Gaming Soundtracks

[Vigormortis]

Oh good lord...where to begin?

There's been SO much incredible music from within the gaming industry it's hard to just pick one. Or even a few.

That said, I'll do my best, being sure to spoiler everything to save space. (something that should be a requirement with threads like this)

Spoiler: Valve's collected works

Kelly Bailey and Mike Morasky are still some of my favorite game soundtrack composers. Their collected works across all of Valves catalog of games is nothing short of fantastic and representing a great mix of genres from dark, atmospheric, upbeat, heart-thumping, moody, and even comical.

Spoiler: Homeworld

I still hold the Homeworld series soundtracks as some of the best ambient and atmospheric soundtracks in the industry's history. Paul Ruskay is a grossly under-appreciated composer.

Spoiler: Rare's collected works

Say what you will about post-Microsoft buyout Rare, or even pre-buyout Rare, but the one thing you can't deny is that they put out some fantastic games with equally fantastic soundtracks.

Spoiler: MechWarrior series

Gregory Alper and Jeehun Hwang crafted not only superb soundtracks for MechWarrior 2 and it's add ons, but helped define the sound and feel of the series and, in some ways, the genre.

Spoiler: Metroid Prime

If Homeworld has a spot in the upper echelons of greatest ambient and atmospheric soundtracks in gaming, Metroid Prime easily deserves a spot right next to it. Kenji Yamamoto and Kouichi Kyuuma were able to take some classic tracks from Metroids previous entries, remix them with their own compositions, and craft an incredible soundtrack and score.

I could honestly keep going for some time, but I've already linked waaay too many youtube vids, so I'll stop.

For now. Might list more at some point.

 

[Burntpopcarn]

Killzone 2-Helghan Forever.
Probably the best theme song ever. Look it up and listen to it right now.

 

[Joffas16]

Spoiler: Chrono Cross has been mentioned a couple of time but nobody has actually posted anything yet.

Spoiler: Radical Dreamers is also great.

If you haven't heard of it it's Chrono Trigger's kind of retconned, kind of remade sequel on SNES which is sort of like a choose your own adventure story that follows the plot of Chrono Cross.

I also have to mention Castlevania: Nocturne in the Moonlight, (The Sega Saturn port of Symphony of the Night which has the best version of Bloody Tears from the whole series in my opinion) and the Hitman games.

 

[soren7550]

I love me some Mass Effect tracks. Felt that 2 was the weakest overall, even if it did have this:

Samples of other soundtracks that I love are

Spoiler: Saints Row the Third

Spoiler: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Spoiler: Perfect Dark

Spoiler: Pokemon

Spoiler: Fable III

I know there's a bunch more, but it's late and I have a hard enough time remembering what day of the week it is.

 

[An Individual]

The Witcher (the first one) had a spectacular sound track including the most effective piece of credits music I've ever heard. It cuts in at the perfect moment and fits the emotional tone of the ending exceptionally well.


Mark of the Ninja gets a honorable mention in the credits music category. I'll also give a shout out to Bastion and Braid as having good sound tracks. Mass Effect as well. In particular the Suicide Mission track from 2 and a number of the tracks from 3.

 

[carelesshx]

Recently I have been loving Risk of Rain. The whole soundtrack is available on [link url="https://soundcloud.com/chrischristodouloumusic/sets/risk-of-rain"]SoundCloud[/link] and [link url="http://chrischristodoulou.bandcamp.com/album/risk-of-rain"]Bandcamp[/link]; here's a couple of my favourites:

 

[Barbas]

A true controller-smashing classic:

Spoiler

...Which makes the inclusion of this one pretty much obligatory:


And here's one from Payday: The Heist. The mission it plays in is based on a shoot-out scene from the film Heat:

Spoiler

This is an interesting one. It plays when you enter Kusari (Asiatic) space, a series of systems in the game that may boast the most stunning views of asteroid belts, cyan water planets and gas clouds. It starts off with the music you hear while travelling, then picks up confrontation music, moves to a track that is not used in the game, and ends up escalating into the dogfighting music:

Spoiler

...And finally, the introductory music from Lionhead Studios' Black and White, in which a god is birth into being during a moment of crisis:

Spoiler

Bonus - the music that plays when two gods send their creature familiars to do battle:

Spoiler

That's yer lot. If I don't stop here, I'll never bloody finish.