Search - Masami Ueda, Syusaku Uchiyama, Shun Nishigaki :: Resident Evil 2: Original Soundtrack

Resident Evil 2

Mal Cremin | Avignon, France | 03/15/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"It was a real thrill to finally get this album and hear it for the first time in my CD player. I knew the music very well from having played the game countless times, and the music has, from the first, been such a key part of what makes the game a slick movie-like experience.More so than with the soundtrack album of the first game, this album sounds like a classy piece of film score. There is one composer in common with the first soundtrack, Masami Ueda, who went on to co-score Resident Evil 3 as well. Working with just one other collaborator this time, the Resident Evil 2 score has a more consistent style. It is influenced by Brad Fiedel's Terminator scores, with a lesser touch of Hans Zimmer and Nick Glennie Smith's The Rock, but his use of rich-sounding piano keeps it from sounding too much like a pastiche. The piano element, when used for the creepy effect, is perhaps a little obvious, but when it's used to convey softer emotions, it is quite elegant. All the memorable tunes are here, including (best of all for me) the beautifully haunting save-room theme, which often makes me linger in save rooms when playing the game. Titled `A Secure Place', it unfortunately runs only 54 seconds on the album, though this is understandable as it is meant to be an indefinitely-looping piece of music. While this is true of most of the music, other pieces are admittedly more varied and justify longer representation on the album. It can be a little disconcerting, by the way, that some pieces come to an end by suddenly fading out. There is an odd discrepancy in the track numbering at the beginning, so cue 6 in the listing is actually cue 9. A minor gripe is that the first section of the album features music from the end of the game. A much better way to listen is to order the cues as they occur in the story.I am a lifelong fan of film scores, and Resident Evil 2 was perhaps the first game score to win my respect. Ueda's style may be derivative, but it is distinctive and he has here co-created a great score for a great game."

Music to scare you

A. Griffiths | London | 01/20/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A friend of mine was bemused when I told him I like to buy the music from Resident Evil games, but I know good music when I hear it, and these Cds are quality stuff. This one is the best of the first three, because although the third is by far the longest, and the first has a kind of historical significance, the music in RE2 is much more striking. The themes for the boss attacks are superbly dramatic (remember the final attack at the train..EEK!), as is the music that goes with the countdown of the self destruct system being activated..ahh where would we be without that RE staple! Mixed in are the slower passages like "The Library" and the closing and epilogue themes, which are mellow and thoughtful. You also get all the music for the different endings and the sombre and spooky music that goes with every location, so it's an all round Resident evil audio experience!"

This soundtrack will leave you breathless...

A. Griffiths | 04/10/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Being a huge fan of Resident Evil 2, I strongly recommend this soundtrack to anyone who is a die-hard fan of the videogame;it's a must-have! This collection of music, will move you("Mother","One More Kiss"), scare you("G-virus:First Transformation","Police station:1st floor"), and capture your imagination("Annette's Recollection","Marshalling Yard-1&2"). If you enjoyed playing Resident Evil 2, then trust me, you will love listening to this wonderful soundtrack."