10 Breathtaking Video Game Soundtracks You Need To Hear

3. Virginia

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505 Games

If you're a fan of surreal, dreamlike mysteries like David Lynch's Twin Peaks then you're going to want to check out Virginia, the first game by indie British studio Variable State.

Playing as newly-graduated FBI agent Anne Tarver, the game's plot sees Tarver assigned to her first case, that of a missing boy in rural Virginia. Likewise, she's also instructed to keep an eye on her partner Maria. From here, events take a strange and supernatural turn as players dig deeper into the mystery.

What makes Virginia especially noteworthy is its use of cinematic editing, minimalist art style, and a complete absence of dialogue, meaning that the soundtrack is the main source of expression in the game.

Performed by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and composed entirely by Lyndon Holland (who also co-wrote the game and provided all of the sound design), tracks lack 'Welcome To Kingdom' and 'The Halperin Dossier' express everything we need to know without the need for words.

'Sojourner's Truth' even bears a striking similarity to the main theme of Twin Peaks. And if that's not a knowing enough nod to this game's influences, the sequence where it's heard takes place in a bar called The Roadhouse.

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Glasgow-based cinephile who earned a Masters degree in film studies to spend their time writing about cinema, video games, and horror.