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Welcome to Critical Hit, where I (or someone else on the PC Gamer team) celebrate and lament all things videogame music, audio design, and the ways our favourite games make our ears tingle.
Videogame music is ridiculously good, a behemoth that encompasses just about every damn genre out there. Orchestral, rock, metal, pop, hip-hop—you name it, there’s absolutely a composer out there who has penned something absolutely fire within that genre.
But despite the stellar bangers that so many videogames are putting out, it still feels like they’re mostly contained within the gaming zeitgeist. Which means that whenever I end up hearing tracks in the real world, I get some of the most insane whiplash imaginable.
I remember a helluva long time ago watching some random British television show with my Mum—maybe some kind of home improvement show, it was a long time ago okay? My memory is terrible—and being completely bamboozled by the inclusion of music from The Sims 2. Turns out I’m not the only one who’s had that experience, as a Reddit post from six years ago shows that The Sims music appears in all kinds of random television shows. America’s Next Top Model, German home improvement shows, kids baking shows. It’s everywhere!
For me, the absolute weirdest place I’ve heard videogame music, though, is my local pub of all places. I’d popped in for a chill Sunday afternoon pint and a bite to eat, only to get to the bar, turn to my partner and ask: “Wait a second, is this L.A. Noire??” Sure enough, the buttery-smooth jazz number was the main theme for L.A. Noire. Which is an excellent choice for a low-key weekend vibe, don’t get me wrong. But it was also the last place I ever expected to hear anything like it.
What about you though? Where’s the weirdest place your ears have bore witness to a videogame track? A hospital? It would definitely be weird to hear it in a hospital, I reckon. Make sure to drop a comment and let me know.
