Sucker Punch made a very interesting, very good choice in choosing to set their follow up to inFamous in a fictional recreation of post-disaster New Orleans. The first game had a lot going for itâIâve always thought it was underratedâbut, its setting was not one of them. Our own Evan Narcisse has described inFamous as the âfirst post-Katrina video game,â and I think heâs rightâso it made sense that Sucker Punch would take the logical leap and set the sequel down in their version of The Big Easy, a town called New Marais.
But if youâre gonna do New Orleans, you gotta do New Orleans music. Itâs a whole other can of worms than the sort of jazz we heard in L.A. Noire, and a simple soundtrack of Nâawlins R&B wouldnât cut it for an epic, cinematic superhero game.
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So, Sucker Punch brought on both Stanton Moore and Brian âBrainâ Mantia, drummers from the New Orleans funk band Galactic, to infuse the soundtrack with some soul and authenticity. Back when I was at Paste, I spent a lot of time talking with the folks at Sucker Punch, both about their choice of setting and running a big interview with Moore about the soundtrack
But even after all that, I wasnât quite soldâNew Orleans authenticity is a damned hard thing to recreate (just ask David Simon, who has put an insane amount of work into keeping his excellent HBO show Treme true to life). Fortunately, once I played the game I was immediately won overâMooreâs score is an amazing blend of New Orleans funk, second-line, and epic Batman-esque hero music. Any way you slice it, itâs a remarkable soundtrack, and I personally think that itâs much more creative and interesting that the more bombastic (and still very good) score for Batman: Arkham City
Here are three of my favorite tracks:
âPlightâ
This track captures the similar sort of driving, heroic chords weâd expect from a superhero game, but mixes with it a ton of surprising choices. Particularly in how the strings begin to bend and twist the triumphant melody towards the end, signifying the chaos and ugliness of the conflicts to come. This kind of intense string arrangement, odd percussion, and driving beat has become emblematic of the inFamous sound, which is no small feat for a game that could have very easily had a generic soundtrack.
â7th Wardâ
â7th Wardâ uses Stanton Mooreâs second-line chops to full effect. Second line is the groove that comes in at 0:25, and while I donât claim to be an expert in New Orleans music, I am an expert in âthings that make me want to get up and dance.â And for all the darkness in the strings and melody, this tune makes me want to do a wicked jig. The instrumentation, again, is creative as hellâmuted trumpets, weird-ass string sound effects, hand drums, sampled/distorted drums, and electronic effects all merge together to create an unsettlingly groovy track.
âPlant Monsterâ
Itâs easy to forget that in addition to being a superhero game, inFamous 2 is a bit of a horror gameâitâs got creepy bayous full of bloodthirsty mutants, huge, building-crushing beasts, and a general air of southern-fried monster mash. This track shows the composersâ flexibility once more, as they immediately grab the string-stingers of the best horror movies and repurpose them into a driving chase anthem. Itâs equal parts Arkham City and Dead Space 2, making it all the more remarkable that itâs cohesive. A terrific piece of superhero music, here, and a fine example of everything that made the inFamous 2 soundtrack so remarkable.
And thatâs inFamous 2! Outstanding soundtrack for a fun, somewhat overlooked gem of a game. The soundtrack can be purchased through Amazon and comes in two versions: Blue and Red, depending on the âalignmentâ of the music. Weâll return tomorrow with yet another of the best video game soundtracks of 2011.
âThe Best Game Music of 2011â is a multi-part series highlighting the best video game soundtracks of the year.
