When we first set out to celebrate iconic game music a few years back, we focused on the 8-bit and 16-bit console era – think Super Metroid, TMNT, and Zelda. The brainstorming for that feature was extensive, but for the sake of brevity the list was whittled down to just eight core entries and two honorable mentions. Uncertain of a sequel, we felt Daytona USA and Techno Syndrome were simply too important to leave out.
Our readers turned out to be far more passionate about the subject than we imagined, reminiscing about their favorite soundtracks and pointing out some glaring omissions, whether due to our sheer ignorance of a particular game or it simply not making the cut. One thing became clear: a sequel was in order.
For part two, we shifted platforms and turned our attention to the PC, where we've spent most of our time. In fact, this is the second revision of this article, expanded to cover more titles worth highlighting (out of potentially dozens). From atmospheric masterworks to full orchestral showstoppers, PC gaming has delivered scores that didn't just play alongside the experience – they were the experience.
So let's continue the musical journey and revisit some of the most unforgettable soundtracks that helped define PC gaming.
Civilization IV: 2005
Sid Meier's Civilization series has always had iconic music, but Civilization IV set a brand new standard when it opened with a full-blown choral anthem. The game's main theme, Baba Yetu wasn't just memorable, it was historic. Composed by Christopher Tin, the song is actually a Swahili translation of The Lord's Prayer, which makes it one of the most unusual and culturally rich main themes ever attached to a video game.
Tin initially wrote the song for Civilization IV at the request of his college roommate and the game's lead designer, Soren Johnson. The two had met at Stanford, and years later this personal connection led Tin to score the title track – a stroke of fate that changed the trajectory of video game soundtracks forever.
The piece became bigger than the game itself. Years after Civ IV released, Tin re-recorded Baba Yetu with the Soweto Gospel Choir for his album Calling All Dawns. That version went on to win a Grammy Award in 2011, marking the first time in history that a piece of music composed for a video game won a Grammy. It wasn't a "game music" category either – it won outright against mainstream world music entries.
While Civ IV has a deep and varied soundtrack beyond Baba Yetu, including orchestral, ambient, and culturally influenced pieces that evolve along with your civilization's technological age, it's the title theme that left a permanent mark on gaming culture.
To this day, it's still performed live by symphony orchestras around the world, often to sold-out audiences. Not many video games can claim their menu theme became a global concert piece.
Doom: 1993
Can an entire franchise be considered for inclusion in a roundup like this? I suppose it can when that series is Doom. The groundbreaking first-person shooter dropped from id Software at the tail end of 1993 and forever changed gaming. It was edgy, gritty, controversial, fun... and it had one badass soundtrack.
Music and sound effects for the original Doom were created by Bobby Prince, who had just finished up work on an earlier id Software game you might be familiar with, Wolfenstein 3D.
Interestingly enough, Prince didn't write music for specific levels as the game wasn't finished when he did his part. Instead, it was John Romero that later came in and decided which tracks to associate with what levels.
Prince got the nod for Doom II as well and has been involved in several other projects over the years including Duke Nukem II and Duke Nukem 3D, among others.
For the 2016 Doom reboot, id Software recruited composer Mick Gordon. The Aussie's work in gaming dates back to 2006 but the new Doom was his coming out party. Gordon took the task seriously, coming up with a rather unique way to create music – and even managing to sneak in some clever Easter eggs which he thought would never be found.
The hard work paid off as Doom won best music / sound design from The Game Awards 2016. Gordon even performed live at the event.
Andrew Hulshult, another well-known American video game composer, also got in on Doom mania. In 2016, he published a complete modern and professional remake of the music from the original Doom. The work, titled IDKFA: Full Doom remake album, no doubt helped him nail other gigs in the industry, which we'll get to in a bit.
Grim Fandango: 1998
Grim Fandango was a bold experiment for LucasArts: a noir-inspired adventure wrapped in Day of the Dead theming and Aztec folklore. But one of the most lasting elements of the game is its unforgettable soundtrack. Composed by Peter McConnell, the score blended big band jazz, mariachi, swing, and film noir brass in a way that sounded like nothing else in gaming at the time.
McConnell has said in interviews that the goal wasn't just to score levels, but to score characters, much like a Hollywood noir film from the 1930s or 40s. As Manny Calavera moves between the Land of the Dead's different districts – from the bureaucratic Department of Death to the neon-lit corruption of Rubacava – the musical palette shifts accordingly, following tone and mood more than environment alone.
Many of the musicians on the soundtrack came from L.A.'s Latin jazz scene of the era, meaning the cultural crossover was authentic, not just stylistic imitation.
That authenticity is a big part of why Grim Fandango's score aged incredibly well. When the game was remastered in 2015, the soundtrack returned with even higher production value thanks to live re-recordings by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, showing just how beloved the music had become.
Terraria: 2011
Terraria is a 2D sandbox adventure game launched in May 2011. It features crafting, exploration, action and combat elements with a 16-bit graphical art style that looks and plays a lot like games such as Super Metroid or Minecraft.
In fact, Terraria shares more than just basic visual similarities with Super Metroid. Like the SNES classic, it also features a wonderful soundtrack that is instrumental in creating an immersive gameplay environment. For me personally, that starts with the excellent Overworld Day track.
This tune is almost innocent in nature, encouraging exploration and inviting the player to experiment with elements like crafting and shelter building.
As day bleeds into nightfall, the background music becomes more somber. Start digging down into the ground and the music changes again, this time into something that's even more reminiscent of something you might hear in a Metroid game. Enter a boss zone and you quickly realize it's time to go into battle.
This is the brilliance of what composer Scott Lloyd Shelly did with Terraria's soundtrack - it adapts to what's happening on-screen and really boosts immersion. It doesn't take long to forget all about the fact that you are playing a game that is visually primitive to what is considered cutting edge by today's standard.
Minecraft: 2011
Minecraft's soundtrack is one of the most fascinating examples of how minimalism can become emotionally powerful. Composed primarily by Daniel Rosenfeld (better known by his stage name C418) the music of Minecraft wasn't built like a traditional score meant to follow intense action or cinematic moments. Instead, it quietly exists alongside the world, surfacing only occasionally and often unexpectedly, creating a kind of gentle introspection that players have come to deeply associate with the game's sense of exploration and solitude.
Unlike most titles, Minecraft's music doesn't trigger at specific story beats. There is no story – at least, not a scripted one. As a result, the music becomes tightly woven into whatever the player is experiencing in the moment: discovery, reflection, building something grand, or simply wandering across the digital landscape.
Tracks like Sweden, Mice on Venus, and Subwoofer Lullaby have become cultural touchstones, generating nostalgia for millions of players even if they couldn't name the songs outright.
There are a couple of fun historical footnotes, too. Much of C418's early work on Minecraft was produced with a modest setup in his apartment long before the game became a global phenomenon. As Minecraft grew from indie curiosity to worldwide sensation, the soundtrack grew with it – eventually leading to full vinyl releases and live orchestrations. Later updates introduced additional music from composer Lena Raine, best known for her work on Celeste, whose contributions (like Pigstep) brought a distinct and more modern energy to certain biomes without disrupting the game's serene musical identity.
Minecraft's soundtrack didn't need bombast or orchestral weight. It became iconic precisely because of its restraint: soft, contemplative, and timeless, like the quiet breath between moments of discovery.
The Witcher 3: 2015
If there is a modern game that proves just how far video game music has come as an art form, it's The Witcher 3. Developed by CD Projekt Red with a soundtrack composed by Marcin Przybyłowicz, Mikolai Stroinski, and the Polish folk band Percival, the score blends cinematic orchestration with raw, traditional Eastern European instrumentation. The result is a soundtrack that doesn't just accompany the world – it defines its cultural identity.
One of the things that makes The Witcher 3's music special is its authenticity. Percival wasn't just brought in to perform – their earlier album inspired the entire tone of the game's worldbuilding. Their vocal techniques and instrumentation lean on real Slavic folk traditions, giving the soundtrack a primal, almost ancient character. You can feel the dirt roads, tavern halls, superstition, and myth embedded in every chord.
Just as memorable are the atmospheric and emotional tracks: "Kaer Morhen," "Fields of Ard Skellig," and "The Song of the Sword-Dancer" are some of the best examples of how the score trades spectacle for texture and cultural resonance.
There's also a fascinating behind-the-scenes detail. The team originally toyed with a more conventional "fantasy orchestral" direction early in development, but it lacked personality. Bringing in Percival shifted everything, grounding the world in something rooted and regional instead of generic high-fantasy. That pivot is a big reason the game's music is still performed live at symphonic concerts around the world, often with traditional instruments and Polish vocalists recreating it exactly as it was recorded.
System Shock 2: 1999
System Shock 2 began life in 1997 as something entirely different. Looking Glass Technologies launched the original System Shock in 1994. A few years later, a couple of Looking Glass staffers including Ken Levine left the company to create their own dev studio, Irrational Games. As fate would have it, the head of Looking Glass called and asked if they wanted to come in and propose a game they might want to build. Immediately, they thought of System Shock 2.
Levine said the initial design problem was how to construct such a game without the luxury of the actual System Shock license. Eventually, Electronic Arts signed on as publisher in early 1998 which meant they could utilize the System Shock name.
For as great a game as System Shock 2 was, the music might be even better. It was composed by Josh Randall, Ramin Djawadi and Eric Brosius and is nothing short of spectacular. Med Sci 2 is quickly becoming a favorite of mine and Ops 1 is giving me some strong The Legend of Zelda level nine vibes.
Randall, also known as Robotkid, went on to serve as creative director at Harmonix Music where he worked on projects like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Djawadi is perhaps best known for scoring smash hits like Game of Thrones, Westworld and the 2008 film Iron Man. Brosius, a former member of the band Tribe, was also responsible for composing the music for the first three Thief games.
Myst: 1993
Myst was released for the Macintosh in late 1993 before finding its way to Windows computers the following year. The puzzle-solving game was absolutely astonishing, blowing everything else out of the water with its lush fictional world, brilliant gameplay mechanics and astonishing audio.
It easily goes down as one of my top 5 favorite games of all time and for many years, it held the crown as the best-selling PC game (until The Sims trumped it in 2002). It's also the title that turned me to PC gaming, though it'd be another half decade before I'd get my first computer and start exploring titles like Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, Unreal Tournament and Carmageddon II.
In Myst, players must solve puzzles to collect books which transport them to different worlds, or "Ages." In these Ages, the player is tasked with finding missing pages and returning to Myst Island to put them in their rightful books to further the story.
The game's music was composed by Robyn Miller, who was also the game's co-designer and composer. In my opinion, it's the music that really sets the game apart.
The tracks assigned to each Age are masterful; they go a long way to creating an undeniable feeling of immersion. Each track just fits so perfectly. And again, we're talking about a game that's well over 25 years old at this point. That wasn't easy to do back then.
Diablo II: 2000
If there was ever a soundtrack that defined atmosphere for an entire genre, it's Diablo II. Composed by Matt Uelmen, the score wasn't dark in a Hollywood "big orchestra" sense – it was dark in a haunting, textural, unsettling sense. Uelmen created a soundscape that made every location feel ancient, cursed, and spiritually heavy.
The most famous track is of course Tristram, which first appeared in Diablo I but reached legendary status through Diablo II.
Tristram doesn't just play in the background, it is the mood of the game: lonely, mournful, and strangely beautiful.
One of the most interesting behind-the-scenes facts is that Uelmen recorded many of the instrument layers himself, blending live folk instrumentation with ambient sound design long before "hybrid" game scores were common. Blizzard didn't treat the music as an afterthought, they gave Uelmen the freedom to experiment, and that experimentation forged one of the most recognizable audio identities in PC gaming.
The expansion, Lord of Destruction (2001), carried that same musical DNA into the Barbarian homeland with heavier percussion and colder, more desolate tonal choices. Even decades later, fans still cite Diablo II's soundtrack as the gold standard for "oppressive mood done right," a score that doesn't just accompany horror, but seeps into it.
Dusk: 2018
Dusk is a retro first-person shooter from David Szymanski that was inspired by classics like Doom and Half-Life. The game plays a lot like early first-person shooters, tasking players with reaching each stage's exit while battling demonic creatures, collecting power-ups and finding secrets along the way.
What put Dusk on my radar, however, was its killer soundtrack.
Dive into Dusk expecting a non-stop feed of thrash metal and you'll be disappointed. Instead, what you get is mostly serene background music that only ramps up during intense battle scenes. But when the action does get hot and heavy, oh boy is the music good.
Endless is my favorite song from the soundtrack, hands down, so much so that I've added it to my everyday music playlist. Departure to Destruction is another track that accurately represents what composer Andrew Hulshult tried to accomplish with Dusk.
If there's one complaint, it's that the hardcore tunes are spaced too far apart in the game. But, this can be easily solved by simply loading up the original game soundtrack in your favorite streaming service or on YouTube.
Fahrenheit / Indigo Prophecy: 2005
Indigo Prophecy, known as Fahrenheit outside of North America, was the second major release from French video game developer Quantic Dream. It's billed as an action-adventure game that relies heavily on quick time events, or pressing inputs on the controller to match a sequence shown on the screen. Really, it's more of a choose-your-own-adventure interactive story.
The game's composer, Angelo Badalamenti, worked with a Canadian orchestra to record the game's score. Badalamenti is perhaps best known for his work on Twin Peaks, the early 90s American mystery / horror TV series.
In an interview with 1up, Indigo Prophecy writer and director David Cage said his only recommendation to Badalamenti was to forget he was working on a video game. Instead, he wanted the composer to treat the project as if it was a real movie.
"Angelo was extremely receptive and open-minded, Cage said. "When he made me hear the first theme he wrote for Lucas during the opening sequence, it was obvious it was the right one. It had all the emotion I was looking for, this dark, epic, human feeling I was desperate to hear."
Fahrenheit additionally features four songs from Canadian rock band Theory of a Deadman off their second studio album, Gasoline.
The most notable was without a doubt Santa Monica, which if I recall, played during the game's ending credits. Say Goodbye was also a quality track, but I don't think it ever surpassed the popularity of Santa Monica.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: 2011
Few soundtracks scream epic fantasy quite like Skyrim's. Composed by Jeremy Soule, the score doesn't just accompany the world but it makes it feel ancient, mythic, and alive. The moment players hear "Dragonborn" for the first time, backed by a 30-voice choir singing in the game's constructed dragon language, it immediately sets a tone of legends and prophecy.
Soule took a deliberate approach to Skyrim's soundscape, not drowning players in grand orchestration at all times, but he used atmospheric pads and slow-building strings that let the environment breathe. One of the most interesting tidbits behind the soundtrack is the use of the game's fictional Draconic language – Dovahzul – written specifically for the choir. Rather than just sounding exotic, the lyrics actually tell the story of the Dragonborn in ballad form.
"I discovered this game about 4 years ago. I was 67. I'd never played a video game in my life. It is now my sanctuary. And the musical score is medicine for the soul." - @christinemills2221
Outside of the theme, tracks like "Far Horizons", "Secunda", and "The Streets of Whiterun" became instant comfort music for players, carrying a kind of wistful Nordic melancholy. Skyrim's soundtrack remains one of the most recognizable pieces of modern game music.
Max Payne: 2001
Max Payne has always felt like one of those games that never got the credit it truly deserved, but perhaps that is just a bit of revisionist history.
The third-person shooter was met with a wave of mostly favorable reviews following its launch in the summer of 2001 and took home plenty of hardware during awards season including Best PC Game of 2001 honors from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. It also won the IGN readers' choice award in several categories including best graphics and best sound.
Two sequels were produced, as was a full-length film adaptation (2008) starring Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis. It was also among the first video games to successfully implement the bullet-time mechanic. It had a pretty good soundtrack, too.
Music in the game was composed by Kärtsy Hatakka and Kimmo Kajasto. While it doesn't have any songs that'll burn themselves into your brain, Killer Suits and Graphic Novel are both excellent examples of the sort of atmosphere the soundtrack helped set.
With this one, it's more about the sum of its parts. I think that holds true for the game in general, the franchise and especially the soundtrack.
Mirror's Edge: 2009
If ever a game on this list elicits pure ambience with its soundtrack, Mirror's Edge is it. The action-adventure platformer tasks players with controlling Faith Connors as she traverses rooftops, runs along walls, climbs pipes and performs other acrobatic feats of danger to slip past foes. In short, it's a game about Parkour.
Parkour seems like the sort of activity where you really need to be in the zone, the right mindset. Music in the game, no doubt as it does for real-life Parkour players, can go a long way in helping to get your head in the right place.
The music in Mirror's Edge was composed by Magnus Birgersson, although you might know him better by his stage name, Solar Fields. Birgersson is a well-known Swedish electronic music artist that worked on the original title and the sequel, Mirror's Edge Catalyst.
If you like what you heard from the original, there's little reason to suspect Fields' work in the second game won't also appeal to you.
Cuphead: 2017
Cuphead is famous for its hand-drawn 1930s cartoon aesthetic, but its soundtrack deserves equal praise for how it recreates the musical era it draws from. Composed by Kristofer Maddigan, the score leans heavily into big band, early jazz, barbershop harmonies, and manic brass arrangements that match the game's chaotic animation style. Instead of feeling like a modern homage, Cuphead's soundtrack sounds like it truly could have been recorded in the 1930s.
Maddigan wrote over three hours of original music – a staggering amount for a run-and-gun platformer – performed by a 13-piece big band, a 10-piece ragtime ensemble, solo piano players, and a full 1930s-style barbershop quartet. It has to be one of the largest jazz ensembles ever assembled for a video game recording.
The game's pacing is built around the feverish tempo shifts and high-energy brass sections that accompany every boss fight, so by no means was the soundtrack a stylistic afterthought.
Maddigan studied real recordings from Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, and Fletcher Henderson to nail the sound authentically rather than nostalgically.
Cuphead's music has since gone on to receive live orchestra and jazz big-band performances, including sold-out shows where crowds cheer for specific boss fight tracks as if they were pop hits.
Add Your Suggestions to This List
With potentially dozens of great PC games released every year and hundreds of amazing ones in history that had an iconic music score, this list can in no way be comprehensive, but it can be a conversation starter for you to suggest and share your favorite music in a PC game.
Baldur's Gate II, Unreal Tournament, Heroes of Might & Magic, StarCraft, Bioshock, Celeste, Command & Conquer, Total War? We hear you. What's yours?