Background music is extremely important in video games. Music can evoke deep emotions towards characters and situations, where if the music weren't there, you probably wouldn't feel anything. And I think that it's time to honor that music, which games have the soundtracks that make the game even better. Which ones have the best musicyou make you feel confident, sad, angry, or even unstoppable? Well, here's what I think.
The Top 10 Best Video Game Soundtracks
(And no, Rock Band and Guitar Hero don't count)
#10:
God of War Series
If you're going to make a game series about a raging Spartan who kills the ancient Greek god of war, takes his place on Mount Olympus, is then betrayed by the gods and sets out to take revenge on them... you'd better have a pretty epic soundtrack. And fortunately, they do. God of Warhas a soundtrack that makes you feel invincible,you feel like you could walk out your front door and conquer the world.Granted it's not a really original soundtrack, but it's perfect for the series and gets you in just the right mood for ripping Ancient Greece to shreds. So if you ever want to wreck havoc on someone or someplace, this is the perfect music to listen to.
#9:
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Uncharted has a really iconic soundtrack. If you played me the main theme from it, I would be able to tell without having played it in a long time that it was from Uncharted. The soundtrack is very exotic and adds to the mystery of the treasure during the cutscenes and puzzle portions of the game. When there's combat, it gets intense and adds to feeling of the moment. Now of course, a lot of adventure games have soundtracks like that, but Uncharted's still sounds very original and deserves the number nine spot on my list.
#8:
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
I have to be honest on this one, the soundtrack for this game is nothing really special. When there actually is music playing it doesn't sound a whole lot different from Metal Gear Solid 2, which is fine but it's nothing spectacular. However, the reason why Ihave this on the list is because it has one of the best songs ever recorded for a video game. That song is "Snake Eater"sung by Cynthia Harrell.That one song is enough to put this game on the list because it's so perfect for both the atmosphere of the game, and the person listening to it. It sounds like it belongs in a James Bond movie, it's just so much fun to hear. It really makes you thinkabout the game itself andhow massive it is. And it's also my favorite part of the boss fight in MGS4 with Liquid Ocelot. So in the end, the soundtrack itself is decent, but it's entirely worth it for that one song.
#7:
Modern Warfare 2
Let me answer your first question, yes this is gonna be on pretty much every video game list that I make. It's my second favorite game of all time so it's kinda hard to keep it off of any of my lists. Modern Warfare 2 has a soundtrack that is more emotional than the others on this list. God of War was about destruction, Uncharted was about an exotic vibe, MGS3 was about the feeling of a spy thriller, but Modern Warfare 2 is a little bit softer and more heartfelt. Sure it has moments of steroid filled action music but that's not really what I think of with MW2. MW2 has those moments after some climacticevent in the story has occured where there might be a huge battle going on, but it keeps you thinking about what just occured through the music. SPOILER ALERT! For example, after Roach and Ghost have been shot at the end of the mission "Loose Ends" and you begin playing as Soap MacTavish, you're in the middle of this huge battle between Sheppard and Makarov's men, you expect the music to be intense and full of vengeance, but instead it's sort of saddening. But at the same time it gets the point across that you're supposed to be sad and vengeful about what happened. So MW2 does the heat of battle right, as well as the feeling of losing a friend on the battlefield.
#6:
Battlefield: Bad Company
Now this is a very different kind of soundtrack. It's not about evoking emotions or making you feel like you need to do something in order to set things right. Bad Company's soundtrack gives off the feeling of the intensity of warfare as well as showing how slick and cool the game is. For example, you can turn on the radio while driving an enemy truck. You only get four stations but they make you think about how laid back this squad and is, and it justs make you feel like "heck, I don't need to care that I'm in the middle of a war, I'm cool and I can blow up whatever I want". And that's the whole point of Bad Company. I also really like the music that plays while you're on the main menu. It's this simple sort of elevator music that gets mixed with with a west coast rap beat. It justs sounds cool. Now that doesn't mean that Bad Company doesn't have it's booming orchestra moments. During the final battle you get a lot of that. But Bad Company just has some laid back sounds that fit perfectly with the characters and really make you feel like part of the team.
#5:
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
This game took a lot of the cliches from the first three Metal Gear Solid games and improved them to suit newcomers to the series. Because let's face it, if you have a PS3, you have to play MGS4. One of those things is the music. As I said earlier, the music from the first three games is good, but it's not really anything special. This one however, is special. It's a lot like MW2 actually. It's more thoughtful and emotional instead of action packed and adrenaline filled. The game's theme entitled "Old Snake" is just a really nice song to listen to. Even though it does play when you're beating the crap out of Liquid. The whole soundtrackgives you the feelingof a dystopianwar trampled world with a glimmer of hope in it. And that's the whole premise of MGS4... what else do you need?
#4:
Jak X: Combat Racing
The music in this game is just... awesome. It's like a smoothie made out of action packed explosions and gunfire mixed with slick rock music. And it goes down smooth every time. Although, any video game where "You Think I Ain't Worth A Dollar" by Queens of the Stone Age plays in the opening credits is going to get on this list. If I had to come up with a definition for the term "cool" I would say "The soundtrack to Jak X". I can't describe it any more than that, all I can say is, if you have a PS2 and you don't have this game... GET IT. Not only is it a great addition to the Jak & Daxter series, but the soundtrack has to be experience first hand.
#3:
Grand Theft Auto IV
I'm kind of cheating with this one, because the whole soundtrack is stuff that wasn't recorded for the purpose of the game. However, I can't really pass this up. The soundtrack is just too good. I might've had it at number one if it didn't have a song by Electric Light Orchestra... I can't stand them. But besides that one bump in the road, it's a really good collection of stuff. With something for everyone whether you're a fan of garage bands like The Black Keys, a reggae aficionado, or a metalhead (which I'm not) GTA IV has something that you'll like when you flip through the radio stations of Liberty City.
#2:
Little Big Planet
Little Big Planet has a rather unusual soundtrack. Altough it's a rather unusual game, so I guess it fits. A lot of the songs used are lighthearted and just put you in a happy go lucky mood. But others can actually be pretty creepy. All of the songs used in the game go great with their environments and put you in the mood to keep exploring them. My personal favorite is the song that's played during the first mission of the Frida the Bride levels. I terms of getting you in the mood for what's in store, you can't do much better than Little Big Planet. It's one of the most original games with one of the most entertaining and original soundtracks.
#1:
Red Dead Redemption
I need to see a doctor. Because I have an obsession with Red Dead Redemption. You know how @ShootumUP26 has that deep love for BioShock that no one can match? I think I might've matched that with my love of Red Dead Redemption. I have two posters of it in my room, I've bought it for both PS3 and Xbox 360 (my 360 stopped working), I've studied maps of the game's regions, I go onto Red Dead Wiki all the time to learn more stuff, heck I even edit Red Dead Wiki for stuff that I've discovered, and I've decided that I will never love a game as much as Red Dead Redemption. In fact, I doubt that I will ever love anything other than a human being or a pet more than Red Dead Redemption. But I'm getting carried away, this is about the soundtrack. Red Dead Redemption's soundtrack is one of the most heart pounding, tear welling, jaw dropping, and just flat out haunting collections of music I've ever heard. I've been talking about these soundtracks drawing emotions throught this whole thing, but this is the only one that draws them all. And not only is it the music that plays during fights or free roaming, but they were nice enough to give us four songs with lyrics that were written for the game and allfour are just incredible. When the song "Far Away" by Jose Gonzalez plays while you're riding into Mexico for the first time, you can't help but stare open mouthed at the landscape in pure wonder. But how could this soundtrack fail? It's based off of the Ennio Morricone scores from the Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns, which are three of the best movie soundtracks of all time as well. So overall, Red Dead Redemption is a marvelous game, and it has a marvelous soundtrack that does every single thing... perfectly.
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