Name Some Notable In-Game Music!

meece

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I quite liked some of the tracks from Crysis. Maybe it's because I was given the collectors edition which came with a soundtrack disk?

"Sometimes You Win"- I can't recall what level but I suspect one of the last. Dark grueling intro, Then soaring and exciting, perfect compliment as your adrenadline rush gets going for a difficult fight. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=552BEeKOIRg

"Stricklands March"- Note the marching elements like the drums and trumpet used for footsteps. Used for a level with you assisting a relentless US tank advance. Lead by (unsuprisingly) Major Strickland. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS-Ea4pLnsk

Red Alert 2 also had brilliant music. I'm not sure what to say about it except it's the only electronic music I've ever listened to and liked and it's the perfect music for an RTS when leaving an army into battle and blowing stuff up.

"In Deep"- Deep, menacing and threatening for when you don't know what the enemy's doing or when they'll attack. But you're building up your army and you *know* that they're building up theirs and that time is running out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x7VvFy4BYQ

For the Greatest Musical Acompanyment In Any Game Ever It would have to be Adiago For Strings (choral version) Genocide never had a more fitting or sadder accompaniment. Really hits home that those Cryo Trays contain basically the entirety of your surviving race. Cut Scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXNQNeLDg5s
complete song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIUxwEJ-GXI
 

FieryTrainwreck

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A bunch of folks missing the point here. He's really not asking for "your favorite game soundtracks"; stuff like Blazblue and Final Fantasy don't exactly fit the bill.

Shadow of the Colossus (already on your list) instantly springs to mind. The evolving songs heighten the excitement and tension as you steadily progress against each boss.

I'd recommend looking at GTA: Vice City. Classic songs, all appropriate to the game's "era", really highlight the setting. Similarly, the Red Dead Redemption soundtrack takes cues from all kinds of traditional Westerns.

Bioshock had a variety of licensed songs from the 30s/40s/50s, which, again, do wonders in setting the mood and establishing a definitive "when". Fallout 3, likewise.
 

bluepotatosack

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I want to say Gabriel Knight, but being a point-and-click adventure series it might not be the best fit for this topic. Posting the intro for Sins of the Fathers anyway. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWdmmu91jGY

Bit.Trip.Beat has the music tie into the gameplay damn well.

Katamari Damacy? The music definitely sets the tone.
 

Scarim Coral

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Golden Sun had some awesome soundtrack. I found this one memorable when you explore the Sol sanctum, a temple.
This one is a excellent atomsphere music when you enter the city Lemuria. This music is very fitting because when you learn more about the Lemuria history (it is like Alantis) you discover the current city is in its former glory so it is quite depressing.
 

subject_87

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I can say firsthand that Super Meat Boy and VVVVVV both have awesome soundtracks; they're both platformers at various levels of brutality, and the music is one of the main reasons I didn't smash my keyboard through my monitor in frustration after dying for the fifty billionth time.
 

gigastar

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Why name them when the Escapist so gratiously allows all of us to embed videos?

So i still vouch for The Sun Rises from Okami.
 

Wayneguard

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Not necessarily music but sound design in general can make a good game fucking fantastic. The thief and fear series come to mind.
 

CM156_v1legacy

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My personal favorite. The MotB soundtrack in itself is very good.


This is the "Evil" ending theme, which sets an aura of dispair and pain

Zelda, OoT also has very good songs, including some of my favorites.
 

HellsingerAngel

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Enigmers said:
Well, to shorten the post, I'll spoiler tag the sections and label them, so you can look at them one by one on the ones you're interested in. Here goes:

What can I even say about this that hasn't already been said. The Legend of Zelda has elements from the Hero's Quest family of storytelling that began way back when stories were passed down from father to son. The entire game centers around this. The theme song definately reflects the feel of the story, scene and overall tone. Link, just a boy becoming a man, must venture forth into the vast and unknown world of Hyrule to see both it's majestic beauty and horrible evils with but a sword, a shield, and later in the franchise a trusty steed.


Even the chipset tune of the original theme song is very precise in how it wants to portray the mood. It's much slower than the overworld theme of the same construct, but it certainly sets the tone. You can just imagine Link walking a thousand miles over plains, beaches, mountain passes and such as the music plods along to our hero's pace.


Another classic and vastly different from The Legend of Zelda in how the music weaves itself into the game. The theme to this franchise is nothing short of spooky, isolating that "you're all alone" feeling right in your gut while keeping it very whimsical with the "space adventure" theme. There's nothing but you and an entire planet and this time, you're just one average woman compared to Zelda where you're the Hero of Time -- the one of prophecy and legend!


Then you have Super Metroid. It elevated the absolute feeling of horror at the title screen. It uses specific queues to give you that feeling of dread and emptiness that Planet Zebes is known for. With the mask breathing sounds to the stacatoed notes, it leaves one to just feel like something bad is about to happen. It's also interesting to note that most songs in the metroid serise are all ambience as opposed to real "themes". This is a device to further the notion that you're alone, everything should be scary and things seem hopeless.


But then you have this complete 180 once you hit the planet surface. Brinstar is a perfect example of how some of the game has that upbeat, adventure type music that makes things seem a little more action-y. It reinforces that this is still a space epic journey and that you should be blasting your way through it like the bad-ass bounty hunter you are.


Another contrast to the other two. While Zelda has the overture type music and Metroid the ambience style music, Donkey Kong Country sets the tone with absolutely sick beats and rythems. It lends itself well to the jungle swinging lifestyle Mr. Kong is accustomed too with that jungle beat just jazzing you up to go out and show King K. Rool who's the top banana.


Then you have songs like Jungle Groove, which just put a major emphasis on that beat by starting the song off with it. As the layers are added, you feel that infectious jungle beat just move through you. As the song hits full swing, it's just far too contageous to not be bouncing in your seat in tune with the song. Then another aspect is added: that mystery of the jungle. The song suddenl calms down as the sun sets on the jungle canopy and you feel that eerie unknown coming to bear, without breaking the lighthearted mood before hand. with that, you know it's on like Donkey Kong!


Then you have music like Aquatic Ambience. Water levels in games are meant as a cool-down for a string of particularly fast paced levels in games and the song in DKC fits that mood perfectly. It just seeps into the soul and calms you down from all that vine swinging, banana snatching, crocodile smashing action.


Though the Mother serise has had an amazing soundtrakc throughout the three games and it would take me forever to go through all of them, I just want to highlight one particular song that's near and dear to my heart and to many other gamers out there. "Because I Love You" is easily the most touching song of my childhood when playing video games. Not only is it a well done piece of music, with only a chipset no less, but how it enhances the scene when Ness takes Paula home at the very end of the game (and concequently the only time you hear this song) and they can't find the words to tell eachother how they really feel... Well, let's just say it's made me weep more times than something as bland as a vapid character like Aeris dying ever could! (I.E. more than never =P)


E1M1. Do I even have to say more?


Seriously, though, if you aren't in the mood for blasting the crap out of the dregs of hell after hearing that song, I'm not sure what would get you pumped up. Oh wait, I know...


Both are iconic macho-men shooting anthems and both are very deserving of such a title. There are no finer examples of songs that are used to pump a player up to save their planet from aliens, mutants and the demons of hell itself.

Such a spooky game. Most of the "music" is very ambience oriented as you don't want large scale epic themes ruining the mood of a wholely horror type games. However, one song does stand out from the rest, mainly because it's the only song in the game. However, it sends chills up my spine everytime I hear it and reminds me of the depressing drek that is Tristram. With the acoustic guitar, the haunting melodies and the ghostly whistles that sings out amidst everything else, the song paints the picture far better than any graphics artist could: this town is doomed!

 

SomethingUnrelated

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Yeah, I think you'll definitely want to mention the music from Halo at very least, if not discussing it in some detail. The soundtracks for those games are works of brilliance by Marty O'Donnell.

I'd also point in the direction of music that appears in the Elder Scrolls series. The main theme is easily recognisable, so I think you'd be able to involve some kind of discussion about it. I think the background music in Oblivion is also pretty great, in case you're interested.
 

Enigmers

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Hello again, folks, and thanks for the input, I'm just bumping this thread to tell you all what I've decided on:
-Random track from Rock Band (for my little bit on Rhythm games)
-Night Elf music from World of Warcraft
-"Snake Eater" from MGS3 and "I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire" from Fallout 3 (Snake Eater parodies old spy movies, and "I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire" is from the time period where everyone was told nuclear power would either solve all their problems or fry them all to bits, which Fallout 3 is about)
-"One Winged Angel" from Final Fantasy VII (gives the vibe that Sephiroth is a pretty important dude, that he's the villain, and the choir in the background gives off a bit of a psuedo-religious feel)
-A boss fight from Shadow of the Colossus (to show the tension in those boss fights, and also to show how the music progresses as you figure out how to kill the boss, and then again as he falls to the ground, dead)
-Company of Heroes theme - generic gritty military march
-Super Mario theme, Legend of Zelda theme, Final Fantasy fanfare (This is mostly from Extra Credits - basically, I talk about why certain music pieces from certain games are more memorable: because they tend to have simple melodies, which are easier to wrap our heads around).

I'm going to present it this Thursday; I'd add more (Left 4 Dead, Castle Crashers, and Okami spring to mind) but it's already longer than I've got time for.
 

SmellyBoy88

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Just look up any scene from any God of War game, especially 2 and 3, and you'll see how much can have an impact on a scene and/or gameplay.
 

dogenzakaminion

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Metroid Prime. Echoes as well, but not as memorable and Corruption...blech. The music in Prime really gave a sense of being alone on an alien world. It added to the loneliness, the mystery and the immersion.
 

redisforever

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I think Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge had a fantastic soundtrack, that really put you into the mood for the game.
 

GiantRaven

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The soundtrack to Arcanum helps to tonally enforce the setting of the game whilst standing out from other videogame soundtracks by being so different.
 

ZodiacMaster101

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCk4RiKH9H0

This music plays toward the end of Mass Effect 2 when your trying to escape from the collector base after deciding to blow it up. It just sounds so epic and it helps fit the tone that Commander Shepherd is doing something many people believed to be impossible.
 

Enigmers

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Thanks for all your help, guys! I presented the project earlier today and I think it was fairly well-received among my classmates, though I have yet to see what my teacher thought of it. (I did a last-minute change, where I cut out Fallout 3 and put in Okami) and I wasn't able to play all the examples I wanted, but overall, I think I did well and you helped tremendously.