The Complimentary power of Music in Games

Music is a form of art; one that I treasure. It has a mystical power to it that can transform our minds and soften our hearts. It can teleport us to another time or place. Much could be said about music on its own, but I want to share some thoughts regarding music in video games, and how it can drastically enhance the player’s experience.

Almost every video game has a soundtrack of sorts. These soundtracks often function like a film score, adding to the experience as an underlying score to enhance the mood and atmosphere (I have a lot to say on atmosphere, stay tuned for a later post). Games give music a special home, because the music can directly compliment the actions of the player, rather than playing when programmed to (games still do this, so I’ll give a few examples of what I’m getting at).

Remember in Halo 2, towards the end of the 3^rd level “Metropolis?” I’ll refresh your memory: Master Chief and the marines have fought their way into the downtown streets of New Mombasa, and now must deal with the threat of the destructive scarab prowling through the streets. Naturally, we can’t take this sucker down with our traditional SMG, so the game escorts us to a tall building, hands us a rocket launcher, and blasts the hard rock Halo theme. I can’t help but grin from ear to ear on this part because it is simply so cool. Had the game been silent, the sequence would’ve just felt like another fighting encounter. Had it been the regular orchestra playing “Earth City” like it does earlier in the level, that would’ve been pretty cool, but a wasted opportunity. Instead, we get an electric guitar hammering those legendary ascending notes and chords accompanied by the strings and percussion. This is just one of dozens of amazing musical moments in the Halo series. I love the Halo soundtrack, because it fits the game so well, and it helps me appreciate just how awesome and powerful it is to be the Master Chief.

Hopefully I’m making sense, because I want to keep going. I’m not the first to talk about Outer Wilds and how remarkable of a video game it is, and this won’t be the last time I mention it either. Outer Wilds does so much right, and the soundtrack is one of its strongest features. I can’t think, off the top of my head, of any other song that manages to capture the following vibe: coming to terms with things you can’t control. In the case of Outer Wilds, it is death. Almost everything in that game can and will kill you, and to top it all off, the sun explodes after playing for 22 minutes. The music could’ve been composed in a way to accentuate the intensity of your journey to solve the mystery of the doomed solar system, but the game opts for a cozy, campfire-esque tone to help the players relax. My favorite thing to do in that game, is to sit by my good buddies near the campsites on the various planets and listen to them play their instrument with their fellow astronauts, who do the same thing throughout the galaxy. Play Outer Wilds, please.

That’s all I’ll say on the topic for now. I love music, and I love video games. The two compliment each other in wondrous ways. I have a Spotify playlist of my favorite music from games, and it’s sitting pretty at 8 hours and 29 minutes. I’ll link it if anyone is interested. Thanks for reading.