Best Soundtracks - ValveTime Top 5: Episode 9

[Omnomnick]

Like with cinema, music helps define some of the greatest moments in gaming. In this episode, we'll be taking a look at what we feel are Valve's Top 5 Best Soundtracks!

Got a personal Top 5 version of this list that differs from ours? We want to hear about it, let us know in the comments below! If you like our content, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel, to follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks for watching!

 

[Blacksky]

For the most part i agree with the list, however i did miss a mention of Triage at Dawn from Half-Life 2

 

[bluechirri]

I've always thought that part of the reason why the episodes have a more impressive soundtrack than HL2 isn't just because of the music itself, but because of how it's used in the game. HL2 has some great music cues but I feel like sometimes they don't last long enough - there's been plenty of times where an event will kick off and the battle music starts playing as the first mobs come around the corner, but then the song fades out after about a minute, so I end up still locked in that same firefight but in complete musical silence. Sometimes the short songs work in the game's favor - Triage at Dawn is the perfect length for its scene, and it's only about 45 seconds long - but a lot of the time I feel a little underwhelmed because the music is perfect for the scene while it's playing but fades out too soon. The episode soundtracks are an improvement in that they have a more otherworldly, unnatural feel to them that better conveys the mysterious and unsettling new nature of Earth after the seven hour war, I think, but also because they last longer.

Also, I didn't know the soundtrack for both episodes was recorded before the games went into production, that's interesting! It makes you wonder how many unreleased songs they recorded for Episode 3, and if any of that music survived to make it into Half Life 3 after the episode was cancelled or if they made an entirely new soundtrack - wasn't there a relatively new hire of Valve's listed as one of the game's composers in last year's JIRA leak? I hope we get to hear that music someday, even if it doesn't make it into the game.

 

[The_KillSmith]

The only thing I agree with in this list placement is that Portal 2 should be #1. It is completely singular in the gaming arena and almost every track is a winner.

This is an odd thing to say but... I think the best music "feels like a place". I think HL2 and HL1 have tracks with that attribute, and I also think both have the most iconic and emotionally provoking tracks of any of the Valve titles. By nature all the HL OSTs are more ambient and atmospheric in nature, but the episodes suffered from almost no unique riffs/overtones and hence didn't have quite the same atmospheric and emotional punch. It all blended together - too ambient. You listen to an EP1 or EP2 track now, and it's difficult to remember which HL title it came from let alone which level or event in the game.

But who can forget the HL tram ride music? Who can forget the piece that faded in the first time you put on the hazard suit, or the second time you put on the hazard suit? Who can forget the end credits track after the G-Man walks through the door to nowhere? When everyone can actually remember the TITLE of an in-game track like "Triage at Dawn" (I'm so glad Blacksky did because it's the PERFECT example)... I think those are the fingerprints of true genius.

I would leave DotA 2's off the list entirely. It's a tad cliché.

I realize that music is subjective and everyone will have an opinion...

 

[Lolcomputer]

I'm a sucker for good soundtracks, so this video was really nice to me.​

 

[Sidedraft]

This video and this music caused me to have nostalgic memories and flashbacks of portals 2.

I remember walking past all the danger and do not enters signs in the trashy underground aperture and thinking: "Oh gosh, what sort of monstrosity Am i about to fight....." As I slowly and cautiously walked forward only to be confronted by a big door, And then I would think to myself: "Oh boy, they had to make this door this huge and this strong just to fit this beast that I'm about to fight" .....only to find a normal small door behind it. And I'm like: ".....Oh......"