Music - On or off?

[Herb & Bea Ehltée]

I traditionally turn music off in games because it detracts from the experience for me, but the score in this one seems more atmospheric sounds and tension-creating accents than an actual score with themes, traditional melody, etc. I'm only one hour in and this is my first foray into the genre, so I'm making this decision now.

The trouble in a game that is trying to scare me is whether the music is going to give too much away at crucial points and ruin the suspense, or serve as just another sudden jolt here and there hoping to catch you off guard and maybe inspire a sudden nerve shock, which is to some extent cheap.

Anyway, what say you? Do you play with it on or off in this title?

[JefferyNothing]

On. It adds to the tension. Any soundtrack that takes influence from Jerry Goldsmith's original score from Alien is a must. Fantastic soundtrack, even though most of it wasnt used.

[just.kamk /idle]

I mostly turn it off too, but i usually play multiplayer games.

In a game like this, that has very good audio & video, and thrives for immersion in a cinematic feel, i'd keep it on, at least a bit. (kinda had to lower it to 60-70% though)

Anyways, definitely keep it ON.

[Swans]

On, it's one of the most intense things in the game.

[FAButzke]

On. The music adds half the tension.

[Harry101UK]

I left the music on, but turned it down really low. I found that the 'tense stings' that play when the alien gets near actually overpowered the footsteps and other ambient noises that gave me clues as to where it was.

[Elensar]

I lowered the volume on it because I couldn't hear the audio from the various messages around the station but other than that you need it on you get the full experience.

[Rocky Jet]

turn music and sound effects OFF if you really wanna be scared

[Morgan]

Originally posted by velonomad:

I traditionally turn music off in games because it detracts from the experience for me, but the score in this one seems more atmospheric sounds and tension-creating accents than an actual score with themes, traditional melody, etc. I'm only one hour in and this is my first foray into the genre, so I'm making this decision now.

The trouble in a game that is trying to scare me is whether the music is going to give too much away at crucial points and ruin the suspense, or serve as just another sudden jolt here and there hoping to catch you off guard and maybe inspire a sudden nerve shock, which is to some extent cheap.

Anyway, what say you? Do you play with it on or off in this title?

On, all the way. The sound in general in this game is implemented very well and part of that is the music.

[Alien Derelict]

On for sure, but i put the music slider 3 steps down from max, SFX all the way up to max.

[/ S L A S H /]

Here's my question: would you watch a movie without music?

[Herb & Bea Ehltée]

Thanks all for the replies. I'm going to go with consensus for now and turn it down a bit but keep it on. This is the first time it's even a question for me in a long time.

Originally posted by JrallXS:

Here's my question: would you watch a movie without music?

This question made me look up what movies didn't have musical soundtracks, and it turns out there are quite a few, with some big names on the first couple Google articles: Dog Day Afternoon, No Country for Old Men, Cast Away, Day of the Jackal, Hitchcock's Birds...

I suppose the answer is more about how the soundtrack is used and the context, etc. And constant music can be obnoxious, so it has to be subdued in certain films. Kubrick would use music and then have monstrous stretches of pure dialog or ambient scene sound only. I remember playing the original Quake, and the soundtrack on that often felt something like a refrigerator quietly humming away in the background, which was great.

[tozziFan]

ON if you prefer to live as in the movie, OFF maybe when you need to listen carefully to beast's movements (only because music can be distracting on those moments)

[Axe]

OP.

The soundtrack/music is very cleverly scripted in that even when (minor spoiller --->)rising to a crescendo there is no guarantee of an Alien appearance

With that in mind it enabled me to be more bold.

[howabouta_Slice]

I'm going to try to play with it off for awhile. I absolutely love the soundtrack but when the music gets more intense I usually get fooled into thinking that there is an alien around that I for the life of me can't locate and make me stay put unnecessarly.

[Axe]

Originally posted by (how about a) Slice:

...I usually get fooled into thinking that there is an alien around that I for the life of me can't locate and make me stay put unnecessarly.

I don't know why I bothered adding my spoiler tags...