Update 1/31/12: Check out my interview with Darren Korb after reading the review!
A few weeks ago I stumbled upon a list of nominees for the 2011 Video Game Awards (or “VGAs,” if you will). Naturally, I was interested in the “Best Original Score” category. The soundtracks that are up for it derive from Bastion, Batman: Arkham City, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and Portal 2.
Being that a goal of this blog is to listen to new game soundtracks, the reader shouldn’t be too surprised to know that I had heard none of those soundtracks. Yes, it’s a travesty that out of all of those games I haven’t yet played Arkham City or Portal 2, but you know… I just haven’t yet. The other week I bought Skyrim, Rayman Origins, and Skyward Sword, so needless to say, I have my hands full.
Since it’s my job to inform you of which soundtracks are worth listening to, I immediately started delving into these nominees. Bastion was first and I jotted enough notes to blog. Deus Ex was next and I quit listening to that because I didn’t have the patience to wade through the tracks to find which ones were the best at the time (the ones I did listen to weren’t particularly impressive, but my sample was by no means representative). Then my workday was over and I had stuff to do at home.
So, I got as far as Bastion and you know what? I’m fine with that. If Saturday reveals that some other soundtrack got the award, I’ll check it out; otherwise, I’m moving on to games that I have wanted to explore.
The first thing that the reader should know before taking my opinions on the soundtrack to heart is that I have never played Bastion. This fact will affect my review a bit because I won’t be able to give any insight on how the music interacts with the game itself. When I did “Time’s Scar” from Chrono Cross, I made references to the medium that the music was presenting—here I will not. I will solely base my opinions on how I feel about the musical content and what I like in my VGM.
If you feel like listening to the soundtrack while reading, go here. I will have individual examples posted below as well, though.