Iconic PC Game Music

From my experience of playing lots of PC games over the years, there are some games that have got their music etched in my memory. For some reason, a particular tune is so iconic, I identify that music with the game or the game with that music. This is by no means a best of list nor is it my favourite video game music list. Just a collection of stuff that I find very memorable. Obviously it’s going to be very subjective and correlates highly to the type of games that I have played a lot. In no particular order…



Rise of Legends – The Winning theme

The Rise of Legends winning theme is a rework of an earlier Rise of Nations piece called ‘The Bog’ which was a more mellow flute piece. They made it a lot more upbeat in Rise of Legends and made it a winning screen music. Speaking of which, I should really get to writing that Rise of Nations article.


Quake – Main Theme

A soundtrack produced by a commercial rock act, Nine Inch Nails, Quake was definitely a first when it comes to music in video games. The whole NIN soundtrack was an excellent fit to the rusty, dingy industrial look of Quake.


Supreme Commander – Bellum Infinitus(main theme)

Jeremy Soule’s excellent composition for Supreme Commander is quite memorable. Even though I couldn’t run the game well, the music ran fine on my music player though.


Rome Total War

I must have heard this one hundreds of times having played Rome Total War for many hours. I think almost two years of my life spent playing this one game. Which is weird since I didn't really like the changes to the battles and how fast things moved. But this to me is the sound of Rome Total War. Hmmm now I’m tempted to reinstall this again.


Medieval Total War – Arab Battle 1

The Arab battle theme who so unique and fun, it remains in my memory to this day. A lot of good music in this game.


Mass Effect – Galaxy Map Theme

Yeah, you know it wasn’t the main theme which stuck with me. But it’s the galaxy map music. Something hypnotic about it. Time to drop that Mako on that barren planet… no not really. I never want to do that again.


Napoleon Total War – Loading Screen Music

Yes yes, another Total War game. Well they have really good music. And Napoleon has this awesome melancholic music in the loading screen. Almost reminding you of Napoleons tragic fate.


Baldur’s Gate II – Main Battle Music

More than the main Baldur’s Gate II theme, this battle music is what kept me company playing the rather tough battles. Let me tell you, Minsk screaming ridiculous things didn’t help one bit. Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!


Civilization IV – Baba Yettu

This is a big hitter. Nominated for a Grammy this year, Christopher Tin’s composition for Civilization IV needs no introduction really. This piece fits remarkably well to the theme of building a Civilization. Inspiring, grand and beautiful, Baba Yettu is probably a rare occurrence in video game music. I don’t think we’ll ever get stuff like this very often. I hope I'm wrong though.


Team Fortress 2 – Main Theme

A catchy tune for a equally iconic game. Team Fortress 2 has managed to stay fresh in no part thanks to dedicated developers and content updates that keep players coming back to it even after 3 years(since release). While there are many other great tunes(like the Spy theme), the main theme remains the most identifiable music from the game.


Company of Heroes

Another Jeremy Soule composition. This one is such a rousing number after you’ve finally beat the single player campaign. You can’t help but have a great sense of appreciation for all those soldier who gave their lives to defend freedom.

C&C Red Alert - Hell March

I honestly don’t really like this piece of music. But it is without a doubt a very iconic Red Alert music so much so they re did it in Red Alert 3. Which frankly isn’t a very good game(I suppose it is competent).


SimCity 3000 – Sim Broadway

This is the music of SimCity. While SimCity 3000 wasn’t really all that great, Maxis redeemed themselves with SimCity 4. I hope they bring this music back in their future titles.


Portal – Still Alive

This is perhaps the best ending in a video game. Also the best credits ever! For once watching the credits was fun because of this zany song. And we all knew what happened next. It became a cultural phenomenon.


Left 4 Dead – Menu Music

If the zombie apocalypse happened, I want this music playing in the radios and in the background. It's the end of humanity.


VVVVVV – Positive Force

Okay this one might seem a bit out of place but VVVVVV is such a brilliant game with an equally brilliant soundtrack, I can not have a post about game music without pointing it out. The chiptune music in VVVVVV is one of the best chiptunes I have ever heard! Period!


Homeworld – Main Theme

This amazing choral(which is actually a choral version of Samuel Barber’s Adagio of Strings) piece sets the tone for the opening of one of the most memorable RTS games in PC gaming history. Haunting and beautiful, it gives you this sense that humanity is in flight. Well they aren't really humans, but the game evokes very strong feelings about humanities own future with space travel. They go against great odds to return to her Homeworld. Relic, you know what we want.

Doom – Level 1

If you're like me, you grew up in the 90's. You'd be VERY familiar with this tune. Even if you never finished Doom, I'm sure you would have heard the music for level 1 a bunch of times. It remains a classic sound(the music that is) in pc gaming history.


Fallout Series – Main theme songs

All right, I’m cheating a little here. It’s licensed music and three different games. But they all feature music from 1940’s and fit just so perfectly into the theme of a post apocalyptic alternate world. One that never got past the 40’s.


Okay so these aren't the definitive best pc game music ever but my own opinion on stuff that stuck out to me. Which pc game music do you like? Which one do you remember vividly? Shout out in the comments below...