5 Most Atmospheric Modern Video Game Soundtracks

5. Shadow of the Colossus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yv04c6bpMY This is a game that truly pits you in the realm of adventure on many levels: the heroic, the tragic, and the lonesome. What works especially well about this game are the long spans of no music €“ just the dust in the wind as you and your horse travel far and wide to epic and visionary battles that not even a film could capture. This gives us the sense of what is missing in adventure films €“ the actual act of travel. The deafening sense of solitude. The hard quest. The repetition of this act in the game is supplemented by the coldness of the soundtrack €“ the sounds of our surroundings. It is not until we confront the giant beasts that the soundtrack takes a riveting turn. The game is very conscious of how it changes this music throughout battle. It can range from foreboding and mysterious to heroic and righteous. Attention was given to landscape and composition in conjunction to that landscape. We travel so long without action and suddenly we are drawn in by a flurry of quake-inducing strings and brass. It's no surprise that the game's music composer Kow Otani has worked with giant monsters before (notably Godzilla). Shadow of the Colossus touts a soundtrack that makes you feel as small as you are in this game. The horse quickly becomes your best friend.