Video game composing is fast becoming a significant player in the entertainment scoring world. As games become increasingly cinematic we are seeing more opportunities for the composers of these projects to get more recognition and exposure. The best example of this is Oscar winning composer Micheal Giacchino who first turned heads with music from the Medal of Honor series.
Aside from the changing perception of video game soundtracks, I also wanted to give this score a listen because Batman has long had an amazing history with film and TV music. Dating all the way back to the Adam West series, the music associated with the Bat has been an eclectic mix of styles and sounds that seem to all work perfectly with the capped crusader. So does the new video game live up to those lofty standards? Do we have another worthy addition to the Bat-Music pantheon?
The first thing you will notice about the soundtrack is that it is front loaded with songs, these are the “big draw”, but not what I am interested in. We will come back to these later. The score portion of the soundtrack begins about halfway down the track list. The music is written by Nick Arundel who has some video game experience, but not many listed credits I can find. Hopfully the high profile nature of this game and the quality of his music will change that.
It’s been almost six years since Agent 47 last donned his trademark black suit and dual .45s, and not much has filled the void he left behind. While game series like Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell have given us plenty of stealthy, stabby action, they don’t deliver the same rush of excitement or sense of accomplishment gamers received when playing the Hitman titles. Next year, however, the bald assassin returns in Hitman: Absolution, the fifth game in the series cannon. Yesterday, IO Interactive and SquareEnix release a whopping 16 minutes of gameplay footage.
