There’s a dedicated subcommunity of video game music afficionados out there that love these soundtracks so much that they devote considerable effort to producing all sorts of cover songs of their favorite tunes. In a weird way, you kind of know that your game’s soundtrack has made it if it prompts fans to start producing covers.
And believe it or not, this extends to MMO soundtracks as well. I never thought to check to see if there were covers of MMO tunes, mostly because I thought that the niche was too tiny to prompt such interest. But I was quickly proven wrong by how many I stumbled over.
Today we’re going to take a survey of six fan cover songs of popular MMO tunes. Do you know any others? Post links to them in the comments!
“Fear Not This Night” from Guild Wars 2 by Little V
I have always felt that Fear Not This Night was much better as an instrumental track (sorry, fans, but those lyrics are a little lame). Â Little V proves me right with this “epic rock” version of the song. Make sure you hang in there until the rendition goes into overdrive at 1:42!
“Newbie Melody (Tutorial Island)” from RuneScape by Paul Refvik
I am a sucker for really well-done acoustic covers, and this one is spot-on terrific. RuneScape’s OST is legendary in scope and variety, so it’s neat to hear a fan share one of his favorite tracks.
Paul gives some background on his YouTube page: “[This is] the very first song you heard when you logged into RuneScape for the first time. It is also the song you heard every time you decided to make a new deadly pure account, which happened countless times, admit it. This is definitely one of my favourite and most nostalgic RuneScape songs, so I had to make my own version of it. ”
“Tom Bombadil” from Lord of the Rings Online by Lonely Mountain Band
Lonely Mountain Band has been doing some great Middle-earth albums over the years, and I’m certainly glad to see that they dipped into LOTRO to perform their own cover of this beloved melody. The choice of instruments and the ambient sounds elevate this perhaps over the original, and that is saying something.
“Nightsong” from World of Warcraft by Michelle Heafy
One of the amazing things of many cover artists is how they do it all. Michelle demostrates that with this stunning performance of a Cataclysm track, playing the piano, the drums, and singing all of the roles. I’m not super familiar with this particular track, but this cover certainly bumps it up in my notice.
“Heroes (Knights of the Round Theme)” from Final Fantasy XIV by Losstarot
Another fun aspect of cover songs is that it’s up to each artist how he or she wants to reinterpret that tune — and in what genre. Here, Final Fantasy XIV gets remade into a chiptune: a simulated throwback to early days of video game music. It’s quite interesting, especially if you’re used to the fully orchestrated version.
“Moons of Evening Star” from Elder Scrolls Online by Serakirah
Another one-person-band effort, this track brings out the haunting, magical melody of Moons of Evening Star with a deft touch. Instead of going loud and brash, which is what you often get with cover tunes, Serakirah keeps it quiet, paced, and dreamlike for the full duration. Definitely a quality piece.
MMOs are meant to be heard as well as seen, and chances are that music ties your memories to these games more than you might realize. Every two weeks Jukebox Heroes listens through a game soundtrack and picks out the highlights to share and discuss. And if you like this column, then don’t miss the author’s MMO music podcast, Battle Bards!
