I've spent a few weeks delibating over what games of this year had the most memorable scores, original or otherwise. I generally add interesting tracks to a yearly playlist as I hear them in games. At the moment Hans Zimmer's Crysis 2 Theme, the entirety of the Bastion soundtrack and most of Rayman Origins' OST has been played to death (kazoos are the business people). Anyway I've played most of the big releases this year but no soundtrack bar Skyrim has managed to stick in the mind. Deus Ex had a good sci-fi electronic score and Jesper Kyd always does a fine job with the AC games but everything is so high in quality these days that it all becomes a forgettable yet extremely competent mush.

I'm tempted to say Saints Row the Third has been the most surprisingly and enjoyable set of tracks, even though they're most licensed stuff that was hilarious in the moment (I've played about 5 hours so there may be more to come). Apart from my two aesthetic favourites of the year; Bastion and Rayman, there's nothing that has had me leaving tracks on repeat like I did last year with God of War 3's soaring and bombastic lack of musical subtlety.

Are there any games this year that I've missed or glossed over that had some memorable tracks? I generally prefer games that smack me around the face with the quality of their soundtracks than the more subtle scores so I'd welcome any mentions of the better atmospheric soundtracks this year as I probably failed to notice them.

this was adam1808

Saints Row makes a fucking amazing use of music. Power has never been more appropriate.

This was Euan Dewar

Sonic Generations has an amazing soundtrack.......definitely my favorite from this year

this was Unknown_Pleasures

Radiant Historia, even though I haven't finished it. Also, Aquaria, because given the attention it got, it might as well have come out in 2011.

Solar 2 had a superb soundtrack. It's also an amazing game.

Really? God of War 3? Have the soundtrack, save for a few, not that great of a soundtrack, especially when compared to the last God of War games. Maybe I'll have to listen to it again tomorrow like I tried to earlier today. As for this year so far, I'd probably say either Crysis 2 (but definitely not for Hans Zimmer's theme), or Outlands soundtrack. I also like Dead Space 2's soundtrack, but that's probably very subtle to most players since it plays into the overall sound of the game.

Skyrim's is absolutely stellar.

Crap, this thread made me go back and listen to the Solar 2 soundtrack again. It's REALLY good guys. It loses a bit outside the context of the game, but not enough to impact my enjoyment of it.

EDIT: And you can get the music for free!

Zelda sets the standard for orchestrated music. Also Halo: CE has some epic ass music too.

inFAMOUS 2's credit roll:

Annnd Yakuza 4:

I really wish I had the chance to play these other games so that I can hear the music within their own contexts to see how well they complement the game, but so far I will just have to settle with Skyrim for having best soundtrack of the year for myself. When the score hits during dusk as you are travelling the plains seeing those gorgeous mountains, man it sends chills down my spine. That's just me though.

Man, video game music is just plain awesome.

Personally, I love almost everything about Catherine's soundtrack and the way it's used in the game.

The Space Marine OST was pretty great, IMO.

I think this is one of Shoji Meguro's best work and is featured in the jukebox in Catherine.

We have the same avatar. It's a fight to the death!

@awesomeusername said:

We have the same avatar. It's a fight to the death!

No, yours is slightly bigger.

@nintendoeats said:

@awesomeusername said:

We have the same avatar. It's a fight to the death!

No, yours is slightly bigger.

And sexier.

Ohohoh! The Shadows of the Damned soundtrack is mixed, but it has some really great tracks on it. I actually bought it (which was mad expensive), and was disappointed to find that the one piece of music that I really wanted wasn't on the disc.

@awesomeusername

I have a Dimitri one, there cannot be more than one Sly in this town

Not only is this my pick for best original track this year,

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Witcher 2 had some amazing music.