Video game soundtracks that inspired you.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 8414 posts since 4 Jul, 2012 from Alesia
Around the age of 11 we bought a PC which was my entry into the world of early PC gaming. This was such a major upgrade for me from my SNES and NES which just couldn't compare sound wise to the realistic CD soundtracks that came with tons of games back then.
Here are a few of the games that had a real impact on me and are partially responsible for me wanting to learn how to make my own music. I've added a few links to my favourites in case anyone wants to listen to them.
Quake 1
https://youtu.be/qVOHTGYoM6E?t=5m17s
Quake 2
https://youtu.be/jY6yBTYxLko?t=13m52s
Descent 2
https://youtu.be/_UGGojdnjSc?t=4m13s
Diablo 1
https://youtu.be/gXUcwprvldc?t=10m48s
Diablo 2
https://youtu.be/4zABc79sq2c?t=1m45s
Fallout 1 & 2
https://youtu.be/vGyB093QOIo?t=13m36s
Silent hill 2
https://youtu.be/YKWK1Wd1UXI?t=28m27s
Anyhow what are yours?
Here are a few of the games that had a real impact on me and are partially responsible for me wanting to learn how to make my own music. I've added a few links to my favourites in case anyone wants to listen to them.
Quake 1
https://youtu.be/qVOHTGYoM6E?t=5m17s
Quake 2
https://youtu.be/jY6yBTYxLko?t=13m52s
Descent 2
https://youtu.be/_UGGojdnjSc?t=4m13s
Diablo 1
https://youtu.be/gXUcwprvldc?t=10m48s
Diablo 2
https://youtu.be/4zABc79sq2c?t=1m45s
Fallout 1 & 2
https://youtu.be/vGyB093QOIo?t=13m36s
Silent hill 2
https://youtu.be/YKWK1Wd1UXI?t=28m27s
Anyhow what are yours?
- KVRAF
- 7358 posts since 9 Jan, 2003 from Saint Louis MO
Marble Madness (1984) -- the first arcade game to use Yamaha FM, and the first to really have stereo sound (a couple of other games had two channel audio but used one channel for FX and one for beepy music). Some really cool compositions, too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ-N7d3mVf0
And beyond that point I was already on my way in electronic music (my inspirations came more from Tomita, Carlos, etc.), but I still loved a few game soundtracks...
Galaga '88 -- not so much in terms of style, but it's just so well executed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96E_BR4i-1Y
Diablo 2 for sure.
Total Annihilation had an incredible, epic orchestral soundtrack by Jeremy Soule.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljDyp__ejco
Borderlands 2 had an amazing soundtrack. I played better when I turned it off because it raised the tension so much I made more mistakes, but I listened to it when I wasn't playing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88YdCmTS3lw
In the bizarre earworm department there's Katamari Damacy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAA6hq9RL-4
...and slightly less goofy, but still super catchy, Plants vs Zombies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNXphqxbePM
Cheap Golf was a tiny Kickstarter game, too frustrating to stick with IMHO but the background music is this damn cool Atari 2600 glitch and drone stuff that I wish was a more extended form. There are OGG files right there in the game folder but the longest is 1 minute, and most of them are about 20 seconds or less.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ-N7d3mVf0
And beyond that point I was already on my way in electronic music (my inspirations came more from Tomita, Carlos, etc.), but I still loved a few game soundtracks...
Galaga '88 -- not so much in terms of style, but it's just so well executed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96E_BR4i-1Y
Diablo 2 for sure.
Total Annihilation had an incredible, epic orchestral soundtrack by Jeremy Soule.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljDyp__ejco
Borderlands 2 had an amazing soundtrack. I played better when I turned it off because it raised the tension so much I made more mistakes, but I listened to it when I wasn't playing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88YdCmTS3lw
In the bizarre earworm department there's Katamari Damacy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAA6hq9RL-4
...and slightly less goofy, but still super catchy, Plants vs Zombies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNXphqxbePM
Cheap Golf was a tiny Kickstarter game, too frustrating to stick with IMHO but the background music is this damn cool Atari 2600 glitch and drone stuff that I wish was a more extended form. There are OGG files right there in the game folder but the longest is 1 minute, and most of them are about 20 seconds or less.
- KVRAF
- 7358 posts since 9 Jan, 2003 from Saint Louis MO
Oh, and Rez. Some of the soundtrack is just kind of okay on its own, other parts are better -- but the way the game integrated with it was pretty special. Rez Infinite is finally out on Steam as of a few weeks ago, so I had the chance to revisit it more recently.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2WDW6vEEqA
The various Wipeout games, though that was more a case of collecting mixes of existing music than of people making music specifically for it. It introduced me to Future Sound of London though
Half-Life 1 and 2, and Portal 1 and 2, had some very cool moments in their soundtracks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2WDW6vEEqA
The various Wipeout games, though that was more a case of collecting mixes of existing music than of people making music specifically for it. It introduced me to Future Sound of London though
Half-Life 1 and 2, and Portal 1 and 2, had some very cool moments in their soundtracks.
- KVRAF
- 4590 posts since 7 Jun, 2012 from Warsaw
Personally I don't think that Borderlands 2 soundtrack is anything special. Surely it's good, but I guess there are 100 people here on KVR who could make music like that
Unreal series is something that inspired me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx8tFvrhmfI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg2QJP388pM
Unreal series is something that inspired me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx8tFvrhmfI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg2QJP388pM
Blog ------------- YouTube channel
Tricky-Loops wrote: (...)someone like Armin van Buuren who claims to make a track in half an hour and all his songs sound somewhat boring(...)
Tricky-Loops wrote: (...)someone like Armin van Buuren who claims to make a track in half an hour and all his songs sound somewhat boring(...)
- KVRian
- 643 posts since 17 Aug, 2015 from Finland
My solo projects:
Hekkräiser (experimental) | MFG38 (electronic/soundtrack) | The Santtu Pesonen Project (metal/prog)
Hekkräiser (experimental) | MFG38 (electronic/soundtrack) | The Santtu Pesonen Project (metal/prog)
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- KVRAF
- 35436 posts since 11 Apr, 2010 from Germany
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvrdtlyUXPg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yDVM77lGlM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sv9mnYDwuQ
I think, of those 3, the System Shock 2 soundtrack is my favorite. Just one of a kind... even better when you actually play the game, BTW.
And nowadays? Soundtracks you will hardly notice, and quickly forget... it's just all not what it used to be.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yDVM77lGlM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sv9mnYDwuQ
I think, of those 3, the System Shock 2 soundtrack is my favorite. Just one of a kind... even better when you actually play the game, BTW.
And nowadays? Soundtracks you will hardly notice, and quickly forget... it's just all not what it used to be.
- KVRAF
- 6113 posts since 7 Jan, 2005 from Corporate States of America
Quake 1 continues to inspire me. It went from being a disappointment to me as a NIN fan expecting NIN-like music, to an inspiration and pleasure of ambient weirdness. i'm still biased toward the tracks that feel a bit more like songs than ambient noise. i so wish Trent Reznor had been able to stick with Doom 3's development despite iD's problems because i would have loved that game with more of his sound design (it was a decent moody game, still, since i'm not a fan of what people love about Doom 1/2 and the newest one).
Quake 2's intro music is really cool. It's too bad that's not in the soundtrack or available online without dialog, though the sound design of the dialog is really well done. The part where the distorted bass/guitary thing kicks in as the player character descends on Stroggos sticks with me. It's a great mix of genres (probably because it was Bill Brown and Rob Zombie working together) and very cinematic. The game's heavy metal-influenced soundtrack is fun, but ultimately samey and tiresome. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miHAh2Q-U94
i'm glad to see Unreal 1 was in the list up above. It has an awesome soundtrack. Its composers managed to go beyond the usual formula for soundtracker music with their Unreal 1 compositions (Unreal Tournament has some cool music too, but it's more common fare). i especially liked how the music was dynamic and changed with the game events, from peaceful, to dread, to action.
The intro to Another World/Out of This World sticks with me. That game just impressed the hell out of me in general. Soundtracker-style audio engine, mostly underutilized, but the intro and game sound design was cool.
Portal 2's soundtrack is awesome in so many ways! Maybe the best game soundtrack ever, for me. One of the best games of all time. i have been inspired to figure out how to utilize this game's mix of very different sounds. The soundtrack has cheesy synth sounds, rich atmospheric orchestral sounds... It all goes together amazingly. The composer, Mike Morasky, might as well be another one of my musical heroes. i've probably already included this in my list on the "soundtracks you love" thread.
Here's the Friendly Faith Plate, a noise composition not easily heard in the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0uW04oswbI
And this very cool piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqzObGS ... 5E&index=3
The music made for the Half-Life 1 remake Black Mesa is excellent, especially the more moody pieces/themes. The use of violin in that sends chills down my spine. It's almost too beautiful for the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSnHcbbofDk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8fW_SeNm_8
Valve, if they ever bother making any new games, should hire Joel Nielsen.
Quake 2's intro music is really cool. It's too bad that's not in the soundtrack or available online without dialog, though the sound design of the dialog is really well done. The part where the distorted bass/guitary thing kicks in as the player character descends on Stroggos sticks with me. It's a great mix of genres (probably because it was Bill Brown and Rob Zombie working together) and very cinematic. The game's heavy metal-influenced soundtrack is fun, but ultimately samey and tiresome. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miHAh2Q-U94
i'm glad to see Unreal 1 was in the list up above. It has an awesome soundtrack. Its composers managed to go beyond the usual formula for soundtracker music with their Unreal 1 compositions (Unreal Tournament has some cool music too, but it's more common fare). i especially liked how the music was dynamic and changed with the game events, from peaceful, to dread, to action.
The intro to Another World/Out of This World sticks with me. That game just impressed the hell out of me in general. Soundtracker-style audio engine, mostly underutilized, but the intro and game sound design was cool.
Portal 2's soundtrack is awesome in so many ways! Maybe the best game soundtrack ever, for me. One of the best games of all time. i have been inspired to figure out how to utilize this game's mix of very different sounds. The soundtrack has cheesy synth sounds, rich atmospheric orchestral sounds... It all goes together amazingly. The composer, Mike Morasky, might as well be another one of my musical heroes. i've probably already included this in my list on the "soundtracks you love" thread.
Here's the Friendly Faith Plate, a noise composition not easily heard in the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0uW04oswbI
And this very cool piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqzObGS ... 5E&index=3
The music made for the Half-Life 1 remake Black Mesa is excellent, especially the more moody pieces/themes. The use of violin in that sends chills down my spine. It's almost too beautiful for the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSnHcbbofDk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8fW_SeNm_8
Valve, if they ever bother making any new games, should hire Joel Nielsen.
- dysamoria.com
my music @ SoundCloud
my music @ SoundCloud
- KVRian
- 513 posts since 22 Sep, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLXcGS_Q1Fk
this blew me away when I was a nipper. It came free with C64 magazine. It's a synth version of a C64 game tune.
this blew me away when I was a nipper. It came free with C64 magazine. It's a synth version of a C64 game tune.
- KVRAF
- 6113 posts since 7 Jan, 2005 from Corporate States of America
I almost included Deus Ex Human Revolution in my post, but i don't know if it has inspired my music at all, or if my pre-existing aesthetic tastes were simply indulged by the game's soundtrack
- dysamoria.com
my music @ SoundCloud
my music @ SoundCloud
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- KVRAF
- 2448 posts since 12 Sep, 2004
Little known shareware game Pocket Tanks has great intro and in-game tracks from DNA-Groove... fun little game too...
Intro:
https://soundcloud.com/dna-groove/pocket-tanks-intro
In-game:
https://soundcloud.com/dna-groove/fabri ... ks-in-game
LOVE IT!!!!! Brings back memories...
Intro:
https://soundcloud.com/dna-groove/pocket-tanks-intro
In-game:
https://soundcloud.com/dna-groove/fabri ... ks-in-game
LOVE IT!!!!! Brings back memories...
You need to limit that rez, bro.
- Beware the Quoth
- 33173 posts since 4 Sep, 2001 from R'lyeh Oceanic Amusement Park and Funfair
my other modular synth is a bugbrand
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- KVRian
- 1089 posts since 27 Nov, 2006
I got drawn into Eve Online because of the music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ09bTPLohM
I also love listening to Solar Field's soundtrack to Mirror's Edge and Mirror's Edge Catalyst - even though I've never played them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8CVVvLzXik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ09bTPLohM
I also love listening to Solar Field's soundtrack to Mirror's Edge and Mirror's Edge Catalyst - even though I've never played them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8CVVvLzXik