First game you noticed the cinematic approach to soundtrack.

OK, so for me personally, I wouldn't say it was the very first time, but a game that really stood out and I felt like gaming soundtracks truly reached the quality level of film, had to be Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay.

Those two are just examples, there are more songs in the game that really shocked me throughout when I played it back on release (and still do today). I think the only other game I can think of that didn't have as much of an impact for me, was MGS2, that had cinematic music as well. For some reason, there were a lot of people at the time, that kept saying the music in this game was the Pirates of the Caribbean theme, that annoyed me.

Edit - I guess I should have asked, what was the first game you noticed a cinematic-ally dynamic soundtrack?

Probably MGS for me. Sure it was all MIDI sounds, but the soundtrack was tense, well composed and sounded exactly like the hi-tech spy thriller film it was trying to be.

DOOM.

But seriously, Halo was the first game to really impress me with music. That first soundtrack is just so damned spectacular. And the way it was used in the game and the tech behind it has been impressive throughout the series. Bungie does dynamic scoring like no one else.

I dono. Homeworld 2 stands out.

@MikkaQ said:

Probably MGS for me. Sure it was all MIDI sounds, but the soundtrack was tense, well composed and sounded exactly lile the hi-tech spy thriller film it was trying to be.

@VinceNotVance said:

I think it was that first Medal of Honor game on the PS1. They actually had Michael Giacchino compose the game's music (not to mention, Steven Spielberg was credited as a producer for the title). A legitimate Hollywood talent composing music for a video game was a huge deal back in the day.

Oh yeahhh.

My bar weren't movies but TV soundtracks which is why I'd say it was BioShock. The cello and violins in Garry Schyman's work on BioShock (and its sequel) reminded me a lot of Robert J. Kral's score for Angel.

and

MGS, Baldur's Gate, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Resident Evil 2, Fallout 2, ...

Fucking 1998, baby !

Halo maybe?

No wait, the first Medal of Honor - that soundtrack was very cinematic.

As someone young enough to very much be born into a video game era, I actually noticed how film scores worked AFTER I noticed video game music. So the first game to work in the direction you stated was probably Assassin's Creed 2 in '09 after noticing The Exorcist at Halloween the year before.

Halooooo

After years of playing hundreds of games for the Intellivision and Nintendo, when I fired this up for the first time the opening music blew my fucking mind and foretold of what was to come. Ever since I was 4 I paid close attention to orchestral music more than other kids, so the fact this stood out really meant something to me.

@bonorbitz said:

After years of playing hundreds of games for the Intellivision and Nintendo, when I fired this up for the first time the opening music blew my fucking mind and foretold of what was to come. Ever since I was 4 I paid close attention to orchestral music more than other kids, so the fact this stood out really meant something to me.

Yeah, I liked that too, but isn't that midi? I guess since it made you listen to orchestral music there on out, that makes no difference.

@NTM said:

@bonorbitz said:

After years of playing hundreds of games for the Intellivision and Nintendo, when I fired this up for the first time the opening music blew my fucking mind and foretold of what was to come. Ever since I was 4 I paid close attention to orchestral music more than other kids, so the fact this stood out really meant something to me.

Yeah, I liked that too, but isn't that midi? I guess since it made you listen to orchestral music there on out, that makes no difference.

Midi or not, the composition and the SNES's audio subsystem made it light years ahead of anything I've heard before when I got the game for Christmas 1991.

I'd have to go with Ocarina of Time. The soundtrack wasn't anything like a film, but boy, did it make my 8 year old self so excited to explore the world. The little happy jingles in the forest as a kid and the pretty scary chanting in the Fire Temple, amazing.

The first truly cinematic soundtrack that resonated with me as an adult would be Half-Life 2 I guess. It's subtle but the soundtrack really sells the environments.

Baldur's Gate probably

As @CptBedlam said, Monkey Island 2 but not because of the music itself so much as the iMuse system that drove it. The music in these games sounded like it was scored to match your specific playthrough, dynamically changing as you moved around the world or triggered events. This programmed music was able to do more than just blending pre-recorded tracks as the videos below show.

The iMuse system went beyond aping the musical style of films, it was a totally new style of incidental music composed for the medium of games.

Many early DOS LucasArts adventures used the system, but Monkey Island 2 was where they really put it through its paces.