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Carno wants game scores! Link 'em to me!
9 years ago
General
I hear online the occasional track for some AA or AAA games which always leaves me wanting to hear more of such dynamic, symphonic music that rival anything one hears in movies.
So which ones has anyone found out to be good? I would love to hear anything with a sci-fi/fantasy theme. Anything in places like YouTube is fine; I can always look for and buy any downloadable versions of those I may like the most.
Dear Esther (You might find this one a bit "piano heavy")
The Dig (But you've already said you like this one)
Dust - An Elysian Tail
Ecco - Songs of Time
Extreme Assault
Gemini Rue
Jamestown
Journeyman Project 3 - Legacy of Time
Loom (Michael Land, same as The Dig)
Mass Effect 3
Myst V - The End of Ages (No, really. It's a lot less 'ambient' than the first game)
Portal 2 (Might be a bit too 'electronic', but it's certainly grand in scale)
Prince of Persia - The Warrior Within
Rochard
Silver
Torchlight 2
Tunnel B1
Valkyria Chronicles 3
Witcher 1 & 2, the
And anything that Chris Hülsbeck, Clint Bajakian or Michael Land have been near (although you might find Hülsbeck a little too 'verse-chorus-verse' for your taste)
Advent Rising (2005) - Youtube
Pretty obscure, first of a cancelled trilogy or so. Quite nice, orchestral soundtrack although nothing too spectacular with some vocals here and there. Parts of it are in full Dolby 5.1 which is still an exception.
Sudeki (2004) - Youtube (incomplete, but at least original tracks)
Fun game. And a fun soundtrack that is definitely different from all those orchestral things. A little jazz, a little world music, sometimes electro-ish.. pretty varied and, as I said, fun. Especially when you're just tired of the same old, orchestral sounds. If you can still get the original soundtrack release somewhere, it comes with a bonus DVD featuring material from the game.
Civilization IV (2004) - Youtube
Yeah, the series never had a better soundtrack before or since this. Not many other games ever had, either. Baba Yetu is one heck of a title track. Dynamic, fun, epic. And again, great if you can't do the standard orchestral soundtracks anymore.
The Dig (1995) - Youtube
Orchetral, atmospheric, classic LucasArts. 'nuff said.
And there's plenty more, albeit probaly a little less 'symphonic'. Personally I can only recommend the Hotline Miami 2 soundtrack for it's campy 80s charme or the soundtrack to Jets'n'Guns for chiptune madness and catchiness. The Ratchet & Clank Deadlocked soundtrack is pretty awesome and different from the rest of the series.
Fair warning: Some of these might be difficult to get, physically. Digitally.. should all be available somewhere, legally.
And there's always The F-Zero series for your Speed needs. xD
If you want something more dynamic/symphonic I highly recommend looking up Jeremy Soule if you haven't already, especially the Elder Scrolls soundtracks (Skyrim being my personal favorite). And yeah the Mass Effect music is also fantastic.
There's also this song from one of my absolute favorite games of all time. The soundtrack overall is more towards electronic/industrial (which I'm not sure is your thing since I don't know your music taste) but I think you might like this song in particular. Pretty overlooked soundtrack if you ask me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB_TzzEb9Tk
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Skyrim (atmospheres)
I've played a lot of Banished to this link.
Chaser
Man, old memories of this game. Soundtrack was pretty cool though. Hope the playlist is OK.
E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy
Yes, really. There are some good tracks in here, even if I never got through the whole thing. XD
Endless Legends
Endless Space
I did love me some Hissho. Even if they weren't reptiles.
Homeworld 1 & 2
I will talk your ears off about this one, so be careful asking me about it. Especially the vocal Adagio for Strings. I just... Hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng.
Deserts of Kharak
See above. Good lord I just wish this game had been longer.
Hmm. I guess that's enough for now. I can recommend some movie scores too, if ya like. I mean, have you listened to Interstellar yet? Holy shit, that pipe organ.
Transistor is a personal favorite of mine. It's nice to relax to.
Risk of Rain is another mellow one. It suits the "spaceman on an alien planet" vibe.
Bayonetta 2 mixes jazzy, upbeat themes with some symphonic stuff thrown in.
Dark Souls III or any of the Dark Souls soundtracks, really. I'm probably showing my bias, though.
This one is my Favorite.