Sunday, September 18, 2016

Soundtrack September: Resident Evil 2

Game: Resident Evil 2 / Biohazard 2 (1998)
Console: PlayStation (later numerous)
Composers: Ueda Masami, Uchiyama Shusaku, Nishigaki Shun

I remember the original Resident Evil being pretty scary on its own without much help from the music, but maybe that’s because I just wasn’t listening. When Resident Evil 2 came out, I started listening.

The game’s abandoned police precinct setting is made supremely eerie by dread-inducing themes for the first and second floors (16:28 and 20:50 in the video below, respectively), and a shot of drama is added by the inclusion of the theme for Ada Wong (30:41). I’ve also always liked the “safe room” theme (10:04) which, in franchise tradition, is a soothing-however-eerie respite from all the tension of the surrounding hallways.

Toward the end of the game the music takes a turn for the dramatic, with boss fights accompanied by tracks that sound like they belong in an explosive Hollywood movie. These tracks aren’t as well executed in my opinion, but they did linger in my memory after finishing the game.


Bonus: Get a load of the rock track that plays during the end credits (36:04). Gnarly!

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