Crysis 2 from La-La Land Records provides a great value to soundtrack followers. First, it includes themes for the game by Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe, two of Hollywood's marquee talents, as we know, but also includes a great wealth of material from composers Borislav Slavov and Tilman Sillescu -- and this is really where the heart and soul of this score is at. The aforementioned value comes into play when you factor that the music runs for nearly 90 minutes at a high level and with minimal down time. Usually, game scores can turn into meat grinders with a lot of ambience, repetition, and vague thematic statements. Crysis 2 pretty much remains locked in for its duration of time with mostly enjoyable content.
The Zimmer/Balfe themes book-end the two-disc set and it is some of Zimmer's better thematic work in recent years. It captures the doom of our compromised civilization but also resonates with defiance, which represents humankind's resistance to the alien invaders. The theme replays extremely well and I've returned to it a few times already. My compliments to Hans and Lorne.
Boris and Tilman come into play with the bulk of the material in between the Zimmer/Balfe offerings as the majority of this score is theirs to claim. More to that, I'll ask you not to let the headlines fool you, this soundtrack is more than just about being Hollywood-influenced; their music is outstanding in its own right. There is a sense of excitement and peril with the type of cues delivered by the duo and this makes for a very engaging experience. If ever you felt like you were playing a game through the music alone, Crysis 2 is it.
In the score, there is also a sense of lament and reflection. Given the catastrophes featured in the story, every composer on the project has done a nifty job in conveying the dramatic weight of the story. And yes, as we all know, there is high drama in today's game play and subsequent storylines. That said, there is also some high-flying and intense action cues to absorb, offering multiple highlights throughout the pair of discs. The peak moments during some of the action material made for a great rallying points for me personally as the high points hit all the right marks. Their is a healthy balance, give and take, if you will, with the way the music plays out overall and these "money" statements only accentuate it further. For instance, take a listen to Track 7 (SOS New York) on disc 1 and Track 10 (Intersection) on disc 2 as a clear example of why my accolades will ring true.
With all the talents involved on this project, the cohesion of a "unified voice" is impressive. In listening to the album, one would be hard-pressed to find any component out of place from one cue to the next. This score just feels right, and if you didn't know going in that four composers were involved, then I bet you wouldn't be aware that this was a collaborative effort produced at various stages. Additionally, the way the work was divvied up actually enabled this album to sustain itself better than most. In my opinion, the composers were able to divide and conquer the content and ensured that the highest level of quality went into each section of the score. This is how 90 minutes can offer such a well-rounded presentation.
We all have talked about game music being the future bastion of enjoyment for soundtrack fans, but for me, the mass volume of inconsistent game scores in recent years diverted us away from that course. Well, with a soundtrack like Crysis 2, I think we may be back on target.
