I picked the game up a few days ago and am really enjoying it. Something that has really struck me, however, is how good the game's soundtrack is and how it really adds something to the game.

I think it's the best soundtrack in a game (excluding guitar hero/rock band) since Vice City, bar none. This is the first time since that Vice City that I have wanted to not get out of a car in order to continue listening to a song.

I just find it interesting that it isn't considered special anymore to have a soundtrack as good as it does. I remember back when Vice City came out they released the soundtrack on CD and it was a big deal and lots of people bought it. Nowadays the most you hear the GB guys say about it is "Yeah and the music is pretty good," I don't know if it's just expected now or what.

I know personal taste is a big factor here. And I can acknowledge that they pretty much just grabbed the top 100 from 1968 or whenever and stuck it in, but isn't that exactly what Vice City did? I'm just curious why more people aren't talking about it

Every time I have heard the game talked about the soundtrack comes up.

Vice City was not just the top 100 from the period. They did a deeper dive into all manner of genres, like Rockstar is usually does with their music. They had spanish music, early Hip-Hop, early electronic as well. I have not gone through all Mafia III's but it seems a bit more top 100 than that.

In general I just don't think this game is as notable either. Vice City was a massive game for impact. This will not be.

Also, like you say in your post, it's just not as notable to have a licensed soundtrack like that anymore. It used to be a much bigger deal.

While it's a good collection, I don't think it has that hard-hitting synchronization with the theme or feel of the game that something like Vice City or Hotline Miami had.

And for me personally, I'm more impress when the soundtrack is an original score that harmonizes with everything about the game, like Fez or Red Dead Redemption.

I mean, sure, the soundtrack is nice, but what good is it if the game around it isn't great? You need to actually play the game to hear the soundtrack and the gameplay is kind of a bummer. I'll just grab the tunes off of Spotify or whatever.

The game really needed the ability to play the music in the background without the need for a car or radio.

I've heard a lot of talk about the soundtrack.

Also it's hardly representative of the top 100. It's more like the top 100 that we think back on. Sure there is some rock stuff in there from now forgettable bands, but there is nothing of the poppier music of the time. Why? Because I got Love in My Tummy is the Jonas Brothers of that time and we don't want to remember it because we've collectively realized it's shit.

(Bit of a tangent here) Whenever someone says to me good music isn't made anymore I think: there will always be good music being made just like there has always been bad music.

But honestly the soundtrack hasn't done much for me because it feels like it's just all the songs we have already gotten from every movie set in this era. New Orleans has a very rich history of music, and they kind of just chose the most popular songs and/or bands to fill the 3 stations with.

I am talking about it.....it is really really good!

I kinda don't like the fact that it's the same case as with GTA, with how it's just those certain songs that seem to play 80% of the time. I feel like I'd have to drive around constantly for several hours without doing anything else to hear all of the soundtrack, unless some story missions happen to have a specific song attached to them.

I do really like it in general, though. It might be a very "safe" collection of songs that everyone associates with the era, but I'd rather listen to some groovy 60's tunes on repeat than for example the garbage that GTA V's radio mainly consisted of.

Soundtrack is good, wish the game would live up to it...

@sloppydetective: I still think it's more "popular music" than GTA usually ever is but you are very right on the top 100 thing. There are collections of the Billboard top 100 songs you can find out there and it's a great exercise to go look at that and realize your favorites are buried near the bottom or not even actually present. In the 90's for example there was SO much poppy R&B type garbage dominating the charts.

Using popular music to ground your film was novel in the 70's when Scorsesse did it. For games as some people have already pointed out GTA: Vice City is the obvious example though I'd say that Saints Row 3 and Far Cry 3 was some of the first to really incorporate that music into the game itself. Mafia III's soundtrack seems awesome and I've heard a lot about it, but I don't think that's what's interesting about the game.

The 60's was a great time for music.

I dunno if my game was bugged or I was just unlucky but it always seemed like the same few songs played over and over again for me.

Every review I've seen has mentioned the soundtrack, and I've seen it mentioned in several threads as well. Though to me a good original soundtrack is more interesting than a collection of already existing songs, no matter how good or appropriate they may be.

The soundtrack suits the game well, but I have a hard time heaping praise on a game for licensing good songs. I feel the same way about Vice City/other licensed soundtracks.

Because it's the same soundtrack we've heard in just about every movie and game from that time period. Also, everyone always mentions it when the game is brought up so...

Liscensed soundtracks are always pretty meh unless it's specific songs the perfectly fit the moment like Power in Saint's Row or the weed burning song from Far Cry.

The soundtrack is great because the game is set in a period that had a lot of good music. There's nothing really special or interesting about it.

Licensed soundtracks on their own just aren't that impressive anymore. I still like them and it definitely works for this fame, but it's nothing compared to stuff that's composed specifically for the game. Stuff like Nier, Persona, etc always blow licensed sountracks out of the water

The soundtrack really isn't that amazing, someone mentioned it was like a 'greatest hits' of other game's soundtracks and it really is; just about every song was in at least one other game so the impact is lessened greatly.

Me personally, I've worked retail for over 10 years, so nearly every single song I've heard plenty of times to the point I turned off the music.

Also, the gameplay is great, no idea why people are so down on it. They must've all just seen the Crowbcat video and came to the same consensus or something.

A great soundtrack is something like Pulp Fiction, where maybe not every song is a top hit but they fit their scenes so well you almost couldn't imagine any other piece of music fitting there. Pulp Fiction's soundtrack is great because it has an Urge Overkill cover of Neil Diamond song and is way better for it. A collection of hit songs from the era is not an exciting soundtrack to me.

The what?

I've been critical of the soundtrack in other threads but thought I would ad another 2 cents here because it is a significant disappointment in my view.

Firstly the way in which the soundtrack represents black music is incredibly clichéd and ham-fisted. Many of the choices are so incredibly obvious; 'Respect', 'Soul Man', 'Sitting on the Dock of the Bay', 'Baby Love' etc. . Not to mention that many of these are connected with Motown yet the game is set in Louisiana. In fact the whole thing seems to go out of its way to ignore the musical history of New Orleans entirely. This is either ignorance on behalf of the developers or they assume their audience is not discerning enough to care. Either way smacks of lowest common denominator treatment. Comparisons with GTA are going to be inevitable with this sort of game. The soundtrack to Vice City included popular, undiscovered and underappreciated songs all the while paying tribute to the locale of the game and the time period.

Including multiple songs by the same artist is also a huge blight in my opinion. I am not just talking about two or three songs. There are five Creedence tracks on there. Four by the Rolling Stones. Again these are all well-worn 'classics' that are already intrinsically linked to other films and video games.

When I envisioned the soundtrack prior to release I was positively salivating at the prospect of cruising the swamps and bayous of a fictional New Orleans as the sounds of Jazz, Blues, Dixieland, Creole and soul drifted from the speakers. What I got instead was a greatest hits compilation that your grandmother would order from Time Life after watching a late night infomercial.

My disillusionment came when the band at a bar/strip-joint was playing some pretty decent jazz, but when their number ended, they kept on playing.

I like the soundtrack, but for me it is all music I have heard before in my life. Except again for some rather good blues.

Meanwhile I have bogged down a bit in the game, past that excellent beginning. I hope to pop out of that and get one with the game. One problem is that I am schizoid over K+M or gamepad. Despite the trotting around, I like K+M, and I drive surprisingly well with it. The gameplay and missions, hope I get more into it. I really like the story so far.

It's early...

I might be wrong, but whenever I hear positive criticism of the game, the soundtrack comes up as a major plus. Overall, I would somewhat agree. Unfortunately, the game uses way too many of that era's greatest hits, which leads to songs we've heard over and over and over again.

I would gladly never hear Fortunate Son again in my life. Ever.

I thought the Soundtrack held up, worked thematically. Some of the songs repeated a bit too often, but that's also because I rarely deviated away from the Rock station anyway. Late game spoiler: The subverting of the soundtrack at the end of the game on the way to the last mission was amazing