Dead Space 1 & 2 are widely considered some of the most innovative game scores in recent years. I can definitely understand why people would find them difficult or unpleasant to listen to on a stand-alone basis, but they're hardly derivative.Only the third game stoops into commonplace Inception-style scoring approaches. I also think Jason Graves does a good job of creating big, sweeping themes as soundtracks like Section 8, Silent Hunter, and Blazing Angels show, the former even having a strong rock influence.
And with a few exceptions, I feel that the stagnation of a lot of Western game and film scores is due to the producers, not the composers. Even Steve Jablonsky, whose soundtracks generally bore me to tears, produced an interesting work when given more freedom on Steamboy. These days though, I feel the game industry is more innovative -- so many big-budget Western video game scores (more than 10%) these days try to do something different and push boundaries. Recent examples: Journey, Black Ops II, Torchlight II, Dead Space 2, SimCity, BioShock Infinite...
Last edited by Chris; Apr 4, 2013 at 02:19 AM.
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