Jon-Hallur-Haraldsson
Latest
Jukebox Heroes: EVE Online's soundtrack
EVE Online's soundtrack is a strange puppy to me. I've heard players proclaim their love and undying affection for it, although I believe that a great deal of that is tied into game loyalty and monogamy. From this outsider's perspective, it's a large number of ambient synth tracks that are big on atmosphere and small on catchy melodies or memorable themes. Even though I wouldn't rate it as one of the most exciting scores I've covered for this column, I don't want to dismiss its atmospheric nature as a negative. Creating a soundscape that communicates the wonder, mystery, and largely empty gulf of the cosmos has proven to be a great asset to gamer immersion for EVE, and at least most of these tracks are soothing and low-key enough to warrant a high rating on the replayability scale. Icelandic composer Jón Hallur Haraldsson was in charge of this project. Responding to an interview question about the score's musical category, Haraldsson said, "Back in the days I used to concern myself a lot with defining my music, but I don't do that as much anymore. I like to amalgamate, to take whatever I like from whatever style and try to put that into my music." You can listen to a bulk of the game's music on Sound Cloud, but here are my picks for the six best tracks out of the bunch!
