P-Vock's Music Box: Set for Adventure
Hello and welcome back to P-Vock's Music Box, the blog where I drop some weird tunes to get you set for the weekend. After an unusually warm November, we have definitely been feeling the winter vibes recently as Alberta has been quick to remind us just what kind of weather we should expect this time of year. So let's escape the cold, and go on an adventure, to a snowy mountain in Tibet!
Naughty Dog's beloved Uncharted series is basically the most action-filmy the medium of video games has ever gotten, for better or worse depending on who you ask. It covers all the bases: a rugged and generic-looking white dude to lead, an old man accompanying him that complains about how he is too old for this shit, an attractive woman who is heavily underestimated but turns out to be a badass, and a bad guy or two with a Definitely-Not-Russian-But-Russian accent, Uncharted has them all. That includes a bombastic score to accompany these adventures.
Because Naughty Dog wanted to show off the specs and power of what was still a relatively new console back in 2009, Jesus how has it been that long, they made sure to begin the adventure with an absolutely jaw-dropping banger. Our leading man, the t̶h̶i̶e̶f̶ fortune hunter Nathan Drake, just wakes up bloodied and bruised in a train dangling off the side of a snow-capped mountain. So warm up those fingers, because it's time to climb!
The music that joins him in the desperate struggle not to fall is chilling and intense, perfect for the outrageous scenario that he is in that still stands today as one of the best openings in any medium.
Damn, I shouldn't have wasted the Jake Peralta chills gif last week. This tune would have worked so much better for it. Even if the melody doesn't stick in my head, it certainly helps sell the scope of the scenario.
As I said, this game series is basically a series of playable action movies. This also means it includes one of my least favourite aspects of action movies, almost every piece of music is forgettable. While most of the music in the series does not do too much for me, the main theme of this series is one that does a lot for me. It has had a new and slightly different version to accompany each unique adventure, so I'm going to play the one from my favourite entry in the series, the second one.
I don't think there is a better piece of music that just sells me on the idea of going on an adventure. It's bombastic, epic, and over-the-top. However, it remains surprisingly grounded. Which is a perfect way I would describe Nathan Drake. He gets into some truly outrageous shenanigans, but never loses his head and remains calm and collected enough to finish the job. This theme has been stuck in my head for over a decade, nestled in my brain right between a batch of super dark self-bashing jokes and some hilarious and dumb trivia about a sandwich from Xenoblade Chronicles.
I sure do hope none of you have plans to end up dangling from the side of a train atop a mountain or shooting a gang of Definitely-Not-Russian-But-Russian villains on a train this weekend (but hey, your bucket list is your own and I don't judge). But whatever you get up to this weekend, I hope this music helped make it a little bit more epic. Thanks for checking in, and I'll catch you back here next week with another suggestion from my Music Box. Stay Brutal!