When you think of best game tracks of all time you instantly think of games like Minecraft, Ocarina of Time, or games that specialize in music such as the Persona franchise. Those soundtracks alone having some of the most recognizable songs of all time.
Take “Sweeden” from Minecraft for example, considered the best from Minecraft and one the of the most iconic songs from a game all time by many different reviewers. Now, switch sides to the sports genre of games where you usually have different songs from real artists like Kanye West and Travis Scott. This type of music is especially seen in Madden games when they use popular songs from the year in which the game is being made.
However, the best game soundtrack doesn’t include any popular songs from great artists. Instead, it’s made up of only orchestral music composed by the genius Colin O’ Malley, known for producing works for Universal Studios, Walt Disney Company, and even helping in the producing of virtual instruments for Interstellar.
His composing of the Madden 13 soundtrack will always be remembered whether that be because the game is considered the downfall of the Madden franchise or because the soundtrack is the best game soundtrack you have never heard before.
To the complains of some, Madden 13 included an all-orchestral soundtrack, veering off the path of licensing songs for a sports game. However, O’ Malley’s work when composing the 15-song soundtrack far makes up for it by pumping you up before every game or keeping you engaged when you scroll through the menus with multiple of his best works. Being a football game, you want the audience to feel like they are truly playing the sport, and O’Malley captures this perfectly through songs like “Bring the Pain,” “Glory,” and “Gridiron smash.”
These songs capture the essence of football, with loud, hard, banging drums that feel like a big hit across the middle of the field. Trumpets that make you feel like you’re the head coach about to lead your team to a final game winning drive. Violins and guitars that give the feeling of tension as you craft up a perfect team to go into battle with. Along with the many instruments, the songs are catchy and fluid, so they smoothly flow into each other, making it seem like an almost seamless transition between the tracks.
My favorite of his tracks “War Chant” makes me feel like I’m right there with my team ready to play a game where I blow out my opponent by 60 points because of the cheesy plays that are abused to score big touchdowns on every play. This song just gets me hyped, even when I hear it after a game because it makes me feel accomplished, like I just marched into battle and won a victory that I wasn’t supposed to.
Nowadays, Madden games have random songs from artists I have never heard of that don’t feel quite the same as the beautiful work O’Malley composed. The new songs are generic sounding, football related songs that make you want to personally turn them off in the menu because of how bad they sound. Take a Madden 20 for example with one of the instrumentals being “Cruel Winter.”
Not to be rude, but that song is straight up garbage. It doesn’t get you in the right mindset to play football, all it makes me want to do is go up to my Xbox and turn it off. That’s the biggest difference between the new songs of new Madden titles and the orchestral masterpiece that is the Madden 13 soundtrack. The instrumentals from Madden 13 are so good, in fact, that they even brought them back for Madden 18, 19, and 20, being accessible through the sound menu.
The Madden 13 soundtrack isn’t just music; it is instead an embodiment of what it means to play football. It doesn’t include cheap, boring songs that newer games have to offer, instead it gives you something to remember, something to get you fired up. O’Malley knew this when he created this soundtrack, and he knew that it would later become one of the best videogame soundtracks to ever be heard.
