Red Dead Redemption 2
Soundtracks are an important part of bringing a game to life. Not only can they make or break the whole experience, but a truly incredible score can uplift an experience to something truly special; whether the epic orchestras of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 or the one-man compositions of Hollow Knight.
When games don’t rely on a composed soundtrack, the focus is often on licensed music. This can be great in its own way, and I’ve found a lot of artists I now love through titles like Life is Strange.
But then there’s a secret third option: games that have a high-quality soundtrack, featuring a collection of songs that could easily make for a standalone album and still deliver just as powerful an experience. That is what we need more of.
Shoutout to Blood Upon The Snow by Hozier.
Triple-A Games Can Mean Triple-A Music
2018’s Red Dead Redemption 2 and 2023’s Alan Wake 2 are perfect examples of games taking a soundtrack above and beyond. While they have original scores, each game also has a dedicated tracklist of curated music produced by various artists to fit the style and story of the game.
Red Dead Redemption 2 leans into the old Western styles, as well as 19th-century and early 20th-century music rooted in the Deep South. It’s a beautiful soundtrack that ranges from soft, gentle vocals and acoustic guitar, while songs like Cruel World make use of the iconic Willie Nelson to hone in on the period in an authentic way.
Alan Wake 2, on the other hand, makes use of a different range of artists, such as Poe, PJ Harvey, and Poets of the Fall’s alter-ego, the Old Gods of Asgard, created specifically for Remedy’s video game universe. The songs on this soundtrack are featured at the end of each chapter in Alan Wake 2, and they hold up in almost entirely independent ways. Wide Awake and Superhero are beautiful songs; This Road and Dark, Twisted And Cruel play on the eerie, darker themes of the game; and then each song by the Old Gods of Asgard leans into their rock-centric style, making for some incredible moments in the game, thanks to songs such as Anger’s Remorse and, of course, Herald of Darkness.
And then Night Springs is just good ol’ pop-horror akin to a slasher flick.
While both of these soundtracks work to enhance the games, they each tell elements of the stories throughout — whether it be through lyrics or emotion — and they are fantastic, as brilliant, standalone albums. I even recommend them to people who haven’t played the games or don’t play games at all.
Indie Games With Passion Can Do It Too
Good soundtracks aren’t exclusive to triple-A production, however — while something like Life is Strange can make use of hand-picked songs to enhance its story, games like Sayonara Wild Hearts feature incredible, original soundtracks too. Being a rhythm-based narrative, the music takes the wheel here, and it makes for a special listening experience, both in and out of the game.
What I want is for more games to take this approach. A story can be told through a game’s narrative just as well as it can be told through the writing and world-building, but there’s so much more room to be explored in how this can be translated into an album.
Don’t get me wrong, I love beautiful instrumental orchestras, and not every game is going to benefit from a well-timed needle drop. But there’s a lot more that can be felt through music, and I’d love to see more like these examples.
