Wildstar Soundtrack Samples; What do you think?

[Elly]

Just hearing these for the first time today, even though they've had a few bits out.

Pleasantly surprised. A mix of Cinematic/Western with a bit of techno in places. I'm glad they are balancing out their art style with a Firefly'ish soundtrack.


Composed by Jeff Kurtenacker, theme from the zone Algoroc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmCejcRzXYk

Character Creation Screen Theme 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mefftyX1rJM

[Rumze]

Ive really been enjoying these and have been a fan !

[Gith]

I really like the first link.

[Jasyn]

I can appreciate this.  There's a really good sound here.

[Askari]

I like it and have listened to a lot of it on that station, but truth be told there hasn't been anything I would remember more than about 5 minutes after I listened to it. I'm hoping that's because a lot of it is just generic background/fight/cinematic music.

I have yet to hear anything that makes me think "WILDSTAR!"... something that I will be humming two years after I stopped playing the game, like some of Jeremy Soule's work.

I hope WildStar will have a very distinctive and memorable theme song during the launch screen and/or character creation that will get a stranglehold on my brain the way many games and TV shows have...

I paused at this point of writing this post to reflect on various MMO or TV themes that have that immediate thrill of recognition, then I went and listened to various MMO themes I couldn't remember off the top of my head.

Some, like WoW's original main theme, really didn't ring any bells... even though I played hundreds of hours of WoW the first couple years it was out.

Others, like Vanguard's, sent an immediate shiver down my back as I instantly recognized the song and relished the flood of gaming memories that were triggered by the music... even though I spent far less time playing Vanguard than I did WoW.

A good, memorable theme song is like the smell of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies... it triggers an immediate hunger.

[Talon]

I like the character creation theme. Full of promise. Until it gets to the end then it's just a jumbled mess. Hurt my ears. It was doing really well up to that point though.

On first listen, the other link starts off very reminiscent of Tristram in Diablo but is still uniquely its own. I enjoy it too but I agree with Askari that this is probably background stuff. None of it is getting stuck in my head or really grabbing and shaking me.

There are games and songs that you just wish would get out of your head but still love them at the same time. These aren't that. But I realise we're being premature on that front. Looking forward to more music for Wildstar.

[Sroth]

Compared to average musical scores for video games today, MMO or otherwise, this is pretty good stuff. Very well composed, excellent texture, variety, moves from one style to the next smoothly, and there are some good melodies. Most melodies do take time to sink in. Let's face it, most games these days don't really have a "theme", it's more of an accompanying orchestration, but without the actually melody. Even with Jeremy Soule, he makes great harmonies, but melody isn't usually his thing.

Some times I'm willing to forgive the lack of memorable melody as long as there's memorable atmosphere and character. Matt Uelmen's and Jeremy Soule's music are good examples; doesn't always have good melody (especially in Uelmen's work) but has such great character and atmosphere to it. You KNOW when you hear their work. Wildstar does seem to be attempting to build a strong atmosphere and give the music enough character that it can stand on its own well enough. We'll have to hear more.

[Askari]

I often turn off game music and loop a playlist of music that better fits the mood of my individual character.

For instance, I've already begun assembling the playlist for my Chua Spellslinger Scientist, with songs like Space 1999 Theme and Mars Attacks Theme.

I'm starting to lean towards a Granok Warrior as my Exile main, but don't have a "mood" for him yet. He may go military and have a playlist filled with classic war-movie soundtrack themes (The Great Escape, Kelly's Heroes, etc) or he may go more heavy metal (think Drowning Pool's "Bodies").