When a video game comes along that sounds good, I tend to pay attention. It isn't necessarily about the music, but also the mix and the actual placement of musical stings. I have noticed that lists like these often tend to have a certain group of games crop up almost every time, such as any Mario, Zelda or Metal Gear Solid. I will be staying away from these for this list.
(In no particular order)
It's easy to forget about the soundtrack here (mostly because of the story), but stick with me here. Not only is it filled with melancholy violins, but these strings do something important. I remember walking into several different areas in Rapture, only to find death accompanied by a lonely melody. It was beautiful, musical story telling.
Also a face-crushing Rachmaninoff-esque piano thing.
This is one of those games where the music is very much fitting of the universe. When I think of the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, the music to accompany them would be the woodwind and muted strings of Fable.
Electronica sold separately for a Half-Life 2 mod? Mad, and yet astounding. Gorgeous, organic melodies atop a foundation of cleverly constructed drum and bass.
So good I bought it from some Australians.
(It's by a bloke named Ed Harrison)
More electronica, this time from the charming Amon Tobin. Tense beats and evocative melodies. The soundtrack encapsulated the feeling of the game, cyber war and all. It also was one of my first steps into electronica.
The soundtrack for Bayonetta is as mad as a hair dragon. It swings from cheery, cheesy and cheap J-Pop to a melodramatic orchestral skeedly-boop. And a modern retake of Fly Me to the Moon that mirrors the kind of silliness in the rest of the game.
A misunderstood but beautiful game. Inon Zur's score is excellent, using instruments and scales that are evocative a fantasy version of a Middle Eastern desert. From soft and heart warming melodies between the Prince and Elika, to the powerful percussion of the climactic battles.
Ambient at times, melodic at others and beautiful in the middle. Lisa Misovsky's song "Still Alive" adds a great deal as the main theme, repeated in different forms throughout the game.
