A Continued Exploration Of Music: The Analysis of Music from The Long Dark

As you can no doubt tell, I am a lover of anything that includes cello and the soundtrack to this game is no exception. I also love slow, mournful tracks that pull at your heartstrings with every note. The Long Dark has both of these and much more! It is one of my most favorite games and I can play it for hours on end without getting bored. 

For a little backstory, in this game, you play as a survivor who crashlands in the northern Canadian wilderness after a geomagnetic storm. There is both a survivor and story mode but my personal favorite is the survival mode because of the open-world map and the ability to roam as you please. It is the main theme of the game that is my favorite of all. The game was released by Hinterland Games in 2014 but the soundtrack was released in 2017 around the time of the first story mode episode.


The soft piano at the beginning really plays into the idea of this game which is the quiet apocalypse. A cello then joins the piano playing a very mournful melody and after a while crescendos with an increase in overall tempo. This crescendo is accompanied by another cello playing a fast-paced rhythm and soon a violin mirrors that. The tempo eventually slows and the instruments die with it until a lone piano is left playing the fading melody into the ambient sounds of the game itself. The whole theme of the game is quiet exploration with short burst of adrenaline and fear when you have near-death experiences and this song projects that perfectly. To me, the fast-paced strings represent your footsteps as you desperately run from a wolf, and the fade into the ambient sounds of the forest tell of the end of the chase and the return to safety and exploration.

My favorite part of this piece is the cello and yes, I know, I'm biased and I'll proudly admit it! There's a reason I quit the violin to learn cello! Truly though, it makes me tear up a little bit because of how beautiful it is. It's deep, soulful, and truly pure sound I can't help but love it. This music reminds me of sitting with a warm mug of hot chocolate (whipped cream and cinnamon on the top) watching my fire burn in the Trapper's Cabin and seeing the beautiful landscape light up with the colors of the Northern Lights. I never thought I'd be living in a place where I can look out and see mountains like I can in that game but I'm glad I'm here now.

This game is not for everyone but I recommend listening to the music because it is so beautiful.



Comments

  1. Elle PaulsenNovember 28, 2020 at 3:10 PM

    Interesting piece! The Long Dark theme song is really dramatic, which definitely fits the video game, since it based on surviving the end of the world. When the tempo increases I feel the intensity and can imagine I'm trying to escape an attack in the wilderness! The Long Dark was nominated for "Best Music/Sound Design" at the 2018 Webby Awards.

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