Video Games Rock! (Literally).
One of the things I'm always interested in watching is the intersection of video games with other art forms. Particularly, the use of music and soundtracks in games.
When I was just getting into gaming, one of the top stories in the videogame world was Trent Reznor's sonic collaboration on the Quake series. Quake was an eerie first-person shooter, and it was perfectly complimented by Rezonor's brand of creepy goth-industrial music, making for a very memorable, very intense early gaming experience.
More recently (and here north of the border), I've become aware of a number of exciting music/gaming collaborations. The first example I can'think of is Sword & Sworcery, produced by Canada's own Superbrothers/Capybara game studios. S&S was one of the first huge iPad games, and has been credited for being particularly innovative for tablet gaming. Also notable is its great soundtrack, created by Hogtown music veteran Jim Guthrie. Before scoring video games, Guthrie was best known for tearing up stages as a member of some of my favourite bands, Islands (CDs here!), and later Human Highway (CD).
Another really exciting musical/game mashup is Yamantaka//Sonic Titan's game Your Task//Shoot Things. YT//ST recently leapt to fame as one of TO's weirdest outfits, combining heavy metal thrash rock with Asian Pop hooks and even elements of classical Noh opera (you kind of have to hear it to believe it – check out their CD). More recently, they've been working on their very own platform video game which combines their superb music and really incredible visual aesthetic.
Perhaps its not suprising that Toronto musicians are so into writing music for games. After all, there's a lot of room to be really creative, and it actually takes a lot of musical skill. For instance, in a recent blog post about the upcoming game Jazzpunk, musician/game designer Luis “Artist of Doom” Hernandez describes the amount of work he puts into creating the audio elements of a game. His efforts definitely pay off – I for one am really excited to get a chance to give his Jazzpunk a try once its released!
Are there any games that have soundtracks you really like? What elements go into designing a game that you think really make it stand out? Share your thoughts!
Postscript: This week I picked up a copy of Exclaim! magazine to see that by coincidence they had a really good article on videogame music too! Its author Joshua Ostroff talks all about how different consoles/technologies/formats effected the type of music video games could use over time. So check it out! Its totally worth a read if you're into that type of thing. [She Shoots She Scores – A Brief History of Video Game Music]
Sword & Sworcery image at top of post from Superbrothers.
8 thoughts on “Video Games Rock! (Literally).”
Bastion has an intoxicating soundtrack as well.
Your Task // Shoot Things looks amazing!
I’ve heard many great soundtracks for games. Final Fantasy, Assassin’s Creed, and Halo. But my personal favorite is Kingdom Hearts. Nostalgia or pretty good beats go into a great video game soundtrack.
I actually don’t play games…at all. I barely know any. But in my opinion, the animations/ graphic design really makes a game stand out.
Doesn’t it though? I can’t wait to try it out!
Agreed – the animation is pretty key! Coincidentally, one of the things about all the games I mentioned above is that they all are really visually striking.
I’ve played Assassin’s Creed and enjoy the soundtrack. If a game has cool beats it more fun to play with.
I’d say gameplay and narrative elements would be much more influential of the game’s overall quality.