The role of music in videogames

What makes a video game great?

Is it High Definition graphics, its deep storyline, it`s charismatic characters or the fact that you can play it with some friends or even strangers?

Maybe.

 I think the most important thing is music. Whether it`s the music fitted on a long loading screen alongside a picture, or it`s the music that accompanies you in each level, it is present and important. Think of a horror film. What would it be like if you were to watch it on mute?

Maybe it would turn into a comedy because you would laugh at the character`s facial expressions or actions.

 Do you remember Mario on the NES console? Even though that electronic music will not most likely be played while you are cruising down the freeway, upon hearing it, it will most definitely bring great childhood memories. Music is a great hook, and the best time machine there is until now.

 Let`s see two examples:

1) Bioshock is a 2007  award winning shooter that takes place in a dystopian civilisation from the 40`s that was located on the Atlantic seafloor. While navigating the narrow corridors, you battle hordes of mutants, using elements as ice, fire or even swarms of bees.  Music can let you in on a secret hen you enter in a room where something important is about to happen.The hordes come barging in with  the change in the background music, similar to a horror movie tune. The creators brought back weapons from that time, but did something unpredictable. They even added jazz-blues tunes like the songs of Bobby Darrin or Rosemary Clooney that were from that time in gramophones that you could find in the game and during loading screens. This adds bonus points to the level of detail that the creators wanted.

What you can do in a game is something, but how you do it depends on the music that plays in the background.

2) If you like the latter, here`s  something even better. Red Dead Redemption. A legendary game, a third person shooter that told the story of a man that did some bad things in his life like stealing and killing in an era where the last cowboys lived, and were threatened by the industrial revolution.
During the game you can have redemption by hunting bad guys, saving lost damsels in distress, or helping towns survive the invasions from the marauders. When relaxing you can roam around the vast plains and pick rare flowers, shoot boars or eagles, of if you are lucky you`ll find wild horses and lasso them. If you are more of a town folk, you can participate in horse throwing contests or maybe playing dice or card games at the local saloon.
This was good and entertaining, but the music was great. For the production, the creators took an extra step and hired musicians with special dated instruments that were used for creating the soundtracks from classical western films like “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.”
They  spent entire weeks recording brand new songs especially for this game. Of course it contained trumpet and violin tunes, coupled with playful pauses filled by boings from the jaw harps or whirrs from the most peculiar of forgotten instruments.

The music during the chase of the bad guys is rapid and thrilling,  and the background music is sweet and helps you feel and blend into the desert or town atmosphere.

 
So whether you like to envision yourself in a real or in a fantastic world, music is the key element that truly helps you immerse yourself in that rich environment that many of us crave!