The Music of WildStar

Stunning visuals and talented storylines are not the only assets of an excellent mmorpg. There is another aspect that is just as crucial and just as powerful. This aspect can inspire us to heroic deeds or bring us to tears at touching moments. Something few games would be complete without: Music.

Music adds depth to stunning visuals such as cues for aggression or comedy. (Image from Destructoid)

Recently we have been treated to three new additions to our collection of WildStar music, including two battle themes and the music for our character creation screen. (Which if you are anything like myself it is a piece you will be listening to /a lot/) If you haven't heard these yet, check out WildStar's composer Jeff Kurtenacker's soundcloud for these and other great WildStar music pieces!

Now I am fairly picky when it comes to music. I enjoy a few genres such as trance and techno, but even then I mostly enjoy a small selection. Certain sounds or tones can make or break a piece for me, resulting in a rather eclectic collection at home and favorited on my Youtube account. That said, I have yet to find a single WildStar music piece that I do not like. (though I certainly have favorites so far!) I find that so much of it reminds me of the soundtracks to some of my favorite games including the Deus Ex series, the Thief series, the Assassins Creed series and even the Mass Effect series, The haunting tunes and powerful melodies come across in a way that blends the feeling of electronic and organic in a way I find very pleasing to listen to.

I think the best way for me to describe how awesome this music is, is that is almost doesn't seem like a mmorpg music score at all to me. (mind you I do not have that large of a background in other mmos) But rather this selection sounds like the score of an epic movie! Most of my experience comes from World of Warcraft where much of the background music, although very nice, became fairly unremarkable with time and was easy to lose in the background and occasionally unfitting to my character's actions at the time. Star Wars: The Old Republic had a few fantastic pieces fitting the moods of the phenomenal story line scenes, but the rest also faded into unmemorable obscurity for myself. So far the selection in Kurtenacker's soundcloud has been incredible! From the inspiring and powerful "Systematic Domination" for the Dominion theme to the epically moving "The Last Beacon of Hope" (my two favorites *cough*) I've found myself easily swept up in their suggested themes and often humming them in the middle of my workday. The game isn't even out yet and already the tunes are invading my head!

"Systematic Domination" really captures the powerful and regal tones of the Dominion faction. (image from dealspwn)

One of the pieces I am most excited to see is the music at the opening title screen. Even today I could recognize the intro to World of Warcraft's Burning Crusade expansion from nearly a block away.

"Oh please, I highly doubt you could hear something from that far away without-"

Hawkens...it was an expression...

"Hmph."

Ahem, anyway as I was saying. Star Wars: The Old Republic character selection screen was easy to identify and The Secret World's haunting opening really set the scene for the game. With how fantastic our selection of WildStar music has been so far, I can't wait for the epic piece we will be locking into our memories as we sit down and log into our brand new adventure for the first time.

And seriously, if you haven't seen Kurtenacker's soundcloud yet. Go see it now!