First, a history lesson: music in video games has always been a simple concept: background music for what is going on in the gameplay, generally a loop of a piece of music designed to fit the stage or area the player was currently in.  (If you haven't already, please begin the Playlist provided above)  Here are some perfect examples (Donkey Kong Country - Island Swing) from past generations (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Hyrule Fields).  In many ways, it’s been about the same ever since then; “Music scores for games arrive from their counterparts in cinema, where sound serves a primarily aesthetic and affective purpose by providing mood, atmosphere and background.” (Droumeva, 2007) Games were doing the same thing thirty years ago on the NES, now they just sound fancier.  Instead of working the limitations of hardware, games are employing entire symphonies and master composers to score the narratives.  That’s where video games are now.

Everything kicked off with Bungie’s Halo (2001), often touted as the jumpstart to the first-person shooter genre in a new generation of gaming, but also responsible for putting video game music on the path to recognition, as something more than ‘beeps’ and ‘boops’…even though the medium hasn’t really ‘beeped’ and ‘booped’ since Pong.  Marty O’Donnell took the best of past and present when composing Halo, leaning heavily on the melodic standard of ‘retro’ music while incorporating symphonies and other available resources.  And it worked. (Halo: Main Theme)  Halo showed what video games could be musically capable of, setting a stage in a way that more electronic soundtracks strove for in the past.  While Halo revitalized the first-person shooter, it also sparked widespread interest in video game music, and people started to pour their resources into it accordingly.

A lot of video games use music in order to set the stage, more fitting a setting than an emotion: for a less-than-narrative example, a little party (Castle Crashers - Barracks Tune) goes terribly wrong as war (Mudholes) breaks out in Castle Crashers (2008).  Super Metroid, despite its 1994 release date, stands as a great example of atmospheric soundtrack: hearing the rhythm amidst an underground jungle (Super Metroid: Upper Brinstar), the dying struggles of a desolate starship (Wrecked Ship), and the murky depths of a swamp (Lower Maridia) buried underneath the rest of an ecosystem.  All other Metroid games have tended towards this kind of music: Metroid Prime (2002) showcased a frozen tundra (Metroid Prime - Phendrana Drifts), a fiery tunnel system (Magmoor Caverns), and a crude mining facility (Phazon Mines) on an otherwise natural planet.  All of these, and the rest of the soundtracks, succeed in conveying information about an area, heightening immersion in said area, and illustrating the situations players find themselves in.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (2006) uses music to reflect the mood and situation more than anything; being a totally linear game, all soundtrack pieces are set in place and fit perfectly into the set narrative.  For example, beginning cross-examinations (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Examination Moderate 2001) and more intense follow-ups (Examination Allegro 2001), catching onto a lead (Cornered), and the hanging suspense (Suspense) of where a seemingly lost trial can go.  Further, Ace Attorney uses music to accompany certain characters: the player-character’s partners (Turnabout Sisters' Theme 2001), a bumbling detective (Dick Gumshoe), and the flirtatious secretary (Congratulations Everybody).  Music directly accompanies what is going on and who it is happening with, not necessarily where, as is the case with many Metroid tracks.

The Arkham series (2009-2014) and Metal Gear Solid (1997-2014) use music as an emotional heightener during tense moments.  Designers created Metal Gear Solid to be played through stealthily; hence, players are more often exposed to slower, more ambient music (Metal Gear Solid - Cavern) until an enemy detects them and sends the area on high alert (Encounter).  The quicker, more pulsing music causes players to feel more on-edge, more threatened because of their current, detected status; this is especially useful in stealth-centric games.

The Arkham games showcase Batman’s shadowy abilities by forcing him to lurk in the shadows against heavily armed thugs.  Generally, he and the player will start off up high, surveying the situation, trying to piece together what the best course of action would be going forward.  And then, it begins (Batman: Arkham City - I Think You Should Do As He Says).  Batman starts picking off the thugs, one at a time; blaring heartbeat monitors, hapless screams as they dangle from a gargoyle, the slam of skull against metal, all alert the others to what is going on.  With each thug downed, with each of their mounting terrors, the music intensifies, growing more and more intense and nerve-wracking until there is just one thug, his head on a constant swivel, wishing to just escape from the hell he has been saved last for.  This style works, reflecting both the rising nerves of the thugs, but also the growing advantage Batman has over his enemies.

The early Resident Evil games (1996, 1998, 1999) used music as a more ambient background music, accompanying the first moments in the sprawling, mysterious mansion (Resident Evil - First Floor Mansion), the grounds guardhouse (Vacant Flat), and the temporary asylum of safe rooms (Safe Room).  Each song has the potential to paint a haunting backdrop for the narrative, or express the temporary relief that comes with a room you know you’re safe in.  In a survival-horror game, what kind of music is employed in what areas it makes a huge difference in the narrative.

The Mass Effect trilogy (2007-2013) uses music in different ways as the series advances.  At first, Mass Effect (2007) relies on the space-opera, science-fiction setting to set the stage.  The soundtrack aligns accordingly as both a enforcement of setting and an introduction to all the new things players experience.  Everything begins with a gentle, but grand introduction to the new galaxy (Mass Effect - Vigil), then players are pumped through a myriad of skirmishes (Battle at Eden Prime), a dread is built around the prophetic antagonist (Saren), and a slow, homey undertone accompanies the background as players wander around their spaceship (The Normandy).  The soundtrack in Mass Effect introduces everything: new planets, new technology, new characters, areas, conflicts, and situations.  This lays the groundwork, narratively and musically for the rest of the series.

Mass Effect 2 (2010) scales the narrative back, but in a good way: players, having been exposed to the galaxy, are now more attuned to the struggles of their personal Commander Shepard, their crewmates, and their one main mission that, all things considered, isn’t as galaxy-shattering as the implications of Mass Effect’s conflict.  But through the narrative shift, the game takes the emphasis off the entire setting, off of introducing an entirely new galaxy to players, and zeroes in on the characters.  This time, the story is about the individuals Shepard is traveling and fighting with; the soundtrack reflects this, as well.  The music no longer reflects the setting, but rather who each section revolves around: each main character gets their own ‘theme’ song (Mass Effect 2 - Grunt), as it were, that plays during recruitment and loyalty missions centering on them.  The entire team also has the overarching (Suicide Mission) behind them, the closer they come to their ultimate mission.  Regardless of a team’s structure, that theme was a consistency, reflecting the whole, not just individuals.  The soundtrack for Mass Effect 2 was reflective of individuals, their struggles, and their unity against a great personal conflict.

Mass Effect 3 (2012) brings the narrative back into the wide open, with the conflict back on a galaxy-wide scale, but the music doesn’t necessarily follow.  The first was a sheer introduction to the galaxy; the second, a deeper exploration of the Commander and their crew; the third almost entirely revolves around the Commander.  The overall struggle of uniting the galaxy in war is the Commander’s responsibility, regardless of the many battles and skirmishes waged along the way.  It is a story of regret (Mass Effect 3 - Leaving Earth), redemption (A Future for the Krogan), love in the face of destruction (I Was Lost Without You), unity (The Fleets Arrive), friendship (I'm Proud of You), and true sacrifice for everything players have spent three games fighting to save (An End Once and For All).  It is a story of Commander Shepard: in many cases, the music is simplified to a lone piano, the strength of the sole Commander; in others, a symphony, for the collective crew and its allies; it reuses tracks from previous games, tying the present to everything that was accomplished in the past.  Mass Effect 3 comes to a narrative and musical head with everything it does, and it ties the story in a well-rounded knot for its conclusion.

And lastly, Bioshock (2007) uses and, in a few cases, doesn’t use music in a way that helps to set the stage.  Firstly, in the introduction sequence (skip to 0:53), there is a complete lack of music as the player-character swims toward the mysterious lighthouse in the middle of the ocean; this reinforces absolutely nothing, and that’s what makes it so effective.  Other narratives may have music to set a tone of dread, or optimism, but Bioshock completely lacks any music, leaving players unsure of what to think, and for the beginning of Bioshock, that works wonderfully.

It goes further: all of the sung, historically-placed music is, as mentioned, historical.  Classics from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s are played throughout the fallen utopia, lending themselves to the historical setting and further immersing players in the narrative.  Further: those very tunes are diegetic, i.e. emanating from a source in the fictional world & heard by characters as well as players.  Every sung track is coming from a jukebox, a radio, or wall speakers throughout the city, a part of Rapture as much as it is the soundtrack.  For further reading on this idea in Bioshock, see the section’s works cited area.