Review
I had no clue that the Call of Duty franchise had such respectable scores as we have recently discovered. They rotate composers, and Bear McCreary’s score for 2021’s Vanguard is no slouch. These games are high octane, and we should expect the scores to match. McCreary does so, with some really cool nuances in his musical choices. “Operation Tonga,” for example, displays sonic similarity to God of War, making me wonder if McCreary played some of the instruments himself (likely). The score as a whole, while intense, is generally not unpleasant sounding, and I love the electric violin motifs throughout. “Bombing Run” is a fun track, vaguely reminiscent of music from The Dark Knight. As the story moves on, the action picks up, and so does the intensity, with some screeching strings on occasion. “Pacific Heat” is a great running track. The penultimate track “Arthur’s Elegy” is one of the calmest in the score, and while pretty, it doesn’t sound convinced that all is well in the world (we have to have more CoDs, right?). Listen if you’re looking for some pump up music or writing an action piece.
Review by the_strong_writer.