UPDATE: God of War Ragnarok won Best Score and Music at The Game Awards 2022!
When gamers think of what makes their favorite title great, music might not always come to mind. However, a good soundtrack and original score can be extremely key in presenting a game, deciding the mood of a given scenario, adjusting the atmosphere the player experiences, and enhancing the overall immersion. Soundtracks have largely been the unsung heroes of many great video games, but this year's Game Awards is paying them some attention, celebrating the best gaming music of 2022.
With so many outstanding titles coming out in 2022, the shortlist for the Best Score and Music award is a competitive one, even leaving out titles like Neon White which have been praised for their soundtracks. Making the shortlist this time around are some familiar faces for anyone who has kept up with the nominees for the other prizes at The Game Awards 2022. The titles up for Best Score and Music are: A Plague Tale: Requiem, Elden Ring, God of War: Ragnarok, Metal: Hellsinger, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3.
A Plague Tale: Requiem
Apart from a few issues gamers had with the 30FPS performance of A Plague Tale: Requiem, both critics and general audiences enjoyed their return to rat-infested Medieval France. It's clear from A Plague Tale: Requiem's gameplay that a lot has changed this time around, as there is a much greater focus on action and violence committed by the player. Rather than A Plague Tale: Innocence's simple story of protecting a sibling, Requiem shows Amicia on a more vengeful path.
This is brilliantly encapsulated in the game's soundtrack, which captures the game's mood by providing intense pieces of music when Amicia is on the run from swarms of rats or attempting to stealth around some human enemies. Moreover, there are the lighter tracks earlier on in A Plague Tale: Requiem's story, which come in when the characters make their way to the supposed safety of Provence. Considering the turns the game takes later, it is a brilliant juxtaposition to have these happier tunes come in early on.
Elden Ring
FromSoftware is known for a great many things when it comes to the games it creates. First and foremost might just be the difficult combat, which is certainly present in Elden Ring, as players can spend endless hours trying and failing to best Malenia, Blade of Miquella. However, a lot of fans of the Soulsborne series often attribute a good portion of the games' success to their soundtracks, which can elevate the world and boss encounters to a whole new level.
Elden Ring's music might not stand out to some as much as that of Bloodborne or Dark Souls, but it certainly has plenty of memorable tracks, such as the music that plays for each fight against a Godskin boss. The chanting chorus of voices only serves to make the already difficult Godskin Apostle and Noble feel even more intimidating. Also, it is nearly impossible to not get hyped when listening to The Final Battle track, which serves as the background for the player's showdown against Radagon of the Golden Order.
God of War: Ragnarok
God of War: Ragnarok's narrative manages to brilliantly balance the fast-paced action of a war brewing against Odin and the Aesir gods as well as the quieter moments that help to develop Kratos, Atreus, and the other major characters. One of the ways in which God of War: Ragnarok accomplishes this is through its soundtrack, which can make battles between gods feel even more epic, as well as emphasize the importance of each encounter.
In its cutscenes as well, God of War: Ragnarok's music adds to the cinematic nature shown through the immersive visuals and excellent performances by Christopher Judge and Sunny Suljic. Moreover, Hozier also provided a track for God of War: Ragnarok, which has received a lot of praise from fans, even though the musician didn't get a chance to play the game. Even beyond Hozier's addition to the game, fans would likely consider its soundtrack one of the best of the year due to how it enhances moments like the Thor boss fight.
Metal: Hellsinger
A lot of games utilize music in more of a background role, but some go that extra step and make the most of their soundtracks by having them at the forefront of their gameplay. Metal: Hellsinger is an impressive rhythm game that has drawn comparisons to the DOOM reboots, as it follows a lost soul known simply as The Unknown as she aims to regain her voice. Accompanied by a talking skull who acts as the game's narrator, The Unknown must fight her way through hell.
A fairly short game, Metal: Hellsinger's soundtrack is one of the ways in which players can get some replayability from it, as each level has something enjoyable for the player to tune into. Combining a great soundtrack with satisfying first-person shooting, there's a lot to like about Metal: Hellsinger, and even if it might not be up for this year's Game of the Year award, it has certainly earned its spot for Best Score and Music.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Moving away from heavy metal, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 marks the sixth game overall in the franchise, but even though it is a later entry in an established series, it is a good jumping off point for anyone wanting to get started. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 features solid storytelling, characters, and a new mechanic that allows for party sizes to increase to seven, rather than their previous limit of three.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 also has a great soundtrack, written by franchise veterans Yasunori Mitsuda, Manami Kiyota, Tomori Kudo, Hiroyo "CHiCO" Yamanaka, and Kenji Hiramatsu. In order to create sounds that had not been heard before, Xenoblade Chronicles 3's developer Monolith Soft had flutes custom-made in different scales to represent those seen in the game. This just goes to show the sheer dedication the creators put in to ensure that even the music of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 met the standard set by the rest of the game.
Final Prediction
As stated, the competition for the Best Score and Music award is notably stiff this year, with a lot of games that have great soundtracks missing out on nominations. That being said, there is one original score that stands above its peers, and that belongs to God of War: Ragnarok. Creating meaningful music both for impactful combat scenarios and beautiful scores that accompany the game's more emotional moments, God of War: Ragnarok has a soundtrack to remember.
As a more cinematic experience, God of War: Ragnarok's narrative and key moments heavily rely on the right soundtrack being there to support them. While there are some great tracks from the other games on this list, the consistency that God of War: Ragnarok's music provides pushes it ahead toward the winning spot.