Better Music in Warhammer 40K: Winter Assault

[Tentaro]

Well believe it or not one of my big complaints with WH:40k is that the music is pretty boring, its sweeping but it just doesn't evoke a sense of action inside of me. Relic says the expansion will fix this, as each campaign will have it's own theme, and they are paying special attention (http://www.avault.com/news/displaynews.asp?story=8252005-93149) to the role of music in the overall experience.

Anyone remember the IMuse system LucasArts used to use? It would affect the music based on what was happening in the game and blend themes together, a cool really tool. DirectMusic has similar features right now, but I don't find them being used very often if at all, what do you all think about the role of music in gaming?

[Carnifex]

Anyone remember the IMuse system LucasArts used to use? It would affect the music based on what was happening in the game, and blend themes together and such, really a cool tool. DirectMusic has similar features at the moment, but I don't find them being used very often if at all, what do you all think about the role of music in gaming?
I believe Tron 2.0 used that feature in DirectMusic, and it worked pretty well. Games today usually have two music modes: action and exploration. IMO this just isn't dynamic enough if you want a high degree of immersion. Take for instance a movie with a well-written soundtrack. It might have some themes that occur more than once with some variation each time, but overall there will be unique music for each scene. Technically and time-wise this isn't feasible for a game, so a dynamic music approach is a must.
For single-player games music (and sound in general) is not to be underestimated as it helps set the mood and aids in describing what goes on. In multi-player I usually end up turning the music all the way down. Sound effects and throwing cutting remarks at each other is what matters :D

[agentgray]

I thought the music was ok for my Game of the Year 2004. However, it did lack towards the end-game.

Here's to hoping they just release the expansion. Also, for those that don't want to follow the link:Inon Zur, an internationally acclaimed music composer for film, television and videogames, provides the original musical score for Warhammer® 40,000: Dawn Of War – Winter Assault, the expansion pack to THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) and Relic Entertainment's real-time strategy hit Warhammer® 40,000: Dawn Of War™

[Wyrm]

I think music can make or break a game, just as in a film. A game without some sort of ambiance, wether it be eerie music or background noise, is a game with very little believability. That sort of thing makes it very difficult to play.

But a game that is brilliantly scored (think Halo and Halo 2) can literally be raised to a higher level by the music alone. The score in games like Halo makes the production value about 100 times higher in my eyes. I thought the Half Life 2 soundtrack was a bit lacking at first, but I actually found myself liking the edgy techno tracks that go in and out. Half Life didnt need an orchestral score to shine, it's a more immersive, less cut-scene laden game than Halo is.

Of course, those are just examples.

[Crono]

Music plays a huge role in life, why not in games too? I think that music definitly deserves more attention in games still but for the most part it is definitly getting to where it should be... slowly but surely.