Ten favorite game songs of 2013
Well, this was an excellent year for video game music, at least for me. It wasn't very easy to pick up a single song that I really liked from the games that I played this year, because most of the games I played had excellent soundtracks. Just for a change, this post is spoiler-free!
10. Battle for New York - Brian Tyler (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3)
Modern Warfare 3 happened to be one of my favorite Game Soundtracks of the year, if not my favorite. There is not a single song I didn't like and I could hear it for hours in a row. The one song I listened to more frequently though was Battle for New York, that plays in almost all missions in which you play as Frost. It became my favorite one because it's the one I remember more clearly from the Black Tuesday mission, which happens to be my favorite one.
Click to view9. Never Surrender - Combichrist (Devil may Cry)
I have listened to pretty much all of Combichrist and Never Surrender is, by far, the least offensive song they have. The songs that were included in the DmC game are really nice and fit perfectly with the game's style, but I definitely would NOT recommend other Combichrist songs. Never Surrender is quite cool, it has a heavy rhythm and still feels slightly motivational, but most of their other songs is unpleasantly misogynist and the amount of sexual references is insurmountable to the point that it makes me uncomfortable. Pretty much like Holywood Undead.
8. Remote Controller - Len & Rin Kagamine (Hatsune Miku: Project Diva f)
Project Diva f was my guilty pleasure this year. Getting the Platinum Trophy, unlike what I had previously thought, was a very pleasant experience and this game had several songs that I had for a while, but never really paid attention to them, like Acute, Hm? Ah, yes, Senbonzakura and Dream-Eating Monochrome Baku. But the one song that captivated me the most was Remote Controller, because it's fast, frenetic and awfully catchy. I caught myself watching videos with the choreography (which btw is also pretty cool) not long after I first heard the song.
7. Beat the Devil's Tattoo - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (Ghost Recon: Future Soldier)
It's funny to think that the first time I heard this song was NOT in the game. My dad was watching a biking program during the afternoon tea and this song was playing in the background. I thought it was pretty cool, searched for it and listened it for hours. Later, as I was replaying this game, I realized that this song plays in the Noble Tempest mission, as the soldiers are playing soccer near the containers. This isn't the music style that to which I usually listen, but it's rather cool.
6. Everything's Alright - Kan Gao (To the Moon)
Oh, boy, it was HARD to choose a single song from this game's OST. Back when I bought this game, I got it along with the OST because I had already heard several compliments about it. And boy, were the reviewers right or wat? To The Moon has the most beautiful, delicate soundtrack I have ever heard in a game. Most of the songs are played on the piano, and all of them were composed by the game's developer.
This is the song that plays right after you figure out the reason why Johnny wants to go to the moon. I won't give any further details so that no one gets any spoilers.
5. Carry On - Avenged Sevenfold (Call of Duty: Black Ops II)
While I don't really like the way the guys from the band acted to Menendez in the "secret ending" of the game, the song is really nice and motivational and happens to be one of my most listened songs of the year (even though I'm not quite sure of what the song has to do with the game overall). In my opinion, A7X it was a better choice for Black Ops II than the Eminem song for CoD Ghosts (but that's more like a matter of personal taste, since I'm not very fond of hip-hop).
4. Santa Monica Beach Invasion - David Buckley (Call of Duty: Ghosts)
Infinity Ward may not be very good at choosing the main song for their games, but the background music beats most of Treyarch's OSTs. CoD Ghosts has a beautifully orchestrated soundtrack, and Santa Monica Beach Invasion is a marvelous song to emphasize the intensity of the war and the dramatic fight of the two brothers through the chaotic battlefronts. CoD Ghosts may not have the best OST of the Modern Warfare games, but it still has its merits.
3. Build That Wall - Darren Korb/Ashley Barrett (Bastion)
Bastion overall has a very decent soundtrack and I wanted to put at least three more songs of the game in this Top 10, but since I was trying not to repeat any of the games, I only put my favorite one, which is Zia's song. If you ever listen to the soundtrack separately from the game, you might think that this song plays in a decisive moment of the game, but it is actually the background song, which you can set in the Bastion. Barrett's voice in it is absolutely beautiful and contrasting to the lyrics, which gives it an ironic touch.
2. I Was Born for This - Austin Wintory (Journey)
I was unfair in my own judgement to this game, but maybe it was because I played Journey without knowing what to expect of it, and while I usually like to play a game without knowing anything about it, I think Journey would have been a better experience if I knew what to expected of it.
Nevertheless, it's hard to deny that Journey has a fantastic soundtrack, which is also completely orchestrated. The soundtrack itself is already good enough to tell a story on its own and I Was Born for This is one of the few soundtracks that almost makes me cry because it's performed with such vocal perfection.
1. Opening Credits - Hans Zimmer/Lorne Balfe (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2)
It comes to no surprise that my favorite song from 2013 ends up being Modern Warfare 2's opening/ending theme, but some might agree that it's hard to compete with Hans Zimmer. I'll be honest, I like Modern Warfare 3's soundtrack better than MW2, but the opening/ending theme is one of those songs I can't bring myself to skip. It's dramatic and the military style and beats are very notable in spite of it being an orchestrated song.