Top 5 Videogame Soundtracks

To me, soundtracks are the backbone of a videogame’s aesthetic. They can make or break a game’s atmosphere; an unfitting music score will inevitably cause dissonance between other aspects of a game’s mood or tone, but a lack of one at all can actually be a positively impactful artistic choice towards a work’s presentation.

Whatever the case, considering music carefully during development is a crucial step to finding the right mood for your game. With that said, I’d like to list five games that have soundtracks that are excellent for the context they’re implemented in.

5. Max Payne 3

Max Payne 3 is the only game I’ve ever purchased the soundtrack for, which honestly might be endorsement enough for how brilliant it is. Nevertheless, whilst the music is great to just listen to out of context, when experienced with Max Payne 3’s story and gameplay intertwined, it adds a completely different layer to it. Composed by HEALTH, the band combines its distinctive noise rock sound with a more somber, bitterly reflective mood that embodies Max’s third and final outing. The swelling drums in the combat themes make each encounter feel frantic and desperate. Conversely, the more brooding strings that sound almost as if they’re underwater give the hazy recollection that is Max Payne 3’s story a tone that is decidedly not sober (this is important, considering Max’s predicament in the third game).

Besides one track, none of the songs featured in the OST have vocals. The one that does, “Tears”, is written from the perspective of Max’s dead wife and daughter (and perhaps others that have died during his three part crusade). The lyrics in “Tears”, as performed by Jake Duzsik’s haunting, monotone voice, add great weight to the final chapter of Max Payne 3. The piece itself serves as a swan song as the game begins to swell into an unforgettable finale. All of this is what lands Max Payne 3’s soundtrack proudly on this list, in all its bleak and brutal glory.

4. Persona 3

I’ve already spent half of an article rambling about how good Persona 3 is, so there’s little more I can say on the matter. The soundtrack, composed by Shoji Meguro, is iconic. The hip-hop influences of some of the early pieces make Tatsumi Port Island feel fittingly modern and urban, and as the game progresses it starts to lose that more upbeat and familiar tone, replaced by melancholy and a growing dread. Despite this, the battle theme never goes away, having your back to the bitter end. Lotus Juice and Yumi Kawakura are a strange pair but combined, the two’s vocals are a perfect match; sad longing meeting with solid determination.

The goofy lyrics to some of the tracks have been lovingly transformed into memes. The inclusion of “Mass Destruction” into the recent Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was met with great excitement. Persona 3 has a great legacy among RPG fans and its soundtrack was a large part of what garnered this.

3. Portal 2

Were you to put a gun to my head and ask me what game has the most unique soundtrack of all time, you’d probably have to shoot me. Nevertheless, if you gave me enough of a time span, Portal 2 would probably be one of the first that sprang to mind. For a title that is so deeply entrenched in game history, it is strikingly odd to me how much Portal 2 still stands out. Where Half Life and Half Life 2 were endlessly copied for years to come, Portal and Portal 2 remain as distinct and unique as ever. What I believe contributes to this, rather than the gameplay itself, is the presentation and aesthetic. Very few games have quite captured the white, clinical but inherently sinister attitude that Aperture Science displays in the Portal universe, and I believe one half of the equation is the soundtrack.

Composed by Valve longtimer Mike Morasky, Portal 2’s soundtrack is almost passive-aggressive in its approach to tone. The oddly clean and minimalist piano chords are often juxtaposed with crunchy chiptune basslines during times of intensity, and every ambient track feels off, like the feeling somebody’s watching you at all times (which, often, someone is). It feels like a bright and clean corporate poster slowly peeling away to reveal years worth of rot underneath. Something that further adds to its brilliance is the fact that the music is dynamically interactive. Each gimmick in Portal 2 has an accompanying track that plays when players interact with it, such as the frantic arpeggios that join you as you run across propulsion gel, or the noisy, bass heavy sound of the faith plates. This almost personifies the technology that you utilize in Portal 2, like the tools themselves become characters. This sort of detail is only really possible in the medium of videogames, and like always, Valve was ahead of the curve here.

2. Hotline Miami

I think in the noise and intensity that followed Hotline Miami, we tend to forget what the original game was actually like. I’ve written before that I believe it to be the most influential indie game of the last decade. Oddly enough, when people think of the franchise they tend to think of the second game’s traits. Loud synthwave, hard as nails, and having a convoluted story. Really, the original game was something more abstract than that.

Incontrovertibly, Hotline Miami helped to usher in the resurgence of the synthwave genre and, to some degree, the ‘80’s nostalgia that plagued much of the 2010s. But where many imitators simply took the high points of Hotline Miami, they missed what made it special. Between the hypnotic rhythms and hissy synths that accompanied your killing-sprees, you were making your commute to various places. A pizzeria, the bar, the video store, and eventually home. Fitting this, “Deep Cover” almost sounds like a morning alarm, and it plays as the main character quietly observes the small and subtle changes in his home from the past few days, before he picks up the phone and has to leave yet again. The guitar of “Daisuke” combined with the longing and lonely piano hints at an empty spot in our protagonist's (Jacket) heart as he speaks to his old friend in the stores. There’s an odd meditative vibe to the original that makes the atmosphere palpable and renders the game’s world entrancing. Even as things get dark and you start to wonder what’s real, there’s still that calm before the storm. And of course, as your perspective switches to Biker, you’re into a more arcadey and energetic sound. The quiet is traded for over-confident swagger which befits the player after clearing every challenge in the main story. His levels are quicker so the music changes tempo to fit, akin to something that would fit a car chase.

I don’t think Hotline Miami would have the identity it has without its soundtrack. Likewise I think the one-two punch of Drive (2011) and Hotline Miami was what brought synthwave its now common image. That influence alone is impressive.

1. Halo: Combat Evolved

If there was ever a composer that made you feel like you were taking on the universe, it was Marty O’Donnell. Marty O’Donnell has worked as the sound director on every Bungie Halo project, but Halo: Combat Evolved’s music set the stage for everything to come.
Even as you merely sit in the menus for Halo: Combat Evolved, the iconic choir and strings mesmerize and transfix you, preparing you for the adventure of epic scale that is to follow. The drums begin to thump out a strong and captivating rhythm as you leave the bridge on the Pillar Of Autumn and come into contact with the enemy. And as you land on Halo, the light choir seeps in yet again, allowing you a brief moment to stare at the majesty of the ringworld. But a solid bassline and the introduction of the percussion reminds you there’s work to be done.

Every Halo game after Halo: Combat Evolved couldn’t help but keep to Marty O’Donnell’s blueprint that he laid out in the first ever instalment. Having said that, Halo: Combat Evolved retains a very unique old school sci-fi vibe that is filled with wonder and mystique that doesn’t fade until the very end. It allows the player time to stand back and look in amazement at the strange architecture and sights that sadly became somewhat taken for granted in the later games. It has the maturity to dial back from the plasma shots and rockets and simply pause. Like the “Blue Danube” in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Halo: Combat Evolved’s soundtrack acknowledges the novelty of what it brings to the table. Despite it being an amalgam of many action and sci-fi tropes, it was decidedly new when it first came out. Even now the magnitude it manages is impressive. So, as the fresh-faced player steps out onto Halo, the accompanying piece has that tinge of curiosity that encourages them to look around for just a moment.

This is what sets it apart from every other shooter from its generation.

Conclusion

Please keep in mind that these are my choices from the media I’ve experienced, and there’s bound to be games that I’ve omitted on account of just having not got around to them. But if you have any of your own selection, please feel free to comment below.