Batman – Arkham City Original Video Game Score

Batman – Arkham City is impressive on many levels. Like I mentioned in my initial impressions of the game everything in the game is top-notch and improved over the already great Arkham Asylum. The game garnered enough attention to earn itself a bigger budget, both for the game and it’s marketing. Because of this, the Batman Arkham City Soundtrack features some big-time names from modern radio.  Now for some of us, that time of music and/or those bands aren’t our thing. If you’ve ready any of my posts discussing film or game musical scores you’ll know I’m a big fan and collector of both types of music. The Batman Arkham Asylum Original Video Game score from composers Nick Arundel and Ron Fish blends in seamlessly with the game and retains the cinematic scope of the storytelling and overall production. Tracks range from the creepy and mysterious to pounding combat rhythms and often take on the driving militaristic tone of the Zimmer scores from the latest Batman films.  Below is the full tracklist of the game with links to the full album and individual iTunes tracks as well.

Batman – Arkham City Musical Score

Batman Arkham City Original Video Game Score – Amazon (individual tracks are $.99, $.30 less than iTunes).

Batman: Arkham City – Original Video Game Score – iTunes Full Album

1	Arkham City Main Theme	Nick Arundel	02:47	$1.29
2	Sorry, Boys	Nick Arundel	01:49	$1.29
3	A Monument to Your Failure	Ron Fish	01:56	$1.29
4	Have You Got My Location	Nick Arundel	04:20	$1.29
5	This Court Is Now In Session	Nick Arundel	02:16	$1.29
6	It Was the Joker	Nick Arundel	02:19	$1.29
7	I Think You Should Do As He Says	Nick Arundel	02:35	$1.29
8	Refusal Will Not Be Tolerated	Nick Arundel	02:43	$1.29
9	Wham. Gotcha!	Nick Arundel	03:28	$1.29
10	Let’s Hear Him Squeal	Nick Arundel	03:00	$1.29
11	I Know What You Guys Are Thinking	Nick Arundel	03:34	$1.29
12	It’s Initiation Time	Nick Arundel	01:59	$1.29
13	What’s He Doing Here?	Nick Arundel	02:14	$1.29
14	How Does It Feel, Pig?	Nick Arundel	02:19	$1.29
15	Call Him Off	Nick Arundel	04:36	$1.29
16	You Should Have Listened to My Warning	Nick Arundel	02:10	$1.29
17	You Need to Think This Through	Nick Arundel	02:43	$1.29
18	Bring Her Back to Me	Ron Fish	02:08	$1.29
19	It’s Not Even Breakfast	Nick Arundel & Ron Fish	03:50	$1.29

Batman – Arkham City Original Video Game Score Review

Okay, I’ve finally had the opportunity to listen to all of the tracks completely and this is really a top notch score. The tracks serve to elevate the scope of the game and at the same time not get in it’s way at the quieter moments. It is dominated by Batman’s brooding and still has the touches of whimsy for the child-like nature of some of Arkham’s most insane inhabitants.  Right of the bat, you’ll want to check out the Arkham City Main Theme, the undertones of this piece carry through the majority of the others, truly serving it’s purpose as the main theme and in my opinion is the strongest track appropriately enough.

My second favorite track, narrowly missing the top spot, is the one entitled “Call Him Off” this track seems to blend elements of some of my favorite Batman music. It has a dark and brooding beginning, moving into the driving short string rhythm of the Zimmer-style Batman and then at about the 3:00 minute mark it has this rising, horn-filled orchestration reminiscent of Danny Elfman’s earlier Batman work, before returning to the driving style and ending with some soft electronic dissonance. It’s a wonderful almost multi-movement piece. Good Stuff.

The final track I want to talk about is “You Should Have Listened To My Warning“. This is a reprise and expansion of the earlier track, “This Court is Now in Session” which comes near the beginning of the game as you battle Two-Faces thugs. “You Should Have Listened” starts out with a heightened frenetic energy, the pace is frantic and desperate and ends with deep brass sweeping in with overriding chorale accompaniment. A strong, but short track.

I highly recommend the Batman Arkham Asylum Original Video Game Score it’s earned it’s spot near the top of Batman musical history, easily sitting next to Danny Elfman’s Batman 1989 and Zimmer’s Dark Knight.