Monday Muzak IV: Artsy Fartsy

A good distinctive style isn't accomplished with just a shader, its all about combining audio and video elements together to create a feeling that is easily distinguishable in the minds of the audience. Today I'm not sharing music from art games, per se (you'll definitely see Okami and Shadow of the Colossus), but looking at the music that helped inspire some of my most memorable experiences with some of the most stylish games out there.



Mirror's Edge has a soundtrack that reminds me of the cold, with its chill instrumentals and sharp, modern atmospheric tones. Paired up with the game's color coded world, it helped emphasize the clean, crisp lines throughout the environment that made it so hip and sexy.

Hit the jump for more.



The world is destroyed, littered with radioactive materials, covered in trash and filled with people who want to kill you. Its downright ugly. Meanwhile, you're listening to Cole Porter and picking off mutated bears in the distance with your trusty sniper rifle.



Traditional sounds abound. You're hit with a variety of Japanese instruments here, all aiding that brush look that made the game so different from anything else.



Ico, like Team Ico's games that follow it, was quite a treat to look at. This track would play while you were saving your game, which was done by sitting on a couch and resting. I never played the game, but I definitely would've been tempted to sit around on the couch just to listen to this song's rolling ambience.



From soft, soothing melodies to one of the most intense battle songs I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. Shadow of the Colossus is the most dramatic, awe-inspiring game I have ever played, and a large part of that is because of the music. It is simply heroic.