Music

[Kutuzov]

The soundtrack to beat IMO is Civ 3's and not Civ IV or V's.

Civ IV has era-specific music but a lot of it is classical music and, as a fan of classical music, I'd rather not have it playing when I'm playing a game because it cheapens it, over-exposes me to it. I can once again listen to Brahms 3rd symphony now without cringing slightly when I get to its beautiful third movement because I'd heard it so many times while playing Civ 4, and I played it a LOT. The same goes for the third movement of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. The only piece I miss from Civ IV is the african chant that ocurred in the early era.

Pretty much the same applies to Civ V which has era and culture-specific music as well as music for war and peace, a first for the franchise I think because I didn't play Civ 1 and Civ 2 is such a long time ago and I've forgotten. There are some ravishing pieces mixed in there but IMO, Civ BE beats them.

Civ 3 had era-specific music before Civ 4 but it was almost exclusively original music. (I say almost because I don't recall any classical music in it but I might have forgotten.) Civ BE's music is much more sophisticated than Civ3's music, much as I loved it. I still listen to a few of the pieces from time to time though as they really were that good. And when I listen to them, I remember Civ 3 fondly. I expect that I will feel the same when i listen to Civ BE's sountrack in my dotage.

Finally, CivBE has biome-specific music in place of the era-specific music in the earlier games and there's a LOT of it. I would imagine it would be difficult to come up with two original pieces for each faction, one for peace/diplomacy and one for war, seeing as how these factions are mixtures of present-day cultures and might offend some.

 

[Halbbruder]

The soundtrack to beat IMO is Civ 3's and not Civ IV or V's.

Civ IV has era-specific music but a lot of it is classical music and, as a fan of classical music, I'd rather not have it playing when I'm playing a game because it cheapens it, over-exposes me to it. I can once again listen to Brahms 3rd symphony now without cringing slightly when I get to its beautiful third movement because I'd heard it so many times while playing Civ 4, and I played it a LOT. The same goes for the third movement of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. The only piece I miss from Civ IV is the african chant that ocurred in the early era.

Pretty much the same applies to Civ V which has era and culture-specific music as well as music for war and peace, a first for the franchise I think because I didn't play Civ 1 and Civ 2 is such a long time ago and I've forgotten. There are some ravishing pieces mixed in there but IMO, Civ BE beats them.

Civ 3 had era-specific music before Civ 4 but it was almost exclusively original music. (I say almost because I don't recall any classical music in it but I might have forgotten.) Civ BE's music is much more sophisticated than Civ3's music, much as I loved it. I still listen to a few of the pieces from time to time though as they really were that good. And when I listen to them, I remember Civ 3 fondly. I expect that I will feel the same when i listen to Civ BE's sountrack in my dotage.

Finally, CivBE has biome-specific music in place of the era-specific music in the earlier games and there's a LOT of it. I would imagine it would be difficult to come up with two original pieces for each faction, one for peace/diplomacy and one for war, seeing as how these factions are mixtures of present-day cultures and might offend some.

If I recall my memories of civ 2 and civ 4 music...

In civ 2, I remember the chanting very well and there was also one tune which was shared with half life 1, which I also enjoyed. That tune was also a kind of monk chant + medieval festive-type music. In general, it was pretty good.

In civ 4, I can't seem to recall it that much. It did have a mixture of chanting and classical music.

It sure is hard to improve on what is largely a subjective area for games but Firaxis most certainly nailed the music theme in CivBE.

 

[TabeticClown]

Civ IV has era-specific music but a lot of it is classical music and, as a fan of classical music, I'd rather not have it playing when I'm playing a game because it cheapens it, over-exposes me to it. I can once again listen to Brahms 3rd symphony now without cringing slightly when I get to its beautiful third movement because I'd heard it so many times while playing Civ 4, and I played it a LOT. The same goes for the third movement of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade.

Exactly. I've already named the pieces that civ v has ruined for me. Dvoraks ninth, holsts Jupiter, Debussy's 8th prelude, and many others

 

[ZTZaorish]

I'm kind of surprised how much praise the BE soundtrack is getting. Other than some of the eerie pieces from the beginning, I find it rather dull and repetitive on the whole. "Classic" or not, I found the Civ V soundtrack much more interesting.

I agree with you completely. Civ BE music is very underwhelming and seems to try far too hard to be epic. Although, it still is far better than Civ's themes, which are far too short, and don't even seem very distinct from each other. They have a long way to go with Civ BE's theme.

Honestly, you shouldn't have to force yourself to play other affinities just to find good tunes~

 

[SahintheFalcon]

BE has one of the best soundtracks that I've ever heard. It's on my spotify playlist.

 

[SteamCiv]

Because of the music, for me at least, BEYOND EARTH is relaxing to play.
I tried it on the Steam free weekend, and the soundtrack FANTASTIC.
Unexpectedly since the product got mixed reviews in comparison to the others in the series.
That is a big PLUS in favor getting that game when it goes off free weekend.

 

[Matthew.]

I like BE's music, but I find Civ 5's easier to listen to for an entire game. I suppose it is because it is a bit more simple and light. Epic sci-fi inspired music is great for the first hour or so, but then it starts to drain.

I probably like the ME region music best in Civ 5. Also Asia. Europe region has too many drawn out chords, puts me to sleep.

And of course the individual Civ themes are excellent. Some very great songs.

 

[ToothedBomb]

The music is the best thing about BE. But Civ V still has it beat. BE's songs are quite repetitive IMHO. The same melodies return in multiple tracks, and there's not that many to begin with. I guess that makes the soundtrack a bit more cohesive, but I just find it a bit boring that way. Still, the melodies themselves are very good.

I prefer the cultural angle on Civ V's soundtrack. Playing as an Asian or Native (American) civ sounds entirely different. There's hundreds of tracks in the game, so I never grow tired of hearing specific tracks. On top of that there's two unique tracks per civ; their peace and war themes. And with the amount of civilizations in Civ V, that adds up quickly. There's no way BE can beat all of that.

 

[Maximus_Light]

Now THIS is a hard decision, honestly I like them both different themes for different games.

 

[Red Menace]

Obviously the first thing to note here is that Civ4 beats both games in the soundtrack department

I Completely agree Civ4's had so much MUSIC, and the music was great.

i Voted for BE because its soundtrack is much better,
civV's would have won if it Had the diversity of Civ4 [because its far less repetitive]

 

[ZTZaorish]

BE's music, near the endgame is far too repetitive. It just screams, epic, and triumphant over and over again. That is fine for a few turns, but not for the last 50 or however long it that music is playing.

I still prefer it to some degree to Civ V's themes, where i just keep hearing the same tunes over and over again.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

[X] Civilization 4

CIV5 and BE have okay music, but the CIV4 tracks fit perfectly into the game eras.

 

[Aldor]

IMO the BE loading screen music beats the previous Civ games by a huge margin. It really fits, and I hope very much that BERT will have an option to play the original song (if it introduces a new one).

The in-game music is good too. Its just unfortunate that it stops when something happens (for example, I love that song that plays right after you land. But then I find a solar collector and launch it, and the song stops and another starts). This regularly annoys me

 

[oakdragon]

BE's music, near the endgame is far too repetitive. It just screams, epic, and triumphant over and over again. That is fine for a few turns, but not for the last 50 or however long it that music is playing.

I still prefer it to some degree to Civ V's themes, where i just keep hearing the same tunes over and over again.

Maybe that's my problem. BE is telling me to quit exploring and just bring down the sword already.

 

[poom3619]

IMO, Music of most game is good to listen for first 100 hours, when I heard good music for 21st times I would hardly have any feeling for it.

Civ4 having best music IMO, as I listen Civ5 good music to the point it become annoying for me and playing CivBE is quite inspiring and would be better to listen while doing anything more inspiring than playing the game it come from.

I admit I might not heard every piece of CivBE music. The main menu music give me a lighter version of trauma I got from listening Civ5 vanilla menu theme. "It supposed to be good, but I played for eleventh time now..."

 

[Leathaface]

I prefer Civ V's music TBH, a wider diversity. Though BE's OST is good too.

 

[Zenstrive]

I have CiV's Gandhi's music, it's annoyingly haunting, so Civ:BE it is.

 

[Mount Suribachi]

As others have said, the soundtrack is perhaps the best part of BE, proper epic sci-fi sound.

Is it as good as Civ4 though...? I actually don't like Baba Yetu - I much prefer the Warlords theme, the Turkish fight song (which is actually a love song! ) and the BTS religious chorus thingy theme. And I love, just love the first song that plays when start your game with the rocks being chinked together, slowly building a rythmn, and a beat, then all the layers being added - genius.

I love getting to the medieval era and Miserere Allegri starting up. I love getting out of the medieval era and hearing the harpsicord and all those great renaissance and baroque classics. I love getting to the modern era and hearing all those haunting, oppressive John Adams pieces which fit the mood of the era so perfectly.