Comments on: Videogame Music is Bad

By: Johnny Badhair

Johnny Badhair — Fri, 13 Nov 2015 10:26:00 +0000

The title is rather clickbaity since the article only talks about songs commissioned for games, and not so much the actual soundtrack music (which is very good).

It’s possible that, on the whole, such commissioned songs are not very good. But there are some outstanding ones, like the two songs made for the end credits of L.A. Noire (“I Always Kill The Things I Love”, and “Guilty”). At first I actually thought they had licensed some songs from the period, but they were made for the game.

Japan’s game industry is a different story though, because it’s so well-integrated with the music industry. It’s very common for games to have a theme song and an opening animation to go with it, and it’s not just some publicity stunt. Many artists are known much more for their video game and anime songs than anything else.

Also, as a counter-point to Trent Reznor, Hans Zimmer and Harry Gregson-Williams have composed music for games with good results (Crysis 2 and Metal Gear Solid, respectively).

By: The Dark One

The Dark One — Fri, 13 Nov 2015 03:15:00 +0000

Portal 2’s use of a track from The National seems like a statement about the kind of song that normally gets commissioned for games. It’s lonely, sombre & physically hidden away from the critical path.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghgmi2cm9b4

By: Donnie Cuzens

Donnie Cuzens — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 23:27:00 +0000

One of the only great examples of a contemporary musician being commissioned for score work on a video game and the studio/musicians nailing it is HEALTH’s work on Max Payne 3.

I have my issues with the game itself but the way Rockstar encapsulated HEALTH’s sound, fluidly combining it with Brazilian percussion, designing the ebb and flow of the musical dynamics with play, and the big crescendo moment with the single from the soundtrack ‘Tears’ was pretty amazing.

The key factor I think was really incorporating the musicians in the actual sound design process rather than commissioning music from them and then running with it from there. This video is a pretty cool look behind the scenes of the process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNVlb5VPKjI