Being a musician (keyboards) myself, I pay very close attention to the music score in the games I play. Here are a few that have stood out in my mind over the years. I would be curious to hear others' favorites, especially if they are from games I've not played. Starcraft/Brood Wars - The amazing music by Derek Duke and Glenn Stafford not only compliments the two games perfectly, but there are many standout tracks and the music is very different for the Terrans, Zerg, and Protoss. It's interesting to note that in the original two games they used a very tight rock band with some bits of chamber orchestra here and there, but in Starcraft 2 they often used a full orchestra doing music that is as bloated and pretentious as the game itself. Anything by Jeremy Soule - He's the undisputed superstar of game music, and has given it a new found respectability. With games like the Elder Scrolls series, Guild Wars, and the original Knights of the Old Republic games to name a few, he has been very prolific. If you play PC games, chances are you've heard his music. It's also interesting to note that he did a Kickstarter campaign for an album of classical music and asked for $10K, but raised $100K (Although I personally loathe Kickstarter, I thought this fact worth mentioning). Anyway, Jeremy has some standout cuts here and there, but I think it's the overall ambiance of his scores and how they fit so well with the games he does that really makes him shine. Fallout 3/New Vegas - Not only is the original score by Israeli composer Inon Zur quite good, but when you tune in to the game radio stations you hear great old classics like Kick in the Head, Mad About the Boy, Anything Goes, Big Iron, and Love Me As Though There Were No Tomorrow. I swear killing irradiated zombies to such music was never so much fun! "Oh he might have went on living but he made one fatal slip, When he tried to match the ranger with the big iron on his hip...." Homeworld - As if the beautiful and ambient score by Paul Ruskay was not enough, you also had Samuel Barber's very dark and mournful Adagio for Strings, very appropriately used for the destruction of the starting planet sequence. Also, my progressive band Yes did the title track. Campaign Atlanta - HPS used about twenty Civil War song covers by New Orleans musician Thomas Hook, and they really added a lot to the game and helped me get in to the spirit of the thing. Alas, it is my understanding that since then Tiller has eschewed extensive game music to cut down on costs. It's a shame though, because good game music adds so much. As a matter of fact I liked the soundtrack to this game so much that I imported the MP3's to my heavily modded Fallout New Vegas and added them to the Radio New Vegas playlist. "You are going to the wars, Willie boy, Willie boy...." The Original Deus Ex - Not only was this game an early favorite of mine, but it was the first where the music really stood out. It was a wonderful mix of electronica and industrial rock, done mostly by Alexander Brandon. It's also worth noting that the music was so good that to this day 4-5 tracks still stand out in my mind. Dragon Age Origins: Leliana's Song - Another great score by Inon Zur. It featured some very jaunty and upbeat quasi Celtic tracks quite prominently that were fantastic. Also, this DLC is the best example of a self-contained short story I've ever seen in a game. Blade Runner - Westwood got new age musician David Arkenstone to do great Vangelis covers for this game, and David put his own stamp on it too. Anyway, I'm sure there are others, but these are the ones that come most readily to mind. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QatzAo_I0aI
I like the music in hommlet (ToEE), the pre-cata music for most zones in world of warcraft and the music in battle realms Oh and Kingdom underfire: crusaders, love the metal with a medieval game
Oldie but goldie: - MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries - Warhammer 40k: Final Liberation - Tzar: The Burden of the Crown Awesome soundtracks for awesome games! Edit: Oh, I forgot to mention EVE Online soundtrack.
The games that are orange-coloured have in-game music that I most like: Civilization II (my favourite track is The Shining Path) Command & Conquer (also known as "Tiberian Dawn") (my favourite tracks are Act On Instinct, March To Doom, On The Prowl, and Rain In The Night) (http://downloads.khinsider.com/game-soundtracks/album/command-conquer) (https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/command-conquer-ea-games-soundtrack/id83191872) Diablo (my favourite track is Catacombs) (http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/games/music/diablo-15year.html) Diablo II (my favourite tracks are docks, rogue, and Tristram) (http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/games/music/diablo2.html) Diablo III (I only like the track that is played while your player character is on The Cursed Hold map) (http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/games/music/diablo3-collectors-edition.html) Doom / Doom II (my favourite track of Bobby Prince's score is Suspense (E1M5) (Episode 1 Mission 5)) (http://www.doomworld.com/classicdoom/info/music.php) FreeCol (I only like the intro) Frontier: Elite II (I only like the track David Lowe - Frontier Main Theme) (http://www.dream-ware.co.uk/frontier/music/) Frontier: First Encounters (I only like the track The Quality Quartet - Atmosphere) (http://www.dream-ware.co.uk/first-encounters/music/) Grand Theft Auto V (I only like the track Clams Casino - Crystals) (http://media.xlr8r.com/files/downloads/mp3s/Crystals.mp3) MechCommander MechCommander 2 MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat Sea Dogs Space Empires IV Spells of Gold (I only like the track russian_1) Star Control II (my favourite tracks are Mycon, and the PC version of Quasispace (also known as Mystic Shadows) (not the 3DO version of QuasiSpace)) (http://wiki.uqm.stack.nl/Star_Control_Music) Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance The Keep on the Borderlands (module for TFE-X which uses the game The Temple of Elemental Evil: A Classic Greyhawk Adventure) The Last Ninja (Commodore 64) (I only like the track that is played while in The Wastelands (i.e. the first zone in the game)) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOmin4vmMts) The Temple of Elemental Evil: A Classic Greyhawk Adventure Thief: The Dark Project (I only like Track08) Wizards & Warriors (my favourite track is the intro) World of Warcraft (http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/games/music/) X-COM: Apocalypse (http://www.strategycore.co.uk/files/apocalypse-soundtrack-part-1/) (http://www.strategycore.co.uk/files/apocalypse-soundtrack-part-2/) (http://www.strategycore.co.uk/files/apocalypse-soundtrack-part-3/) Xenon 2 Megablast (Amiga) (music by Bomb The Bass) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w-tiRnac2k) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HnY56uq9uA)
