Five Times Videogames made Fantastic use of Music

What can I say? Music is my forte, and whenever I’m asked what really drew me into a game, chances are that the soundtrack will be the culprit. Believe it or not, I never thought I would be interested in Dark Souls until someone shared with me the delight that is Lord Gwyn’s theme (thanks for the spoiler, Theo). But the thing is, music is subjective, and so counting down the “top ten tracks” of anything seems a little heavy handed; instead, I invite you to take a look with me at five times videogame developers made fantastic use of music.

1. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

I’m stalking through the swamps of Velen when I spy a lone drowner – I can do with the ingredients, so out comes the silver sword, already slathered with necrophage oil. The combat phase begins, and the instrumental section from Percival’s “Silver for Monsters” starts up. Then another drowner joins the fight. Then another. Then a water hag. Before I know it, I’m dancing to and fro between bloody claws, all while listening to the amazing vocals that have picked up only with the intensity of the battle. Noticing the dynamic use of music in The Witcher’s combat was quite the experience – so much so that I went and found the original songs that the soundtrack was based on (I’ve been listening to nothing but polish music since January, please send help).

 

It's just you, me, and these panpipes

2. Bloodborne

Bloodborne’s gothic, borderline operatic, score is one of my all time favourites, even though its music is used almost exclusively during boss fights. Perhaps it’s this very silence during the rest of the game that causes this soundtrack to stand out, but, in a very similar fashion to The Witcher, Bloodborne manages to match the intensity of every boss perfectly, even as the difficulty ramps up. As the good hunter chips away at their foe’s health bar, different battle phases will activate, and variations of the melody that you have come to love will kick in. This is most noticeable during the fight against Father Gascoigne or the Living Failures, but is used more subtly during the fights against Gehrman or Maria – go check; although the piece of music itself flows in one continuous stream (like any other song), it will begin to repeat, almost imperceptibly, if you don’t reach the end of the battle phase in time.

3. Crypt of the Necrodancer

This game was built around music, and is a must play for… well, anyone, actually. Crypt of the Necrodancer not only makes use of its soundtrack for pacing, difficulty, level length and that addictive “one more go” feeling, but it also uses your soundtrack for pacing, difficulty and level length (depending on which songs you choose, though, you may end up quickly swapping back to the originals). Conversely, my housemates can’t stand this title, because whenever I sit down to play, the volume goes up to max and my fingers slam down on my fragile keys like I’m in a nightclub. It really is a fantastic experience, because even though the game is hard as all hell, the speed with which you can start another level means that you probably will (if only so that you can hear Mausoleum Mash one last time).

As it turns out, using a crypt as a discoteque is liable to wake the dead

4. Synthesia

What’s that you say? This one doesn’t count as a videogame? Pretty sure I’m wielding the keyboard, so at number four, we have a game that makes use of Musical Instrument Digital Interface (or MIDI) files to teach the player how to play the piano. I’m sure many avid pianists will scoff when I say I count as one of them, but the thing is, Synthesia taught me how to play Dingodile in a very short space of time, and it’s gotten to the point that if you can provide me with a reasonably playable file, I can take to it like a duck to water. It is the useful version of Guitar Hero, provided you have a MIDI capable keyboard. There are so many files out there on the internet that learning how to play versions of your favourite songs will only take as long as a google search. I’ve even been dabbling in making my own files: my Allegro Presto sounds just as good as the original, if I do say so myself.

Learning piano has never been easi... yes, of course you have to play ALL the notes

5. Salt

Another indie one here for you, Salt is No Man’s Sky without the glamour or the promises; it looks atrocious, the gameplay is horrible, but I love it all the same. Because it has pirates. I spent an awful lot of time playing Salt thinking that there was no music, save for the beautiful piece welcoming players on the title screen, and I was okay with that. The game was still in a seemingly very early stage of Early Access, and when I considered the fact that enemy pirates looked like sacks of potatoes, I figured music wasn’t a top priority at that moment. When I finally repaired my big ship, I decided to sail in one direction for a while, just to break up the island-hopping aspect of gameplay. As the sun began to set, I lit my bonfire and sailed on, watching the waves glimmer darkening orange; then, what I can only describe from memory as a haunting, awe-inspiring track rose like an island on the horizon, and I sailed.