In this weekly feature, I recommend game soundtracks. I share a few of my favorite tracks, talk about why everyone should listen to the soundtrack, and a little bit about the composer. This week's choice is God of War by Santa Monica Studio.
THE STATS
Name: God of WarDeveloper: Santa Monica Studio
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Release Date: April 20, 2018
Genres: Action, adventure
Composers: Bear McCreary
MY FAVORITE TRACKS
(The full list of tracks are linked by playlist below... and I highly recommend some good headphones to best enjoy all of the subtle elements of the music!)(Length: 3:36) It's another one of those tracks with the moving undercurrent pushing it forward while keeping it almost sinister. It sounds like it would fit in well with the OST from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, where the series first started to get a little dark and uncertain.(Length: 4:17) Obviously I'm going to like this based on the title alone. But it's every bit as epic and thundering and fierce as the title would indicate, too. I'm not usually a fan of pieces with a lot of brass, but the percussion and strings hold their own in this one very well.(Length: 5:42) Come for the vocals, stay for the rest of the orchestra that proceeds to kick your ears into next Thursday.(Length: 6:52) I. Love. The. Violin. In. This! I only wish it persisted throughout. This almost sounds like it could be from a Sherlock Holmes game or movie, as it has suspense, action and mystery vibes on full display in the composition.(Length: 5:32) This track exemplifies many of the names that Bear McCreary says inspire(d) him, particularly John Williams, Danny Elfman, and Hans Zimmer. This track is so diverse that it tells its own story to the listener without the game to help.
You can listen to the full playlist here:
WHY DO I RECOMMEND IT?
There's a certain Norse/old gods vibe in play here, and the OST is similar in many ways to The Banner Saga and The Witcher series in sound. The difference, I feel, is that God of War has a more symphonic quality where the other two stick closer to rustic or traditional vocals and sounds. This is not a casual, play-it-in-the-background OST unless you are running a tabletop campaign and need epic music for dramatic effect. However, to sit down and really listen to it is to appreciate the technical aspects of its composition and understand how it really bore the game up in ways that visuals, story, and gameplay mechanics could not manage alone.
THE COMPOSER: BEAR MCCREARY
And here we have another heavy-hitter, folks. Unless you don't watch TV, movies, and abstain from video games (and if you did, why would you be reading this in the first place?)... you have heard music by Bear. His portfolio includes titles like The Boy, 10 Cloverfield Lane, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Fantasy Island, Battlestar Galactica, The Walking Dead, Defiance, Black Sails, Outlander, Black Mirror, Snowpiercer, Assassin's Creed: Syndicate (Jack the Ripper DLC), and even League of Legends.
He won 5 awards for the God of War OST alone. And guess what? He's behind the score of Masters of the Universe: Revelation (you know, that amazingly epic He-Man sequel series by Netflix?). If you're a fan of any of the titles I listed, you should go follow him on Twitter like I have!
If you like what you heard here, you can purchase the soundtrack on Amazon:
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