Video Games often have perfectly fitting soundtracks and sound design to accompany them. While there are probably some rare exceptions, it is usually the case that games are meant to be played with their original sounds as that is the actual purpose of them. However, sometimes a new album comes out by one of my favorite bands, and I really want to listen to it and also play the game at the same time. So what do I do, play them both at once and have competing audio dissonance? Heavens no. I’m left with no choice; I kill the game’s music and play the game with a different soundtrack to accompany my shenanigans. Leaving the morality of my choice outside of this, one thing is for certain — I have played games to music that really doesn’t fit the game at all. What results is very odd and specific memories that I have associated with certain albums, songs, and games.

Warcraft 3 & The Killers – Day and Age





I received both of these as Christmas gifts in 2008. I had no music collection built up at the time, as I had just “gotten into” music; but my cousins listened to the Killers a lot, and I loved them too. My family didn’t have a desktop computer, but we had a crappy old laptop that could run something like Warcraft 3, so it seemed like a perfect game to ask for as a Christmas gift. Upon receiving both of these gifts for Christmas, I sat on the floor in my room with my green Philips boombox next to me and the laptop on top of a shoe box so I wouldn’t have to bend over so far to play. While I didn’t love Warcraft 3 all that much (I was quite terrible at it and had to enable cheat codes so I wouldn’t lose so badly), I adored Day and Age and listened to it non-stop on repeat while I played the game. Hearing the folksy, almost magical sounds on the album was too addicting to ever stop listening to while controlling my Orc and human armies in their fantasy war. Now, every time I see King Arthas or anything about the Lich King, all I can think is: “Is he human, or is he dancer?”

Call of Duty: World at War & Generic 2009 Pop Radio Music





Next is easily the weirdest musical combination that I have: Call of Duty and groups like The Black Eyed Peas. These are two polar opposites in terms of sound design that should never ever be mixed. But, in my defense, I had listened to the Killers non-stop for months and I needed something else to listen to. Being that this was long before the days of Spotify and easy music access, all I had was my trusty Philips boombox and the radio function on it. After getting Call of Duty: World at War as a birthday gift in the summer of 2009, I would set up my little designated cubby in our house with a small tube TV and the Philips, listening to whatever was on the radio while I fought the Nazi’s and their compulsion to become zombies. Unfortunately, all that was on the radio was music was “I Gotta Feeling,” “Disturbia,” and “Poker Face” on permanent repeat. There could have been worse stuff on the radio to be looped eternally while fighting intense WWII combat, but there most certainly could have been a lot better for me to play along with as well.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 & Muse – Black Holes and Revelations





By the time the next Call of Duty had released and I had gotten it for Christmas (notice a theme here?), I had moved up in the world and relocated my gaming setup to the spare bedroom and shared space with my mom’s sewing machine. Still by my side was the ever steady Philips to help me dominate the leaderboards (who am I kidding, I rarely ever got the #1 spot). By this point, my CD collection was expanding and I had just discovered Muse thanks to my sister telling me about a song called “Supermassive Black Hole” that played in a terrible baseball scene from the current Twilight film. Regardless of their use in that trash movie, my obsession began and I needed to buy the album that the song came from. Upon buying it, I played it over and over and over while playing MW2. Maybe it didn’t help me play better, because I couldn’t really hear footsteps of other players or important things like that, but I was able to absolutely jam out while dying over and over again from FAMAS wielding Noob-tubers. This is an album that I would recommend to anyone, and especially for someone who wants to feel really cool while failing miserably in a game.



Halo Reach & Fun. – Aim and Ignite





My first concert was in May of 2010 when I saw one of my favorite bands Relient K on tour with Paramore and this (at the time) itty bitty little band called Fun, who had only released their debut album called Aim and Ignite. I actually quite liked them and their quirky sound, so when I got home I bought their album. I really wanted to spend time listening to the new album, but I was quite busy playing the limited time Halo Reach Beta – so I killed two birds with one stone and played it over top. These two sounds should not be combined at all, but for some reason, killing Elites and other Spartans to the indie-pop rhythm of “All the Pretty Girls” somehow worked enough that I repeated it time and time again. Would I recommend it? No. But on the plus side, every time I hear Fun playing somewhere, I think of Halo Reach and get a little happier because Halo Reach is the best Halo.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 & House of Heroes – Suburba





After Halo Reach’s beta ended, I tried to get back into Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, but was unsuccessful. I was too frustrated by the “cheap players” killing me nonstop, so I did the unthinkable and rage quit so badly that I went to Gamestop, sold it, and bought Battlefield Bad Company 2 instead. What resulted are some of my favorite gaming memories ever. My cousin and I played this game almost every day at the end of the summer and into the school year. By this point in time, I relocated my gaming area again, but this time to the basement with a futon and an actual 32” Samsung 720p HDTV. In a bittersweet move, I also had replaced my dear sweet Philips boombox with a real audio setup and speakers (my Grandma needed a easier way to play her CD’s in her apartment, so I traded her my simpler player for her higher quality and more complicated Sony 5-Disc CD system). But what music could I play to test out my brand new, high quality setup?

A small band called House of Heroes had released their new album for $3, and it was an absolute banger of an album. Planting charges and defending command points with your squad while listening to Rock’n’Roll with synthesizers and gang vocals made everything I did feel so much cooler than it actually was. Even if you don’t choose House of Heroes as your go-to shooter music (which you should because they are awesome), Battlefield games play a lot better with your favorite Rock’n’Roll accompanying the mundane action of running through fields because your teammate took the last vehicle in eyesight.

Stardew Valley & M83- Junk





I’ll conclude with the one that offends me the most: playing music over Stardew Valley. Why in my right mind would I ever mute one of the greatest game soundtracks ever written? I love the soundtrack so much, that in my 2018 Wrapped for Spotify, ConcernedApe was my #1 artist for Pete’s sake! But for some reason, I thought it was a good idea to mute over the relaxing, perfect sounds of Pelican Town and cover it up with M83’s new album, Junk. My defense is that like Stardew Valley, Junk only uses the synthesizer as its instrument, so at least it sounded like video game music. After listening through the album twice, I did end up turning it off and going back to the proper music, but I still do feel guilt about ever listening to anything else. Now anytime I listen to Junk, (probably due to the eternal guilt I feel), I am reminded of Pelican Town and immediately get a little sad and homesick for a place I have never lived in.

I can’t say that I’ve had the most normal listening habits while gaming, but I can’t imagine that I’m alone in playing some sort of music over top of video games at one point or another. What are some of the oddest music/game mash-ups you’ve ever tried? Let us know in the comments below!