Do developers put as much effort into soundtracks these days?

I think retro themes are more memorable as they are very basic and quite repetitive.

However my favourite modern day theme is for the Battlefield series. They always have a few notes as part of the theme that are the same for every game but it is slightly different for each game to reflect the time it is set. Most racing games have music from real artists but I have always loved the Wipeout series as its so fast paced so the music they choose always works.
 
Actually inregards to Top Gear using game soundtracks, I could swear they recently used some of the Gears of War soundtrack.
 
i think developers do put some effort in these days. a lot of games if you listen have some decent soundtracks, but i think a lot of games go for an epic kinda feel with the music, it just makes it seem a bit generic and times and makes them less memorable. The music really needs to add to the atmosphere of the game.

some games do stand out for me:

Mario galaxy had some of my favourite music from games - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0R6FnpqylE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBZNLSaD0D0

Shadow of the colossus on the ps2 had some awesome music, The legend of zelda & metroid series are both great. i think my all time favourite soundtrack to a game has to be Streets of rage on the mega-drive, still play it to this day :)
 
infamous soundtrack is awsome, if anything i feel they are putting more effort into game music these days

edit: i think it is more of a case that many games now have a respectable audio accompaniment, the tracks dont loop anywhere near as much
 
Last edited:
I know it is a PC game, but this bit of music is my eternal favourite from any game (closely followed by FF7, FF10 and Crisis Core).

The original Call of Duty... holding out on Pegasus Bridge, slowly being overwhelmed, then this piece of music kicks in. It truly gave me chills at the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0ZlMXkzUqI
 
Parsley said:
I know it is a PC game, but this bit of music is my eternal favourite from any game (closely followed by FF7, FF10 and Crisis Core).

The original Call of Duty... holding out on Pegasus Bridge, slowly being overwhelmed, then this piece of music kicks in. It truly gave me chills at the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0ZlMXkzUqI
Click to expand...

that brings back memories i must have completed that game over 10 times in my lifetime, that is awsome thanks for posting
 
I think the CoD MW & MW2 soundtracks are one of the standout parts of the game.
MW soundtrack is great for setting the mood.
Agreed on the Gears front also.

If anything, I'd say I'm more impressed with some of the soundtracks we see now than in the "old days". :D
 
It's funny that the OP picked two examples of quality music from game series that are still going, and still known for taking time to produce decent soundtracks.
 
vincent1989 said:
just remembered tony hawks pro skater 2, i know it wasn't a specially composed piece but the song pick was superb.
Click to expand...

I think the Tony Hawk series has got me into more artists than any other!

From playing two I bought the RATM, Powerman 5000, Papa Roach and Dub Pistols albums!
 
These days - not as much, most of my favourite soundtracks have been from older generation games. However there are some games that I've played in the last 12 months that had superb soundtracks. I think it could be more a case these days of having sub standard soundtracks because the developers just don't use the soundtrack in any effective ways and instead just have music playing over in the background.

Last 12 months
Braid
Machinarium
Halo ODST

Street Fighter IV however takes the "most annoying track I can't get out of my head" award for it's theme song.

All time (no special order)
Rez
Metal Gear Solid 1 & 4
Final Fantasy 7 & 10
Halo: Combat Evolved
Bioshock
Shadow of the Colossus
The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past
Command & Conquer: Red Alert

I don't really count things like Rock Band, Guitar Hero, Grand Theft Auto, Wipeout, Brutal Legend, Jet Set Radio etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom