Top 7(?) Game Trailer Musics (02-16-18)
This post appeared originally on 2/16
Look I try to be a reasonably informed and savvy consumer most of the time, but sometimes you just want to take a ride on the hype train. Here's a few trailers that had music that sold the experience for me.
Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2
This is what epic orchestral music should sound like: dynamic, explosive, melodic. Nowadays too much orchestral music gets written as bombastic texture pieces, BWAAAAM and bang on some drums. I can hear the melodies and counter melodies of this piece in my head from front to back. The hits of the music accentuate the visuals of the trailer perfectly. I enjoyed LoS 1 and was hyped for LoS 2, especially after this trailer. Unfortunately the game failed to live up to the hype. More on that later, but long story short you're never a badass lord of shadow. Instead you're pretty much a punk the whole game who sometimes has to transform into a rat. Lame.
Mass Effect 2
This one caught my attention because it's an obvious tribute to a Terminator Salvation trailer with Nine Inch Nails' "The Day the World Went Away". I was already hyped for ME2 so this was just a cool bonus.
Halo 3
Halo 3 had some of the best advertisements and trailers prior to release. They had tons of money to play with, so that makes sense. They even did a little short film as kind of a test run for a possible full production movie which never happened. I like the light to dark transition with this trailer featuring Chopin's "Raindrop Prelude Op. 28 No.15".
Dead Island
I never played the game. I'm not really in to zombie stuff. But a lot of people saw this trailer and thought Dead Island was going to take the zombie genre to the next level. From what I've read, it ended up being more of the same.
World in Conflict
Another one I didn't actually play or purchase. "Shadow on the Sun" by Audioslave does a great job illustrating sadness and impending danger going right into the chaos of war.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
The music and this trailer brings me right back August 2011 when this came out. I was riding my motorcycle a lot at the time, and I may have dipped out of work early a couple times to get home and play Deus Ex. The actual soundtrack has a heavy and serious tone. This trailer made things seem a little more hip and cool. There's a longer version of the trailer, but this one is mine.
Prince of Persia (2008)
The 30 second version of this trailer stopped me in my tracks when it came on TV. You've got some wispy Icelandic singing then the band gets into gear. FYI The song is "Sæglópur" by Sigur Rós. While PoP 2008 didn't have some of the clever tricks that PoP: The Sands of Time did, it was still a beautiful game. I also thought the ending was bold and exactly the way it should have been. Fight me
Bonus:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Not a game, but I love hearing the familiar themes being escalated with more more modern progressions. GET HYPE SON. I was hopeful for something Star Wars, and I hadn't been in a long time. (Movie was actually meh IMO oh well)
What are some of your picks for best game trailer music?
~Drew
