Your Game Music is Bland and You Should Feel Bad

[Quijiboh]

I think the problem is less about whether or not modern soundtracks are distinctive - I think most of us could name one or two memorable ones. I think it's more to do with that game soundtracks are less willing to experiment with genre. These days, by and large the orchestra holds sway. I'd like to see more games with some jazz, funk, metal, pop, whatever else influences in their repertoire.

 

[joshuaayt]

The most I've ever been affected by game music was in MGS3- when you were fighting The Boss. That instrumental Snake Eater was intense, and when the vocals kicked in, and I realised that I'd die if I let the song end...

I'm just saying, feel free to compose some of your own lyrics for Snake Eater, Mr. Yahtzee.

 

[Frontastic]

I *kind* of agree but at the same time a lot of scores stick out in my mind; Mass Effect, the various Assassin's Creed's, the (pre-reboot) Tomb Raider trilogy, the Batman Arkham Asylum/City main theme, pretty much all of Rayman Origins.

But in terms of just soundtracks, Bioshock 1 and Infinite are very memorable. Between Beyond the Sea, to all the classical music, to the fantastic covers in Infinite.

I think it's just a problem with all modern, mainstream media. Even in film, much as I love Zimmer's Batman stuff, Avengers and Star Trek reminded me just how much I miss big, bombastic main themes.

 

[ClockworkUniverse]

p.s. Is the J-pop song in Dragon's Dogma really that bad or does Yahtzee just not like J-pop?

It's over-the-top and it's really obvious that the singer isn't actually all that familiar with English. It's got a lot of heart, though, and I personally kind of came to enjoy it quite a bit even though its glaring issues mean I couldn't really call it "good" overall.

Much like the game!

 

[Balkan]

It's funny because I remember watching some sort of trailer for Black Ops 2 and the devs seemed very exited about working with some big hollywood composer. Do you remember any of the original soundtrack from that game? I know I can't, so maybe all that money they spend on big talents was in vain.
The only thing I do remember from Black Ops 1 was that part when you got on a boat and shot up some non americans while "Sympathy for the devil" was playing. It's the same thing with Mass Effect 3, the only piece of music I remember was when that kid died and everything went silent for the music. The point I'm making is that sometimes the song must be in the center of the scene for it to be memorable. The quiet little piano pieces in the background kinda fade away when something louder is happening. Does anyone else remember the time when you got to Mexico in Red Dead Redemption?

 

[Sir Shockwave]

Yahtzee has basically said what I've been saying for years now. We've reached some sort of singularity where - by unwritten law - you absolutely MUST have an Orchestral soundtrack, even if it doesn't suit the tone and feel of your game. And while on the occasion you can find something that does it differently (like most of Micheal McCann's work), it is mostly the same grey, unidentifiable mess.

It's also one of the big reasons I put Chaos Gate over anything Dawn of War had in it's soundtrack.

 

[XMark]

I hardly ever hear anyone talk about it, but I think the soundtrack to the first Modern Warfare game was excellent. Every piece of music worked perfectly for its situation, and it even had some strong melodic themes which it brought back during dramatic moments.

It had a fairly unique sound to it, in a game where they could have easily gone generic.

But I think the games which best combine both the old-school strong melodic approach and the newer cinematic orchestral approach would be the Metal Gear Solid series.

 

[04whim]

Granted sweeping orchestras are becoming very common in games (and movies) nowadays but that doesn't necessarily mean they're bad and there are games out there still doing very different things. To name one: Brutal Legend which had an entire soundtrack made out of rock songs to keep in with its theme of being an homage to rock. More recently the track "Songbird" from Bioshock Infinite had perhaps the most intimidating use for what I could swear is a stapler I've ever heard. Metal Gear Rising is the most recent example I can think of that didn't use orchestra very much and regardless of if you like the game or soundtrack you can't deny they did a lot to enhance the boss fights and the tempo added to the sense of speed in the combat. Honestly, citing Halo seems like a bit of a cheap shot seeing as that has one of the least inspired soundtracks going.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULQgMntenO8

 

[IllumInaTIma]

Oh yeah!
Tataratata tataratata
Baby Baby
Tataratata tata
Oh yeah!
Tataratata tataratata
Baby Baby
Tataratata tata

Yeah, try to get that freaking song out of your head.

 

[kajinking]

The most I've ever been affected by game music was in MGS3- when you were fighting The Boss. That instrumental Snake Eater was intense, and when the vocals kicked in, and I realised that I'd die if I let the song end...

I'm just saying, feel free to compose some of your own lyrics for Snake Eater, Mr. Yahtzee.

Normally I don't notice soundtracks in games but newest Metal Gear game has a soundtrack so amazing I've basically favorited every single one on my youtube account.

It is just beyond amazing if you're into that style of music especially with the gameplay going on alongside it.




These three are my favorites but you actually have to try rather hard to pull a bad song from the OST.

This makes me wonder what ever happened to good music for boss battles since there is literally no better way to hype up a good boss battle than with good music.

 

[Charli]

In my opinion, one of the best most recent examples of pairing original music with a memorable moment in a game happens in Super Meat Boy. I'm of course talking about the Battle of Lil Slugger. If for some reason you frequent a gaming website and still haven't heard this music or played the game, here it is.


This music happens at the first boss of the game. The villain has set fire to the forest around you and a giant chase scene unfolds as he tries to run you down with a huge robot that is essentially a giant chainsaw. Definitely one of my favorite bosses of all time simply for the atmosphere of the encounter.

How serendipitous, I was actually listening to this when coming into the thread. Danny Baronowsky came a long way, hell I used to listen to some of his OC remix tracks back in the early days of WoW:BC because I liked them so much, and then lo and behold he actually makes a video game soundtrack, all of it memorable. I was so happy when I played SMB and learned this.


But yeah the MEMORABLE music tracks of recent year are all appearing from the indie scene or remixed old Classics. I mean Bastion's soundtrack is sublime also...

There's a handful of gems but I think franchises need to spend a little more focus one coming up with memorable melodies to match. It can make all the difference. Fuck I think Sonic the Hedgehog has gotten by all these years on his soundtracks alone or so the myth goes.

DOUBLE WHAMY: Captcha-Ear Candy.

Okay I've had my dosage of el coincidence today.

 

[Ymbirtt]

Watch as I nostalgia bomb this thread...


Though he does have a point, I think he's exaggerating the issue somewhat. Mass Effect is one of my favourite series, and I could not hum anything from its soundtrack, but by the same token the noise that the Claymore 300-M makes when it's fired is something I don't think I can forget. Hitman: Absolution; I vaguely remember a song called "Black Bandanna" or something, but yeah, the soundtrack never stuck out. Then there are games like Skyrim, and I can be pretty certain that, even if you don't know the lyrics, you can shout along with that choir without missing a beat. Same with the Left 4 Dead theme - that's really recognisable. Whilst it may be the case that fewer popular games use music well, there's still a significant amount of good themes out there.

 

[Sticky]

I've come to believe that much of the reason games have such lackluster soundtracks is due to the publishers more than anything else. Publishers don't want quality in their games, because quality = money spent. What they want is big-names to put on the box. Doesn't matter if the Seattle Symphony Orchestra was paid to come in on a Saturday and spend an hour picking their ears and recording stings, what matters is that their name is on the front of the box. Everything else can be done by an unpaid intern with a music program. I'm sure more than a few games got their musical score not by what sounded good with the action, but instead by which movie was popular, or which brand-name musician worked on the last AAA game.

Assuming that I'm wrong (and I might be), I also believe in genuine cases that it's a case of musicians following the path of least resistance. Least resistance is slow, building up orchestra pieces that culminate in lots of blaring brass and half-hearted drums. Perfect example is the sampler music that Planetary Annihilation is getting ready to use: Lots of blaring brass with digital cherubs singing that simply never ends.

And I don't feel that it's entirely the composers fault for doing that. People need limits in order to create great things. Being able to put hi-def music into games has caused a very common problem of there being infinite possibilities but only one trodden, beaten down path that everyone chooses because trying new things could offend someone or it could simply not work. It's why our 8-bit soundtracks are still the most popular instances of video game music even though the technical barriers have fallen and game music should be just as good as industry music in theory. Everyone is going to try and take the path of least resistance in doing their job.

I would imagine that most of these composers just use generic collections of melodies and just find ways to string them together, because what's the point in putting effort into the soundtrack of this one particular game when five others games are scratching at your office door to get generic blandy-bland percussion with brass that sounds like a foghorn blaring "BOOOOOOOOOOORIIIIIIIIIIING".

 

[T3hSource]

Oh, you just had to mention Spec Ops: The Line didn't you Yahtzee, oh you sly gentleman.
However that moment from the game while ridiculous, and even more exaggerated with the music doesn't spring to mind as easily as this:
It's also played in that same level before the heli rocket scene I believe. But it really got to me when it played much, much later on, there's even a more grimdark version of this if you don't believe me.

 

[Mahoshonen]

Well, the Halo fanbois are out in force, aren't they (to be fair, if he had called out any other AAA game in the last few years, the result would have been the same).

While there is lots of current music that I find catchy and memorable (Dynasty Warriors stands out in particular), limting myself to AAA games, and not counting remixes of older soundtracks (sorry Skyrim) or licensed songs (sorry Bioshock), there are only three soundtracks that really stand out.

-Assasin's Creed 2
-God of War
-Bayonetta

The last two is particularly noteworthy because at first glance it seems to fall into the same bombastic orchestra trap that is being discussed. But Bayonetta pulls it off because the orchestra pieces are juxtaposed against up-beat pop music and remixes of old Genesis titles. More importantly, the orchestral pieces match the tempo of the action on the sceen, so it doesn't feel out of place. God of War gets the latter point, and also is thematically appropriate because the plot reads like a Wagnerian Opera

 

[Turner Shanks]

Something REALLY interesting and also more than a little confusing is that the Dragon's Dogma main theme had two versions, one for the Japanese version of the game that was (in my opinion at least) far better and then the US and PAL version that was...well questionable quality.
Main Theme for the US and PAL:

Spoiler

Main Theme for JP:

Spoiler

Main Topic:
Hm, while I agree that the biggest of the big all have very boring samey soundtracks (though I think we can agree that isn't the only thing boring and samey about them) it sounds like you're saying that you need a real world vocal based piece to be "unique and memorable", advice which I think is blatantly terrible.

I then had a large comment typed out here, but decided it sounded a bit too ranty for my tastes and that if I wouldn't read my own comment I shouldn't expect anyone else to, if anyone expresses interest I will expand further.

 

[Robyrt]

Soundtracks don't need to be catchy to be effective, as long as you have one memorable title track. They don't even need to be very good - the Dark Souls OST is painful to listen to alone, but it works very well in-game because it's properly paced.

 

[bafrali]

Then why did you ***** about MGR's battle music in your review Yathzee. And Bayonetta's. One would think you are racist against the Japanese but we all know that is not true because Silent Hill.

 

[k-ossuburb]

I don't know if it's been mentioned, yet, but I've been playing Dark Souls for the very first time (loving it, by the way) and most of the boss themes tend to sound very similar, but then I came across the Moonlight Butterfly boss and I was instantly hit with a huge amount of meaning to what would otherwise have been a very unmemorable boss fight because of the choice of music involved.


It's actually very weak on its own, but in that moment it was amazing. The song just shoved a load of things into my brain at once as I watched this strange, yet, graceful beast glide through the air. I felt like I didn't want to kill something so beautiful, even though I must. I felt like I was destroying something precious and my "victory" felt hollow and rather melancholy when it breathed its last.

It caught me by surprise and it's one that has stood out to me and stuck in my mind simply because of that music.

 

[Rblade]

WoW music is pretty damn epic