half-life 2's music is so cool

[ChristianX]

What genre is this?

Does anybody know of any artists that create music like this?

i particularly like the song that plays in the section before the guy
that shouts "headcrabs!", then water hazard starts.
the music in this game is so underrated, and so is the sound design
for that matter

what's your favourite song?

[ChristianX]

Originally posted by TCE Nomad:

Originally posted by ChristianJPeru:

the music in this game is so underrated, and so is the sound design
for that matter

The sound design is definitely not underrated. It's highly praised. By alot of people. Infact, there's a thread specifically praising the soundtrack.

cool dude

i'll listen out for people talking about it the next time i'm on the bus

[Cosmic]

Industrial Tech by Kelly Bailey, outstanding work IMO and gives the game such a feeling I cant describe when hearing any of the music.

Wiki; https://half-life.fandom.com/wiki/Half-Life_2_Soundtrack

YouTube Soundtrack; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt2sbtvBuk8

CP Violation being my favourite.. when I first played Half Life 2 on release in 2004, the initial starting track as I got the first gun and used crowbar to realistically break wooden objects... immense! Sometime I hope for amnesia so I can play it again anew without knowing what will happen and take it all in once again. Here's to Half Life 3 eventually.

[Табушка]

I listened to some tracks from my sister's band, and this one reminded me of Half Life 2 a bit. I could imagine it being in the game, especially the first 2 minutes of the track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzrBOM9cqg4


Then there's Project Borealis, which is supposed to be a fan made sequel to Half Life 2 or something. I just glanced on the project so far, but this track sounds pretty good and faithful to the source (no pun intended) material

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pnhe8q7Z1NQ


I just want to include this one because it does something similar to CP Violation with the bass, but apart from that it has a different vibe from HL's tracks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKq31ch6N2o



But as for the genre, it's hard to say, and the game's tracks also have a lot of diversity.

Some like Apprehension and Evasion would fit into EBM, like in this mix (I only listened into it a little though)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvD9lfon_EI


While Episode 2's soundtrack would fit more into Hybrid Rock apparently.

The guitar riff at the beginning reminds me of the beginning of Vortal Combat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MjfRgf0Mk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67nFv1K5KN4

[spade]

Originally posted by ChristianJPeru:

What genre is this?

Does anybody know of any artists that create music like this?

i particularly like the song that plays in the section before the guy
that shouts "headcrabs!", then water hazard starts.
the music in this game is so underrated, and so is the sound design
for that matter

what's your favourite song?

the genre is industrial inspired techno and the best song is song6

Originally posted by ChristianJPeru:

the music in this game is so underrated, and so is the sound design

i'm gonna stop you right there my dude
almost every sound in half-life 2 is a stock sound effect and anything that isn't is a combine sound heavily modified to sound synthy or a heavily modified stock gun sound

now my question is how sound design can be good when you did not make it yourself but instead bought it from a sound library
https://soundeffects.fandom.com/wiki/Half-Life_2

[ChristianX]

Originally posted by Halagini:

Originally posted by ChristianJPeru:

What genre is this?

Does anybody know of any artists that create music like this?

i particularly like the song that plays in the section before the guy
that shouts "headcrabs!", then water hazard starts.
the music in this game is so underrated, and so is the sound design
for that matter

what's your favourite song?

the genre is industrial inspired techno and the best song is song6

Originally posted by ChristianJPeru:

the music in this game is so underrated, and so is the sound design

i'm gonna stop you right there my dude
almost every sound in half-life 2 is a stock sound effect and anything that isn't is a combine sound heavily modified to sound synthy or a heavily modified stock gun sound

now my question is how sound design can be good when you did not make it yourself but instead bought it from a sound library
https://soundeffects.fandom.com/wiki/Half-Life_2

underrated doesnt mean lacks innovation
it means lacks appreciation, someone may say the wilheim scream is an underrated sound effect, and they're entitled to their opinion on that matter

gamers...

[spade]

Originally posted by ChristianJPeru:

Originally posted by Halagini:

the genre is industrial inspired techno and the best song is song6


i'm gonna stop you right there my dude
almost every sound in half-life 2 is a stock sound effect and anything that isn't is a combine sound heavily modified to sound synthy or a heavily modified stock gun sound

now my question is how sound design can be good when you did not make it yourself but instead bought it from a sound library
https://soundeffects.fandom.com/wiki/Half-Life_2

underrated doesnt mean lacks innovation
it means lacks appreciation, someone may say the wilheim scream is an underrated sound effect, and they're entitled to their opinion on that matter

gamers...

but they put no effort into it

if i steal the starry night and paint the sky green, how does that make it my good art

[ChristianX]

Originally posted by Halagini:

Originally posted by ChristianJPeru:

underrated doesnt mean lacks innovation
it means lacks appreciation, someone may say the wilheim scream is an underrated sound effect, and they're entitled to their opinion on that matter

gamers...

but they put no effort into it

if i steal the starry night and paint the sky green, how does that make it my good art

yeah but if someone had never seen starry night before, they would not think anything of it. your perspective is skewed, and art becomes distorted when you have thoughts like "oh well he copied it" or "he didn't write that" or "that's a stock sound" for example

that's not the same as appreciating something with a clear conscience

[Splynya]

Originally posted by TCE Nomad:

Originally posted by ChristianJPeru:

cool dude

i'll listen out for people talking about it the next time i'm on the bus

That's not that great of an argument.

its pretty good.

[Crusta]

Originally posted by _Сквидотя_:

Originally posted by TCE Nomad:

That's not that great of an argument.

its pretty good.

It isn't. You don't see kids talking about Bach in the bus but that doesn't mean he is not one of the greatest music composers of all time.

Popularity doesn't equal quality. Idiots like Justin Bieber are perfect proof of that.

On the other hand, Half Life 2's sound production is popular enough. The soundtrack has 2.1 million views on youtube and the game won various awards for sound design back in 2005.

[ChristianX]

what made start this thread was that i was initially angry that most developers don't seamlessly weave quality music into their games in a way that enhances the experience, so I was like "oh half-life 2's sound design is underrated because no-one is learning how to do it
they should learn and stop making suck games!!!"
half-life is to me, a standard in video game design, that all developers of all genres of games can learn from

even if it earned alot of awards, what does it matter when most games that come out are forgotten about within a decade
half-life 2 will be remembered for a long time, in more ways that one

the bus thing was just a joke, 50% of the population of this planet aren't even gamers, let alone critics

[ChristianX]

How many games do music like half-life ??

none

edit: i'm not even kidding but Black Mesa does it very well, and with original music.

There's a Pablo Picasso quote: "good artists copy, great artists steal"

and a Salvador Dali quote: " Those who do want to imitate anything, Produce nothing "

[Crusta]

Originally posted by ChristianJPeru:

How many games do music like half-life ??

none

you mean timeless Industrial/Futuristic soundtracks? Well lets see: Deus Ex, Unreal, System Shock, Doom 2016 just to name a few.

Half Life's soundtrack is a masterpiece, yes. But if you're a real gamer you don't just disregard everything else as "copies"

[ChristianX]

Originally posted by Red:

Originally posted by ChristianJPeru:

How many games do music like half-life ??

none

you mean timeless Industrial/Futuristic soundtracks? Well lets see: Deus Ex, Unreal, System Shock, Doom 2016 just to name a few.

Half Life's soundtrack is a masterpiece, yes. But if you're a real gamer you don't just disregard everything else as "copies"

ha i laugh at the music in those games

play castlevania: symphony of the night

[Crusta]

Originally posted by ChristianJPeru:

Originally posted by Red:

you mean timeless Industrial/Futuristic soundtracks? Well lets see: Deus Ex, Unreal, System Shock, Doom 2016 just to name a few.

Half Life's soundtrack is a masterpiece, yes. But if you're a real gamer you don't just disregard everything else as "copies"

ha i laugh at the music in those games

play castlevania: symphony of the night

You're kidding right? I've been playing SotN since 97, Michiru Yamane has nothing to do with industrial/futuristic music

You asked for soundtracks similar to Half-Life's soundtrack. Mentioning SotN soundtrack in this discussion has to be the dumbest thing i've heard in while. You're entitled to your very ignorant and stupid opinion if you think Alex Brandon, Eric Brosius and Michael McCann's works are "jokes" in the titles i've mentioned though.

[ChristianX]

Originally posted by Red:

Originally posted by ChristianJPeru:

ha i laugh at the music in those games

play castlevania: symphony of the night

You're kidding right? I've been playing SotN since 97, Michiru Yamane has nothing to do with industrial/futuristic music

You asked for soundtracks similar to Half-Life's soundtrack. Mentioning SotN soundtrack in this discussion has to be the dumbest thing i've heard in while. You're entitled to your very ignorant and stupid opinion if you think Alex Brandon, Eric Brosius and Michael McCann's works are "jokes" in the titles i've mentioned though.

if we are talking about games where the music and sounds are expertly designed and integrated, i would put half-life in that category, and sotn. and none of the games you mentioned. that's all i'm saying. I think hl and sotn are underrated because no new games do it as good, not because of what genre it is

if you can show me a video of a moment in Deus Ex, and any of the other games you mentioned, that even comes close to the excitement of first putting on your HEV Suit in both half-life games, then go ahead. doom 2016 is ok, but it will be forgotten about in a few years

I'm talking about game design here, if I make an awesome piece of techno music, and was thinking about when to play it, and chose to play it when the player died, it wouldn't be fitting would it? No, itd be fit for a section that involves some movement. There is more to game design than that

If i say "half-life is a good game." and "half-life has good music". What am I missing?
"half-life's game design, and the soundtrack go so well together".

i'm saying the game + soundtrack makes for an even better experience and in most games you're only getting the first two statements

I love the music in all games, but they don't come close to how well Valve manages to merge all the elements: music, sound effects, narrative, plot points, alot of love for the overall atmosphere. I don't even really think Sotn is at that level, it's really more of an Ocarina Of Time, because of recurring segments and rpg elements don't allow for as much flow in a game