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Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Original Soundtrack from the Video Game


Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Original Soundtrack from the Video Game. Áóêëåò, ïåðåä . Click to zoom.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Original Soundtrack from the Video Game
Áóêëåò, ïåðåä
Composed byCarmen Rizzo / Greg Edmonson
Arranged byAlan Steinberger
Published bySony Computer Entertainment
Release typeGame Soundtrack - Official Release
Format1 Digital Release - 20 tracks
Release dateSeptember 14, 2009
Duration00:55:50
GenresClassical: Orchestral Music / Electronica / Ethnic



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Review

Uncharted 2 took almost everything from the original game: the idea, the visual style, gameplay elements and even the leading musical motive. Compared to the first Uncharted Among Thieves is set in the Himalayas, where the protagonist has to find the lost city of Shambhala. This change of scenery is reflected in music as well: now there’re more ethnic features in it like national instruments, for example. All these tricks add some local color and mysteriousness to the music. But there’s a time for everything.

The story of the soundtrack begins with the cover where one can find a lot of interesting things. For instance, we learn that the orchestral pieces were performed live and not by using samples as it often happens. A long list of persons responsible for creating the sound of the game keeps alive hope of high quality work. But this is the moment when doubts creep in, cause the composer (Greg Edmonson) hasn’t participated in a process of working on the orchestral score (sic!). No doubts it’s a drawback as an original idea of the composer can be reproduced only via the composer’s orchestral score itself. And as it’ll become clear soon the orchestration in Uncharted 2 has some weak points.

The title theme (Nate's Theme 2.0 ) is the first track in the album. Despite having version 2.0 in its name it’s still the same track from the first part without any changes at all. This theme is likely to become a hallmark of the franchise, though it’s difficult to memorize it on the first listen. Since the first bars drums are brought to the foreground, whilst the main theme is played by the brass. Then the first violins enter with the theme which quickly fades away failing to obtain a slight development. There’s no point in further description cause after a brief middle part the whole story repeats (variations are non-significant). So we have a typical three-part form, quite unpretentious and squeezed into a 2-minute track. It’s particularly remarkable that no windwood instruments and emphatic bass were used and the middle register was nearly inaudible. The brass sound was forced and on the one hand it added sharpness, pressure, dynamics, but on the other hand the music starts to lack in depth and lose a good deal of fullness in the sound. When it comes to a certain track it may be due to an original idea (maybe, this was the point) but when one and the same orchestral techniques are applied throughout the whole soundtrack it makes the music monotonous and dull.

These drawbacks of the arrangement may be eliminated by an intelligent performance which is no less significant for the music than the basic melody, change of a harmony or the orchestration. No matter what the music goal is – call to action as in the main theme or to catch the spirit of an ancient city as in the tracks called The City's Secret and The Gates of Shambala – all the compositions are performed in the same vein, unthoughtfully and blankly. The sound of strings in a bunch of tracks remind of skillful work with samples rather than live performance conveying different types of emotion. As a result when velocity and pressure are needed the orchestra sounds monotonous and dull but when you need to express just the opposite emotions (as in Desperate Times, for example) it sounds harsh. This manner of performance and such arrangements are very typical for foreign cinema music, which the composer had written before he was invited to work on Uncharted.

After listening to half of the album you completely forget what was in the beginning. Tracks copy each other; they have similar tonal plans, tedious pace and with a few exceptions nearly the same orchestra setup. The only one thing that stands out against this depressing backdrop is a final electronic composition. The reason is simple – it’s written by another author. Unfortunately, one track is not enough to recover the interest or somehow to make you change the opinion about what you’ve listened to already. Dullness and boredom will follow you from the first to the last minute. You’ll have to make an effort so as to listen to the soundtrack to the end.

Conclusion: in numerous interviews developers and project managers have repeatedly drawn our attention to the various innovations whether it be technical improvements (as for example the further optimization for Cell), adding multiplayer gameplay or visual overhaul. Enumerating all the new features would require a separate article. But as for the sound it was told almost nothing. Big guys at Naughty Dog must have decided that music in Uncharted didn’t require further elaboration. Unfortunately, the use of the old material wasn’t of benefit to the game: the music quotes the first part and can’t enhance the atmosphere of the game with new colors. And this should be the point when creating the music for video games, as many believe. The music should have practical significance, i.e. not to distract the player’s attention and help to feel deeply the certain moments of the game as possible. Whether you agree with this statement or not is up to you, however, from this viewpoint on a scale of 1-10 the work on this very soundtrack deserves a 10.


Mark: 7/10
Îöåíèòü ðåöåíçèþ:

5 4 3 2 1

Ñðåäíÿÿ îöåíêà: 1.0 :: Ïðîãîëîñîâàëî: 1



Additional info

Original Score composed by Greg Edmonson

Woodwind solos by Chris Bleth
Erhu solos by Karen Han
Percussion performed by Brad Dutz and Brian Kilgore

Arranging and orchestration by Alan Steinberger
Additional orchestration by J. Eric Schmidt
Score performed by the Skywalker Session Orchestra
Orchestra conducted by J. Eric Schmidt

"The Road to Shambhala"
Written, performed and produced by Carmen Rizzo



Track-list

CD 1

1.Nate's Theme 2.0
01:46
2.The City's Secret
03:33
3.Bustin' Chops
02:07
4.Reunion
01:42
5.Breaking And Entering
03:13
6.Desperate Times
03:27
7.Helicopter And Tank
02:06
8.Marco Polo
01:32
9.The Monastery
04:10
10.Refuge
02:10
11.Warzone
02:14
12.Train Wrecked
03:07
13.Cat And Mouse
02:21
14.Cornered
03:36
15.The Gates Of Shambhala
03:16
16.Broken Paradise
02:29
17.Brutal Combo Mambo
02:24
18.Among Thieves
01:39
19.A Rock And A Hard Place
03:44
20.The Road To Shambhala
05:14


Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Original Soundtrack from the Video Game latest news

02.11.2010

Winners of 25-th annual Golden Joystick awards are…

25-th time Golden Joystick ceremony happened just a few days before. Games, which were released between August 2009 and August 2010, were competing for rights to be called Best of the Best. 1.543.309 people submitted their voices.

Well, Mass Effect 2 is the best of the best of the best. It is win not only RPG of the Year, but the Ultimate Game of the Year too. Guitar Hero 5 become Music game of the Year and Final Fantasy XIII has Soundtrack of the Year. That’s a strange. There are many good nominees, which you can see below:

• Assassin’s Creed II
• Brutal Legend
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
• Final Fantasy XIII
• GTA IV: Episodes from Liberty City
• Halo 3: ODST
• Heavy Rain
• Mass Effect 2
• Metro 2033
• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

As you see, nominees are worth every penny, so we are a little bit surprised.

03.02.2010

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Soundtrack Review

Uncharted 2 took almost everything from the original game: the idea, the visual style, gameplay elements and even the leading musical motive. Compared to the first Uncharted Among Thieves is set in the Himalayas, where the protagonist has to find the lost city of Shambhala. This change of scenery is reflected in music as well: now there’re more ethnic features in it like national instruments, for example. All these tricks add some local color and mysteriousness to the music. But there’s a time for everything.

Read review here


Latest update: 01.07.11

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  • Album average rate - 7.7 (7)
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  • Booklet 1
    Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Original Soundtrack from the Video Game
    Booklet 1
  • Booklet 2
    Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Original Soundtrack from the Video Game
    Booklet 2
  • Booklet, back
    Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Original Soundtrack from the Video Game
    Booklet, back
  • Booklet, front
    Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Original Soundtrack from the Video Game
    Booklet, front

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