Orchestral Archives - The Greatest Game Music

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream Soundtrack – Review

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream Soundtrack, John Ottman, 1995

Point-and-click adventure games arguably reached the peak of their popularity during the mid-1990s. Not surprisingly, this period also saw the genre daring to branch out into previously untapped, darker subject matter – although whether this was always handled with the necessary maturity and taste is up for debate. The best known example of these edgier adventure games might be Sierra’s Phantasmagoria, but arguably more confronting and thought-provoking was I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream.

Based on Harlan Ellison’s short story of the same name, the game presents a bleak sci-fi scenario in which a super-computer eternally tortures humanity’s final five survivors following a nuclear holocaust, simply for its own pleasure and out of infinite hatred for mankind. Having Ellison himself involved in the creation of the game made sure it featured far better writing than most other video games. However, I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream suffered from some design flaws that held it back from becoming a genre classic. Still, even decades after its release, the game stands out for its unflinching look at some immensely depressing subject matter, articulated through the repugnant yet tragic life stories of the five survivors players control during the game.

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Enemy Zero Soundtrack – Review

Enemy Zero Soundtrack, Michael Nyman, 1996

Few video game auteurs have left an oeuvre as intriguing – and divisive – as Kenji Eno. Eno fittingly came to prominence during one of experimental game design’s heydays – the mid 1990s. His company Warp became best known in the West for its D series of horror games: D, Enemy Zero and D2. Only very loosely connected with each other, these games proposed innovative gameplay and story ideas – arguably to various degrees of success. However, these titles did ultimately cement Eno’s name in game history for their unbridled audacity.

It’s certainly not Enemy Zero’s story line that is its most innovative component. The game’s narrative – a spaceship is overrun by murderous xenomorphs – takes entire portions of Alien and mixes in bits and pieces of other sci-fi classics such as Blade Runner. Far more interesting is the game’s central game play mechanic. The rampaging aliens are invisible and the only way to find and shoot them is to rely on a sonar-like system that indicates their location through changes in pitch and frequency. It was an ingenious idea that some reviewers found was implemented less smoothly than it should have been, making for one hell of a difficult game.

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Afrika Soundtrack – Review

Afrika Soundtrack, Wataru Hokoyama, 2008

You wouldn’t necessarily expect that one of the best orchestral game scores of the new millennium was written for what’s essentially a photography simulator. But that’s precisely what Afrika, an early PS3 title, achieved. The game itself garnered a fair amount of pre-release hype. The prospect of traversing the majestic landscapes of the African steppes and carefully ligning up shots of its exotic animal inhabitants had a fair amount of gamers and bloggers excited at the prospect of this relatively fresh gameplay idea. Ultimately though, Afrika’s reviews were fairly polarised. Some critics enjoyed the languorous gameplay, while others felt the game lacked substance.

Thankfully, there was little such ambivalence about the quality of the Afrika soundtrack – despite its scarcity. The score was only available as a pack-in bonus when purchasing the game, presented both on CD and in Dolby 5.1 on a supplementary DVD. Still, word among film music bloggers quickly spread, each new review praising the quality of Wataru Hokoyama’s creation. In the end, Afrika won Best Video Game Score at the 2008 Hollywood Music Awards, as well as three Game Audio Network Guild Awards.

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The Abbey Soundtrack – Review

The Abbey Soundtrack, Emilio de Paz, 2008

A murder in a Medieval monastery? A wise monk, accompanied by a young, inexperienced companion, investigating the crime? It’s hard not to assume that The Abbey’s plot was more than a bit influenced by Name of the Rose. Then again, it’s an intriguing, still original enough set up for an adventure game. The Abbey wasn’t as well received as Name of the Rose though, with reviewers handing out mostly middling scores.

Where The Abbey differed most clearly from its obvious inspiration was in its surprisingly sumptuous soundtrack. James Horner had scored Name of the Rose with a low-key, largely synthetic soundtrack that divided film music fans. The The Abbey soundtrack takes an almost diametrically opposed approach. The score utilises a full live orchestra, organ and two choirs (male and boys) to create the sort of gloriously melodic bombast one would expect from a historic movie epic, rather than from a relatively obscure adventure game. The surprise is even greater when one considers that composer Emilio de Paz wrote this outstanding score while also working on The Abbey as project leader and lead designer.

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Aquaria Soundtrack – Review

Aquaria Soundtrack, Alec Holowka / Ian Holowka, 2007

By 2009, the indie game resurgence had already begun to make its mark on the gaming market at large. However, indie games’ impact on game music took longer to materialise. Existing digital distribution channels like iTunes and other online music stores didn’t cater to these often tiny projects. In this environment, the release of the Aquaria soundtrack was a watershed moment for Western indie game music. At the time, a 2CD album release for a Western indie game soundtrack was unheard of. Publisher Infinite Ammo’s courage was duly rewarded. Like the game, the Aquaria soundtrack met with an enthusiastic response from critics and gamers alike.

One thing that helped the Aquaria soundtrack break through is that the game placed music front and centre. It all starts with the ‘verse’, a twelve-note melody that the game’s developer and composer Alec Holowka came up with. Using the verse theme throughout the soundtrack, Holowka realised it was actually well suited to become a major plot point and gameplay mechanic.

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