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Old 29-03-13, 18:22   #1
ItIsOkBro
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Default Thoughts on the soundtrack?

**This is about the soundtrack as your hear it in the game, not listening to it separetely or the Collector's Edition or whatever**

So I didn't know who this Jason Graves dude was when they announced him but apparently he was won awards and scored other major games (Dead Space 3 (never heard it though)) so I was optemistic. And then there was the Final Hours video where he had that instrument made, awesome.

But after playing Tomb Raider, my goodness is the soundtrack forgettable! It's just a collection of long notes and chords and thuds and booms and hits. Hardly anything is put together in a meaningful way to create melodies, and, well, you know, actual memorable music. Maaaan I probably could have done a better job than this guy.

I get that during cutscenes and stuff you can't have anything tuneful and the soundtrack has to compliment what's going on but oh man everything else...not memorable at all. I can't remember anything melodic from the soundtrack besides those first 5 notes from the main theme. And boy oh boy do those 5 notes get repeated to hell and back. Don't get me started on the short, bland percussion that loops in a few hubs.

One good thing I can say is that during shootouts, the fullness of the track changes if you run away and all enemies are out of sight but that's it.

All in all nobody's gonna be talking about the soundtrack. When reflecting on Tomb Raider who's gonna be like 'oh remember X piece of music that happened during Y?' I think I remember hearing something catchy in Shanty Town but that's it. Another measure I use to tell if a soundtrack is good/memorable is if you can hum anything from and besides the main theme I can't.

Graphics and gameplay get dated pretty quickly but a good soundtrack can live on forever. GROJG.

Last edited by ItIsOkBro; 30-03-13 at 00:58.
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Old 29-03-13, 18:29   #2
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While I love the main theme (I'd call it "simple yet effective") and the one that plays, when escaping the Shanty Town, the soundtrack really is rather forgettable. I think Jason concentrated too much on creating a good ambiance (which WAS fantastic imo) and forgot to also create some great memorable tunes.

Last edited by Soul; 29-03-13 at 18:31.
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Old 29-03-13, 18:41   #3
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I barely even noticed it, it was so generic and boring. Kind of a surprise really. TR1-8 all had great soundtracks.
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Old 29-03-13, 18:42   #4
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I think it's about as memorable as something I can't remember.
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Old 29-03-13, 18:59   #5
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I'd be surprised if they even bothered to release the soundtrack on its own. It is mostly just random long notes and such.

To be fair to the composer though, that could have just been what they asked him to make. And on that note I've always thought that game composers have the toughest jobs writing music since it has to fit the theme and feel of the areas it's played in, and doing that while making it also sound good is like a double challenge.
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Old 29-03-13, 19:02   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Demonsweat View Post
I barely even noticed it, it was so generic and boring. Kind of a surprise really. TR1-8 all had great soundtracks.

This. Shame though.
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Old 29-03-13, 19:10   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ItIsOkBro View Post
**This is about the soundtrack as your hear it in the game, not the Collector's Edition or whatever**

So I didn't know who this Jason Graves dude was when they announced him but apparently he was won awards and scored other major games (Dead Space 3 (never heard it though)) so I was optemistic. And then there was the Final Hours video where had had that instrument made, awesome.

But after playing Tomb Raider, my goodness is the soundtrack forgettable! It's just a collection of long notes and chords and thuds and booms and hits. Hardly anything is put together in a meaningful way to create melodies, and, well, you know, actual memorable music. Maaaan I probably could have done a better job than this guy.

I get that during cutscenes and stuff you can't have anything tuneful and the soundtrack has to compliment what's going on but oh man everything else...not memorable at all. I can't remember anything melodic from the soundtrack besides those first 5 notes from the main theme. And boy oh boy do those 5 notes get repeated to hell and back. Don't get me started on the short, bland percussion that loops in a few hubs.

One good thing I can say is that during shootouts, the fullness of the track changes if you run away and all enemies are out of sight but that's it.

All in all nobody's gonna be talking about the soundtrack. When reflecting on Tomb Raider who's gonna be like 'oh remember X piece of music that happened during Y?' I think I remember hearing something catchy in Shanty Town but that's it. Another measure I use to tell if a soundtrack is good/memorable is if you can hum anything from and besides the main theme I can't.

Graphics and gameplay get dated pretty quickly but a good soundtrack can live on forever. GROJG.
The soundtrack is terrible and should get banned.
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Old 29-03-13, 19:18   #8
Spong
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Demonsweat View Post
I'd be surprised if they even bothered to release the soundtrack on its own.
Get ready to be surprised then. TR9 is the first TR to have an official soundtrack released.
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Old 29-03-13, 19:18   #9
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Besides the 'main theme' (which I do like for it's simplicity), it was wholly forgettable and bland. There were some moments during the fights when I enjoyed the more percussive tracks, but I was quite disappointed overall.
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Old 29-03-13, 19:21   #10
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I haven't noticed it as well. It was so dull and generic. Haven't remembered even a single theme from it.

Funny thing, it seems the best soundtracks were of the "worst" games, that is TRAOD and TRU. And both my favourite.
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