My background, from when I left school, was musical and I suppose it still is. It’s just well hidden. I really do appreciate good audio in games because I believe it can make a good game a great game.
Recently, whilst working my way through Bastion, I found myself head bopping to the background music and not really paying that much attention to the game. Some of the music tracks through that game stand alone as great music, never mind helping to create any sort of tension or atmosphere.
A couple of days later Dan let me listen to the soundtrack that had been released for Bastion and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not only did it bring back memories of game sequences but I enjoyed listening to it. The amusing thing is the warning on the Bastion website. You are well and truly warned that playing the album before the game could spoil some of the gaming experience.
Now, I might be wrong here but since I listened to the Bastion soundtrack I seem to have noticed a lot of them being released or due to be released alongside whatever game it’s associated to. A bit like when my wife was pregnant I thought every second woman I saw was pregnant too. Dark Souls has an album coming out, Batman Arkham City will have one as well. Going back a bit, Mirror’s Edge also has a great soundtrack.
I suppose it’s quite naive to think that these are the only four albums on the market for music. I was listening to a great podcast recently that’s hosted by a guy who specialises in game music. The first half of his podcasts seem to be dedicated to modern music played by bands, for example the Nine Inch Nails track for Quake that was written by Trent Reznor. The second half travels back through time having a look at more of the 8-bit material from past consoles such as the SNES.
What’s also great about the whole thing is that it’s not just some bunch of freelance musicians who have been drafted in to work their way through the game’s music score. The Batman: Arkham City album has some pretty big names like Panic! At the Disco, The Duke Spirit and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. This particular album has a collection of artists who have written their own songs around background stories of Batman which is different from say, the Bastion album which contained game music.
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