Some Thoughts On God Of War III's … Music?

We’re typically not a game music-centric kind of site here at the olde G-Saur. Yet, I, Patrick “The Gameodactyl” Gann have devoted many long hours studying the music written for videogames. VGM is my bread and butter, and the number of games I’ve bothered playing because I first enjoyed their soundtrack would likely surprise you. Heck, it might even surprise me.

Now I’ve planned from day one to play GOD OF WAR III. I just got a little sidetracked with SHIREN THE WANDERER, SAKURA WARS: SO LONG, MY LOVE, FINAL FANTASY XIII, and other games. So, to psych myself up for and motivate myself to play GoW3, I thought “hey, why not digest the soundtrack first?” That might just be the medicine the doctor ordered to get me in the mood to finish out the trilogy!

Now, people who bought some insane collector’s edition got a “God of War Trilogy” soundtrack. I didn’t spend the money on that, though I’m sure it’s well worth the money, because all three games have great music. No, what I have in front of me is the specific God of War III Original Soundtrack, published by Sumthing Else Music (catalog # SE-2080-2). Let’s dig in, shall we?

The OST has 24 tracks on it and runs slightly under 60 minutes. Composers include Gerard Marino (the “main” composer of the GoW series), Jeffa Rona, Ron Fish, Mike Reagan, and one of my personal favorite Western composers, Cris Velasco. Marino handles most of the big, epic, “main” themes (including some re-working of older material), while the rest of the team handles the “day-to-day” music. That is, if you can consider any events in GoW3 as being “day-to-day” or “normal.”

Despite having five composers, there is a very strong cohesision found on this soundtrack. Where does that come from? I would argue it comes from working with the same pallette: that is, the same engineers, the same musicians, etc. For this project, everyone worked with Skywalker Session Orchestra at Skywalker Sound in California. Some additional work came from the Czech National Symphony Chorus, but for the most part, it was the same group of musicians in California. This album is 100% recorded music, streamed (as compared to “sequenced”) in the context of the game. It uses all the same tools and in many ways feels the same as a film score. When you have a big-budget game, I guess there’s no reason *not* to go all out with large orchestras and the assuredly-pricy Skywalker Sound studios.

I’d like to provide a couple examples of tracks that I think stand out on the soundtrack. One of them, the longest track on the disc, is “Tides of Chaos” (track 12). This is a Marino track, and it makes excellent use of all the same instruments we hear throughout the soundtrack. Various forms of “click-clack” and “boom-boom” percussion (I don’t feel like getting technical), the Czech choir, the tense whining of strings, and the ever-powerful high and low brass. I’d say this is the most representative sample track of the lot.

After this definitive track, there’s a trio of Cris Velasco pieces. Among them, my favorite is “The Muse’s Song” (track 14). The female solo vocalist adds a lot of power and depth to the recording. The Near-East instrumentation, including the recorders used by snake charmers and string instruments that are in the same family as the sitar, all add authenticity to the sound. But it can’t be good if the melody isn’t good. That’s always been my stance. And I think there is certainly a charming melody during the melodic sections of this short (2 minute) piece.

Without question, this music is bound to impress the listener more in the context of the game’s visuals and story arc. Nonetheless, as a stand-alone, it has the same power as many film scores out there. It doesn’t have a lot of emotional resonance, but considering the nature of the game, I don’t think I was ever expecting that. If you’re into high quality orchestral scores with a flair of ethnic/world tastes, I submit to you that you may want to check out this album. It’s a perfect companion piece to fans of the game. Now I just need to go and find out if I’ll be a fan of the game myself (considering my track record with the previous titles in the series, it seems bloody likely!).