Music can be a powerful force in our lives. It can get us motivated, help us unwind, and even help manage mental illness. When it comes to media, like film and TV, it is crucial to conveying mood and emotion. Video games can use music for anything from ratcheting up the drama to entertaining us during the grind. From the emotional to the entertaining, here are some of the video games that make you get out your best gaming headsets and lose yourself in the music.
God of War
The franchise has been around a while, but 2018’s entry, God of War was exactly the kind of first-person narrative game that makes EA’s assessment that nobody wants single-player games anymore look stupider than ever. Without spoilers (because do yourself a favor and go into this game unspoiled), the end moments of the game are stunning, and one of the most majestic elements is the score by Bear McCreary. McCreary has scored a multitude of TV shows, including The Walking Dead and Outlander. It is absolutely gorgeous.
Soundtrack highlight: “The Summit”
Final Fantasy
I’m cheating here, because it’s a franchise. And given 20 some-odd years, a franchise as big as Final Fantasy is going to crank out some real beauties. From Final Fantasy VI’s “Terra’s Theme” to Final Fantasy XV’s classic chocobo song with Prompto’s lyrics added on, the music is one of the reasons why the franchise is among the most pedigreed in the gaming world. Special props to the music of Final Fantasy XIV, which includes the chilling anthem “Answers.”
Soundtrack highlight: “Answers”
Jet Set Radio
Jet Set Radio is an important game for a lot of reason — primarily because it’s a fun game. The soundtrack, however, makes it even more worthy of notation in the annals of games we should all remember fondly, much for the same reason SSX: Tricky (we’ll get there) and Crazy Taxi are: The soundtrack took us out of the era of “doot doot” of MIDI music and into the era of contemporary influence on games. It certainly didn’t do it single handedly; a lot of other games boldly went there too. But JSR (and, notably, Jet Set Radio Future) gave us a soundtrack to groove to. It’s still good music today, despite the fact that the games came out over 15 years ago.
Soundtrack highlight: “Aisle 10”
SSX: Tricky
Look, any soundtrack that kicks off with Run D.M.C. is just going to be one of the greatest things ever. Throw in BT’s “Smartbomb” and you’ve got something that makes you long for the days of rocking back and forth on your board waiting for the bell to go. Between the celebrity smack talk that made up the game’s dialogue and the great music delivered by none other than the game’s DJ and announcer R-r-r-r-ozelle, it was just gold. One of the best parts of the music was the way it reacted to pulling off something really (not to put too fine a point on it) tricky, so the music benefits from a kind of Pavlovian response — just hearing it makes you feel like a badass.
Soundtrack highlight: “It’s Tricky”
Legend of Zelda
In the world of video game cover songs, nothing gets covered like the music from the Legend of Zelda franchise. You can find it on every instrument, in every genre, known to man. And there’s good reason: Zelda’s musical range goes from sweeping ballads to flamenco-inspired “Gerudo Valley.” Go to any nerd-related concert and dollars to donuts you’re going to hear Zelda music at some point — it’s kind of like the Pokemon theme song that way; it’s a rallying call for nerds.
Soundtrack highlight: The Zelda Suite
Horizon: Zero Dawn
There’s no better word for a game that watches like a eulogy for humanity’s destruction of itself than haunting — which happens to be a perfect word to describe the score. It’s sad and beautiful, at turns filled with majesty. Horizon: Zero Dawn was one of the greatest game releases in 2017; it left you with a lot of lingering thoughts about the morality and ethics of technological advancements. The music compliments it perfectly.
Soundtrack highlight: “Prologue”
Mass Effect 3
We might still be collectively miffed over the ending (and Andromeda), but Mass Effect 3 offered up some of the best scores BioWare has ever produced (and that’s saying something, because Dragon Age: Inquisition was stunning in parts). It might be the emotional connection to Shepard and the gang, but hearing the music that accompanied the heartbreak of Mordin’s death with the joy of curing the Genophage is haunting and beautiful. What about abandoning Earth while the end of the world literally rains down in fire and destruction? Or the moment, just before it all ends, when you have a tender potential farewell with the love of your life? The story is heartbreaking, and the music perfectly encapsulates the feelings the game wanted to instill in players.
Soundtrack highlight: “Leaving Earth”
Elder Scrolls
There is something about the Skyrim theme that makes me feel like I need to stand up and salute. Is it because Skyrim is one of the best video games of all time? Is it because I had to platinum it twice (thanks to a PSN hack)? The music behind Elder Scrolls is iconic at this point and is some of the greatest background chilling music available. Did I play Elder Scrolls Online because Spotify kept shoving the music at me like some sort of audio-based crack dealer? Maybe. Very likely. Almost definitely.
Soundtrack highlight: “Dragonborn”
Bioshock/Fallout
They’re very different games, but they’re on the list for the same reason — because they introduced a generation of gamers to a lot of music they probably wouldn’t know otherwise. Bioshock and Fallout hit you right in the nostalgia feels (and for the majority of us, nostalgia for a time we weren’t even alive for). Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Hank Williams, Billie Holiday, Kay Kyser, Django Reinhardt and the Andrews Sisters? Is it any wonder video games everywhere latched onto the games with such abandon?
Soundtrack highlight: “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire”
GTA: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto has always brought us good music to commit felonies to, but something about San Andreas just sets itself apart. Every in-game radio station does what radio stations do best: They make you sing along like a idiot, but you just don’t care because it’s so much fun. The radio stations of GTA:SA have some of the greatest names in the history of whatever music genre you prefer. A game that can effortlessly bring together Danzig, Willie Nelson and 2Pac will always make lists like these.
Soundtrack highlight: Anything off Radio Los Santos, really
The Witcher 3
The love for The Witcher 3 runs deep, and for excellent reasons: monster murder, sex atop a unicorn, and Geralt’s dry, cheeky sense of humor. It might have excellent writing and some of the most screwed-up things I have ever seen in a video game (and I have played a lot of horror games), but it also features some very pretty, very atmospheric music. I could hang out in Spikeroog all day, just listening to the music and chatting with vikings. At turns moody, spooky, and crammed full of bagpipes, it’s another part of the everything that makes The Witcher 3 a brilliant game.
Soundtrack highlight: “Geralt of Rivia”
Uncharted
Okay, I might be biased. I love Nathan Drake, and Uncharted 4 gave me the feels big time. The score behind the game definitely brought home the feeling of adventure and heroism, even if Drake isn’t technically a hero. The theme for the Uncharted ran through all four games in the franchise, and like a lot of things with the fourth installment, it was better and more polished. The music is very good at creating that swell of emotions in the player that translates into feeling like a hero. After all, a man who has probably killed thousands while saving the world four times over and still manages to grab onto those itty bitty handholds on the side of sheer cliff walls should feel like a hero. Maybe? Whatever, the score is great.
Soundtrack highlight: “Nate’s Theme”