Overview

Here is one of Jesper Kyd's earlier scores that begins to show off his adept skill at blending textures and sounds with a cinematic scope for video games alluded to in his earlier success in the Hitman music. The music comes from Ubisoft's launch of Assassin's Creed released in 2007, which became one of their bestselling games and has several spinoffs. The blend of a science-fiction storyline set back in 1191 created ample opportunity to create a score that combines ancient musics from both ethnic and more traditional cultural expressions into a unique and often exciting score. The score received much critical notice and awards for Best Original Score (including a nomination for a BAFTA Games Award for Best Original Score). It set the bar very high for future outings in this series which Kyd was able to reach for the game's sequel.

Body

The music for Assassin's Creed is an interesting combination of choral writing that blends with a mix of jungle-like rhythms and percussion with occasional piano lines and ethnic instrumental colors. A chant winds its way through the opening "Spirit of Jerusalem" lending the music an almost timeless quality. The music shifts into a variety of driving atmospheric soundscapes that blend orchestral, choral, and plainchant lines often against exciting rhythm and fascinating harmonic colors. The plainchant over time begins to shift into more tribal expressions as guitars and other plucked instruments begin to dominate the thematic lines.

As the score progresses, more brittle, metallic elements are layered into the texture set against a host of Middle Eastern chanting ideas. This begins to appear in "Tension in Damascus" where the ambient and electronic sounds begin to appear against looped percussion ideas. Tension is created by never really allowing the music to spin continuously out of control. "Spirit of Damascus" is reminiscent of the musical turns taken in Hollywood films (like Goldsmith's work in The Mummy).

Kyd does a great job of choosing specific musical elements to depict the differing locations in the game. "Access the Animus", for instance, is a mostly atmospheric soundscape, though is a bit overlong at 9 minutes. The score as presented here begins with more accessible harmonies and wailing lines and then gradually descends into atmospheric sounds and dissonance with only hints of chanting entering into the texture. There is plenty rock-like elements in the early part of the track that overpower even a few instrumental ideas that appear as the it plays out.

Summary

In Assassin's Creed, more Western music contrasts the more Middle Eastern sounds, which occasionally come together with intense results. There are a host of non-traditional ethnic instruments employed throughout the score which manages to help warm the sound of the music even when more unusual atmospheric sounds are incorporated. Though no doubt this is only the tip of the iceberg of music Kyd composed for the game, the Assassin's Creed Original Game Soundtrack offers an ample supply of music that works fine as an exciting listening experience on its own.