Top 10 Greatest Video Game Scores...

10. Shadow of the Colossus

This game's unique in that it's largely a quiet, even lonely experience. For much of the game, you're exploring the vast terrains, mountainous valleys, and deep lakes in search of the massive beasts that roam the land. Most of the adventure is actually getting to the fight, thinking about what you have to do to save a young woman and taking in the sweeping landscape the game takes place in. It's not until you enter the arena where you'll attempt to take down a Colossus that the music shows itself, but the wait is well worth it. The contrast between silence and the orchestral scores of the battles is startling at first, but when your adrenaline's pumping and you're holding onto a Colossus the size of a large mountain for dear life, it matches the action perfectly.

9. Mass Effect 2

The video games industry has no lack of sci-fi games, especially ones that include large arsenals of weapons and looming alien threats. Jack Wall composed the soundtracks for both Mass Effect games but his work really grew up in the second. The original's score was heavily inspired by 80's sci-fi movies but its successor took that and tossed in a large amount of roaring orchestral tracks that had a more foreboding tone that matched the tension Shepard and his crew undoubtedly felt about the suicide mission. They could've taken the same route many developers take and thrown in some frenetic and action-centric tracks to match Mass Effect 2's increased action but instead they took what the first game did well and improved upon it. That deserves some commendation. 

8. Dead Space (series)

The Dead Space series is known for its incredible sound design, and that's primarily the reason this game makes the list. These games aren't about adding music to match the scenarios because it would be difficult to find tracks that would work with a man being torn apart from the inside as he transforms into a Necromorph. Instead they're about creating a tense atmosphere with sounds that either makes you jump or feel like there's something quietly creeping up behind you. The second game had quite a bit more action, though it still retained many of its scares, and the score mirrors that change. Composer Jason Graves took into consideration Isaac Clarke's deteriorating mental state and made the soundtrack feel more personal. It worked.

7. Heavy Rain

This game is a very cinematic experience; its limited gameplay, gorgeous visuals, and thriller movie plot all make it more of an interactive film than a game. To work with this, it was necessary to create a unique score that was akin to a blockbuster film soundtrack. The best way to manage this was to bring on a film composer, someone who's worked with the medium Heavy Rain resembles so closely. Enter Normand Corbeil, a composer who's worked on over fifty titles to date, including Indigo Prophecy, Quantic Dreams' project prior to Heavy Rain. The final product is an intensely emotional score that made an already memorable story even more unforgettable. The most interesting aspect of the soundtrack is its evolution as the game progresses. It starts off innocent before transforming into something dark and twisted as the game's tale continues toward its climactic conclusion.

6. Final Fantasy VII

As a series Final Fantasy has some incredible music, but it's the seventh game that really takes the cake here. Widely considered one of the best games in the fantasy franchise, Final Fantasy VII's music (especially the final battle theme) is some of the best in the industry. Nobu Uematsu, who also composed eight other games in the series, composed this one all on his own. That alone is an incredible feat that definitely deserves some praise.

5. Metal Gear Solid (series)

This is the type of music that makes me want to hide under a cardboard box and listen to for hours on end. For a stealth-centric series, the Metal Gear games have action-packed tunes that work great with the loud, eccentric personality of the games. The best scores of the series are definitely the more recent ones, specifically Sons of Liberty, Snake Eater, and Guns of the Patriots, all the work of composer Harry Gregson Williams. These tracks could easily take on any big budget blockbuster Hollywood throws at us, and they'd do so without attracting the attention of the guards.

4. BioShock

This was a defining moment for the gaming industry. Irrational Games created a beautiful, moving, and original world, and their game gave us a prime defense in the endless debate over whether video games can be considered art. The only thing that could set the mood for a beautifully realized underwater utopia where science had no rules were the licensed songs from the game's era and Garry Schyman's composition. Never has a game's music been so emotional, so haunting, and worked so well within the environment you explored. If the morality of your decisions didn't get to you, the music did. And if that didn't, there's a good chance you lost your soul somewhere.

3. Halo (series)

Martin O'Donnell is one of the most renowned video game composers out there, and nowadays most of his work can be found in Bungie's games. O'Donnell's work (with the help of fellow composer Michael Salvatori) on the Halo series made humanity's fight for survival against the relentless onslaught of the Covenant feel even more epic. Halo's theme song is now one of the most easily recognized tracks in video game history, and rightly so. Hopefully the future of the series stays bright, and not to mention easy on the ears, now that Bungie won't be involved with the franchise any longer.

2. Super Mario (series)

You had to see this one coming. Halo's music might be widely recognized by gamers, but even my grandma, who's never seen nor played a video game in her life, knows the Mario theme song. Mario is the industry's most iconic character and the tracks that accompany many of the games he's in are just as fun and catchy as his personality and trademark tagline. It'sa Me, Mario!

1. Silent Hill (series)

Silent Hill takes the top spot because the soundtracks are arguably the most important element in the game. Sure, there are interesting characters, iconic bad guys, and the widely recognized foggy town aesthetic, but the music is what people remember most fondly about the games, even to this day. As time passed and the quality of the games lost their luster the music has always retained its eerie, industrial sound. In fact, Akira Yamaoka's soundtracks for the games were so incredible they were used in the Silent Hill film, and even though Yamaoka left Konami to work on the upcoming Shadows of the Damned, there are rumors he'll be composing the soundtrack for the next film, Silent Hill: Revelation 3D (insert 3D-induced groan here). Yamaoka may have left the series he's worked on since the beginning, but that doesn't mean his shoes can't be filled. Composer Dan Licht (Dexter TV series) will be creating the score for the next game in the series, Silent Hill: Downpour, and from the few tracks that have leaked out so far, Downpour's soundtrack will be just as remarkable.