When Games Matter: When Music Makes a Game

Last updated on: December 13, 2011 at 4:42 pm by Drew Dixon

When Games Matter: When Music Makes a Game 2011-12-13T16:42:32-07:00 Drew Dixon

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

When Games Matter is a weekly exploration by Drew Dixon of meaningful moments in games. Operating under the assumption that games do in fact matter, Drew seeks to highlight those moments that have much to say to say about who we are and the world we live in.

Super Brothers: Sword & Sworcery EP would be a lousy game were it not for its stunning sound track. I mean that as the highest form of flattery. I think too often videogames tend toward stunning visuals at the expense of things like music and sound design. S&S‘s music sets the tone of the game throughout — it is literally enchanting and endows the most mundane tasks in the game with significance.

Of course, you could probably say this of just about any game — take away the malaria pill from Far Cry 2 and the gun jams from Far Cry 2 or GLaDOS’s dead pan banter from Portal and those games would not represent exemplary achievements in game design. However, I think we rarely say this about a game’s musical score. In fact there are tons of games that I can think of that probably wouldn’t suffer from no music at all. In the case of S&S the music brings the world to life and imbues it with awe.

Were it not for Jim Gutherie’s perfectly paced score, the player would spend the majority of the game randomly swiping at stuff and tapping junk on screen . . . OK, technically the music doesn’t change what you are actually doing but it does give it meaning. Don’t get me wrong, there is much to love about S&S apart from its music but none of them would be worthy of note on its own. The 8-bit people, environments, and enemies, when placed alongside the game’s music, invite the player to use his imagination, and simple tasks like moving from screen to screen or even opening up a menu feel transcendent rather than mundane.

Most of the game is spent trying to figure out various musical puzzles by tapping and swiping various objects on screen. The goal behind each of these puzzles is literally to coax pixies out of their hiding places and release their magical power. If you feel a little bit ridiculous reading that last sentence you should probably know that I felt ridiculous writing it. The greatest achievement of S&S, however, is never making the player feel ridiculous for doing these things.

I write about games every week; it’s a hobby and part-time job of sorts. I rarely find myself lacking in words to describe what makes a particular game special. In the case of S&S, I was blown away by how a simple thing like the perfect musical score totally revolutionized the game. I rarely say this, but my words really can’t do it justice — you really just need to try it. In this case, hearing is believing.

Asides

Games

Super Brothers

Super Brothers: Sword & Swocery EP

Sword & Sworcery EP

When Games Matter

Previous Post

December 13, 2011

Podcast #107: Choosing Sides in the War on Christmas

Next Post

December 14, 2011 The CaPC Superlatives: Noteworthy Achievements in Film and Memes

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Asides Elsewhere Featured Film Games General Culture Headline Literature Music Of the Moment Podcast Politics RetroPost Sports Technology Television Uncategorized Viral

Select a Month February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz