While waiting for the end of October and our selection of the best soundtracks released this month, how about taking advantage of the arrival of autumn and Halloween to scare ourselves a little with the help of our ears? In any case, here are our favorite tracks in the genre of horror, angst, jitters and suspense.
As necessary to the emotion as the image itself, video game music will have struggled to emerge from its case. If it makes hearts beat, cry hot tears or sometimes knows how to push us to crime, it is not only utilitarian and deserves to be listened to out of play.
We therefore offer you a journey to the heart of the most significant or least known video game music. A journey of enthusiasts concocted with the heart and, of course, with the ears: Now Playing.
Before embarking fully on this selection, I (Antoine) have a confession to make. Unlike my comrade Pierre, I hate being afraid. The horror genre is one of the ones I hate and avoid the most, in video games or elsewhere. Suffice to say that for this selection I was therefore badly engaged, having played almost no title likely to make me lose life expectancy at each jump scare. So I had to "cheat", by going to draw in titles which are certainly not to be placed on the side of survival horror, but which can nevertheless enjoy a dark and horrifying atmosphere.
Dishonored 2 - Main Theme - Daniel Licht
As evidenced by the selection of my comrade, there is not necessarily a need to dig into the survival to nab the tracks that do not care. And as soon as we mentioned the subject of this theme, a title immediately came to my mind: the main theme of Dishonored 2.
Composed, like the titles of the first opus, by a very inspired Daniel Licht, it perfectly conveys the filthy and unhealthy atmosphere of Arkane's game. In particular, it is the work of the strings, with this perverse melody, which makes the discomfort operational.
The opportunity to pay tribute to the work of the American composer, who died at the age of 60 in 2017. - PC
Darkest Dungeon - Town in Chaos - Stuart Chatwood
The incredible OST (the formidable, the cult, the legendary…) Darkest Dungeon is of course full of harrowing and oppressive tracks, perfectly composed by Stuart Chatwood (Prince of Persia) to accompany your dungeon trips. I picked my favorite, which is certainly not the most stressful or horror-oriented, but after all I do what I want.
Especially since it only happens during a particular in-game event that I've never seen, despite my over a hundred hours on the title. While waiting for 2, play Darkest Dungeon if you like dark fantasy, turn-based, Cthulhu-inspired and slamming DAs. And that you are not afraid of losing your heroes. - AR
Returnal - Helios - Bobby Krlic
Horror has many faces. Just open any news channel continuously to be convinced. But in the case of Returnal, it takes the form of Lovecraftian creatures that drive our heroine Selene ever deeper into her tortured journey.
Signed by a specialist (Bobby Krlic, also composer of the unforgettable Midsommar), the OST of the game does an impeccable job of reconciling science fiction and psychological horror. This track, Helios, particularly convinced me with its electronic refrain and deep bass. The whole soundtrack, however, deserves your attention in that it never really gives us what we expect of it. In game, it establishes an almost frustrating counterpoint which accentuates even more our fear of the unknown. And now, I want to play the game again. - pc
Assassin's Creed Syndicate: Jack The Ripper - Bear McCreary - Jack The Ripper
Probably one of the most unloved episodes of Ubisoft's long saga, Assassin's Creed Syndicate offered a DLC dedicated to Jack The Ripper, which very few players had to do. And it's a shame, because if I couldn't tell you about this DLC on the gameplay side, its music is signed, as for the main game, by Bear McCreary.
The composer, known for God of War, Battlestar Galactica and many other things (and incidentally one of my favorite composers, but hush), offers here something with a breathless and agonizing rhythm that certainly does not make you want to find himself pursued by the famous killer in a dark alley. - AR
F.E.A.R. - First Encounter - Nathan Grigg
If the weight of the years has not spared it, FEAR remains among the most outstanding horror games of my career as a player. And the compositions of Nathan Grigg largely participated in tattooing the title of Monolith Software in my memory.
Accompanying, as its name suggests, the player's first encounter with the "Replicas" soldiers, this theme of course evokes the martial side of the game, but is also inspired by the musical tropes of certain action films or slashers from the 80s. The result is a short title, but whose rise in power does not leave unscathed. - pc
Vampyr - Insane Family - Olivier Deriviere
I really (a lot) liked A Plague Tale: Innocence. Including its soundtrack, signed Olivier Deriviere. But in order to stick a little better to the theme of this selection, place one of its previous games: Vampyr.
With its tortured strings, its oppressive percussions and its distressing atmosphere, the track chosen here works wonderfully for those who would like to put the pressure on themselves. The proof, I never managed to finish the game. I can't wait to hear his work on Dying Light 2. - AR
Deadly Premonition - Underground - Riyou Kinagusa
If you like your twisted horror, freeing yourself from the usual codes to frankly ogle towards the psychological or even the abstract, Deadly Premonition is waiting for you.
Notoriously broken, even misunderstood, Swery's acting is above all a magnificent love letter to the cinema of David Lynch and to the surrealist genre in general. And Underground is possibly the title that best illustrates this statement.
Its crazy saxophone score evokes at the same time the most disturbing moments of Twin Peaks, while its haunting jazz base sends us straight back to Silent Hill 2. A funny video game object, certainly. - pc
The Witcher 3 : Blood and Wine - The Beast of Beauclair - Marcin Przybyłowicz
Despite my ability to jump in my seat for the slightest thing, I've never been scared while playing The Witcher 3. However, and especially in the Blood and Wine DLC, some areas and creatures can give you goosebumps. That's why I chose "The Beast of Beauclair", which players will most likely recognize.
Composed by Marcin Przybyłowicz, the main artist behind the soundtrack of the massive RPG, this track makes us stay in vampires and serial killers, but what do you want? At least it changes a little of the (excellent) themes of the game that we usually hear on repeat. - AR
Silent Hill 2 - Ordinary Vanity - Akira Yamaoka
Is it even possible to extract a piece from the unforgettable Silent Hill 2 soundtrack? A delicate exercise, which asked me to listen again, in loop, to the thirty titles that make up the album of this founding game for survival horror.
Theme of Laura, of course, stands out in that it almost became a pop hit. But he is not, in my opinion, the one that best represents what Silent Hill 2 is. The essence of Konami's game is found in the interludes. In Yamaoka's most noisy tracks. This is how my choice fell on Ordinary Vanity. First heard in-game when encountering Eddie, his head stuck in the toilet bowl of a dark room in the Wood Side Apartments.
A haunting, almost muffled melody, dotted with disturbing incursions of organic percussions. A whole program, which immediately plunges me back into the darkest alleys of Silent Hill. - pc
The Binding of Isaac - Sacrificial - Danny Baranowsky
I have a new confession to make to you. There are some games, like The Binding of Isaac, where I end up cutting the music to listen to my own when playing. Pardon the artists, all that. But that fortunately does not prevent me from appreciating the work carried out by the composers beforehand.
In the very first The Binding of Isaac, it was Danny Baranowsky (Super Meat Boy) who took care of the music of the title which, certainly, is not scary. But with its assumed gloomy and unhealthy atmosphere, the cult roguelike offers some tracks that can easily stick to our theme. - AR
Read our previous column:Now Playing â–¶ Your monthly video game music delivery delivers slaps!
