling that I won't find a better soundtrack than those of Soul Reaver or Diablo.
Then again, that's just my opinion
Also, I've got a sort of feeling that I won't find a better soundtrack than those of Soul Reaver or Diablo.
Then again, that's just my opinion
Assassin's Creed 2 and Final Fantasy XIII both had brilliant scores, and Dragon Age and Mass Effect were pretty damn good too. I also remember Fable 2 having a rather good score.
Generally, I do think scores are getting better. Some games like Iron Man 2 seem determined to set this back, but in general, the scores have been really good lately.
Generally, I do think scores are getting better. Some games like Iron Man 2 seem determined to set this back, but in general, the scores have been really good lately.
Wait, what?666Chaos said:
Sorry, but I have a hard time thinking up any scenario wherein creativity would be disadvantageous.
Anyway;
Agreed. Though wouldn't you concede that as the tools are refined, so are the possible nuances a composer can infuse their work with?SavingPrincess said:
Aforementioned Akira Yamaoka is my example per default; an artist who basically cemented Silent Hill as the arguably most atmospheric and vibrant franchise in interactive media.
I can't see video from work so I can't answer your question but if I remember when I get home I'll try and speak to it. Those "leading notes" are called a melody or "theme." Outside of Metal Gear Solid IV (which uses themes from the series dating back years) and maybe Halo (bearing in mind that I really didn't love the game overall, so no fanboyism here), there haven't been many themes in recent gaming that have stood out as memorable when compared to a Metriod or Kid Icarus.ciortas1 said:
... actually Kid Icarus is a great example. That is a game I have never owned, and only played a brief bit years after it was released. In fact, total play time on that game for me is probably under four hours. That being said, I can immediately recall the themes from the game, and any time the music is played in any setting, in any orchestration, I immediately associate it with the game, character, and time spent playing. That is strong musical writing...
Sadly, whether or not it "resonates emotionally" with you specifically is kind of a moot point and is in no way indicative of "good/bad" writing. If your ear requires a sweeping orchestral sound or modern-istic instrumentation to draw emotion out of you, that's fine, but your in a subconscious minority. If you were to break down the scalar structure of music written back then, you'll see extremely advanced musical techniques used that are being taught at the highest levels of composition classes throughout the works of those "crappy NES/SNES scores." The Super Mario Bros. theme itself is a wonderfully syncopated Latin-based theme that uses chromaticism and modal interchange all over the place... It's also very long for being so memorable; basically consisting of four long phrasings inside the main theme. That's TOUGH to do. The Legend of Zelda has a wonderfully melodic use of chromatic voice leading that would normally sound very disjointed and haunting if it weren't for the clever choice of chord scales used underneath it. There's just so much clever work that came out of that era because of the limited resources that I could write a Master's Thesis on it.
The ones I like best are the ones that let you make your own soundtrack.Grey Warden said:
I find most soundtracks to be really crappy and I usually turn them off after a short while.
Assassin's Creed 2 was okay but that lilting "free roam" melody that plays sometimes makes me think of that Gwen Stephani song about the Bananas. It is the exact same melody and I didn't even notice until my wife was playing and started chanting "it's my shit, it's my shit" every time that music started playing.
Dragon Age is a perfect example of a soundtrack overplaying the actual drama of the situation. Sometimes it's just poor programming like when the battle music keeps playing long after you're done looting the bodies. At other times (like during one of the many loooong conversations) it just doesn't fit or it fits and sounds like the orchestra is on crack. It just seems like the composer was trying way too hard to make you notice the soundtrack.
The Infamous soundtrack I kind of like but I can totally understand why most people don't. It's a very industrial sound that can be very distracting during gameplay. Someone once described it to me as: "it sounds like the decepticons getting raped with household appliances in Tom Waits' barn. I happen to like Tom Waits, but not while I'm playing.
Where I do have to agree with you is with games that have licensed music like Brutal Legend, GTA, and Fallout 3. So I am happy that at least some games get good enough funding that they can license decent music rather than composers that are just Hollywood rejects.
Absolutely, the toolsets are much higher quality, but sometimes when you have so much available to you toolwise, you favor nuance over substance. People remember the themes from movies like Star Wars, Back to the Future and Indiana Jones because of the melody, not the orchestral nuances. Yamaoka's score for Silent Hill was truly a thing of beauty, but my favorite piece was the opening theme during the preview cutscene. If you want an example of how music can be both melodic and atmospheric, look no further than the original NES Metroid. Hip Tanaka's score for that game could be considered equally haunting in its emptiness and atmospheric nature in places, while still retaining a solid melodic backbone. There's also a ton of variety from area to area and the themes are instantly recognizable. Yamaoka's Silent Hill score (again, outside of the main theme) could be recognized in stylistic terms, but if I played you a piece, you probably couldn't tell me what part of the game that piece was used in.LiquidGrape said:
i would like to agree. i never listened to it outside the game but man i can do the whole damn thing to you and tell you which instrument is doing it (mostly), i have no idea why but it stuck to me perfectly, and stuff that i even like, i usually dont rememberdogstile said:
as of late, i really liked the awakening trailer song, it really got me goin, and anythingr from mass effect 1/2 is awesome, there is obviously the old stuff, me and my friends do OoT all the time