In Game Radio

The best and worst way of including soundtrack in a game

So, do you know a game called Metropolis Street Racer? If no, I will indulge, it’s an early open world racing game released exclusively on Sega Dreamcast (November 2000 in EU and January ‘01 in North America). But for our interest, the main reason why I’m even talking about this game is that it’s the first game to include a radio with changeable stations.

Now we know where that started, but where does that lead us? Let’s check some radios and see where they are playing the best bangers!

Fallout New Vegas

If you want to talk about in-game radio, you must include Fallout New Vegas; that’s the doctrine no one can break or ignore.

Okay, maybe I’m slightly overreacting, but the statement still stands: Fallout New Vegas has one of the best soundtracks that is also included as an “in-game radio”.

Where to start… Big Iron - Marty Robbins, an extremely great and iconic country song by an artist that you can’t skip when talking about country music. The lyrics of the song tell a story about the “Texas Red’s” downfall, a classic country song about an outlaw and a ranger. What hits so hard with this song is the setting of a game, a dark post-apocalyptic world of the Mojave wasteland. Scorching sands, traveling merchants who hold all their wares on the backs of Brahmin mutated cows with two functioning heads, a world that culturally stopped developing because of the cold world that elongated up to 2077, the year when the bombs fell, and all of the world had been ruined. The tragedy so well emphasized by this old country song, and the funniest, this is just the first song out of 40 tracks that play on all the radios, among which there are: Ain't That a Kick in the Head by Dean Martin, Blue Moon by Frank Sinatra or Mad About the Boy by Helen Forrest.

All that has an even greater impact thanks to the immersion of choosing the radio station and, from time to time, being interrupted by Mr. New Vegas.

This is a very strong in-game radio, but there is a problem… all radio stations have almost the same track list only exception is the mysterious broadcast, which is a Jazz station. That’s not an issue because of how many setlists are made within the same vibe and the main port of each station is just to be able to skip an annoying song (tho there are none of these) or not to listen to Mr. New Vegas talk again about his “nuclear winter wonderland” compilation available on holotape. But regardless, my only gripe is that different stations are not used to customize the experience, changing the genre and/or style of the music in the background.

Okay, after that huge, grim, and serious radio, let’s get less grim and more diverse.

Fortnite

So let’s be clear, I DO NOT LIKE FORTNITE, more precisely, all I like about Fortnite is that it’s an enjoyable free game that I can play with my friends as a guy in T-45 Power Armour from the Fallout (yeah, I like those games) BUT that game has cars and in those cars there are radios, and guess what Epic got the money from V-bucks.

Where to start… on the Videogame soundtrack wiki, they have 7 different extremely long subcategories that each represent a different radio station! Of course, that list also might not include all the music included on the radio because Epic regularly changes music on the car radio for some reason.

My favorite radio is Rock & Royale because there are songs I actually would listen to, like: Forgotten by Korn, Nowhere Generation by Rage Against (not Rage Against the Machine) or FOUR (4) MATALACA SONGS!!!1!!!1!!!! (I do not like Metallica, and I have some “very good” arguments on which, for now, I will not focus on)

Another station I like is Battle Bus Radio, which has some bangers such as: Hail to the King by Avenged Sevenfold (fucking love them), Gimme Chocolate by Babymetal or Breaking the Law by Judas Priest (also Sad but True by Metallica is here).

Honestly, I’m surprised how good some Fortnite radio stations are. If you are looking to play a Battle Royale with friends, this one might get some bonus points thanks to the music included.

After this showcase that sometimes money gives us an okay medium, let’s check something more serious on the topics it addresses.

Saints Row 2

Yeah… odd thing to say about Saints Row 2, but hey, in this game, topics regarding criminality, corruption, and abuse are everywhere, picking on everyone and not on a specific agenda. That said, it’s a wacky game that is hard to take seriously, especially because in some missions your goal is to… pour feces on buildings… yeah, it’s a stupid game that parodies everyone to a very odd degree. But we shouldn’t talk about the game’s premise or concepts, but on the radio, so how good is it?

I have picked 3 stations that I enjoyed quite a bit.

The Mix 107.77 FM - This one is quite fun, you can find here some good tracks, such as: Take on Me by A-ha, The Final Countdown by Europe, or Everyone Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears.

89.0 Generation X FM - Yep, I like the station with Teenagers by My Chemical Romance, Hole in the Earth by Deftones, or Misery Business by Paramore. Didn’t hate it that much (honestly, best time with Paramore and MCR I could ever have)

The Krunch 106.66- HELL YEAH, Nothing Left by As I Lay Dying, Bat Country by Avenged Sevenfold, Redneck by Lamb of God, or Anthem (We Are the Fire) by Trivium. I believe that explains why I think this game has one of the best in-game radios.

I know, I know, but bias aside, this game is a prime example of how radio can be the best way to include music in a game, with a lot of coverage on many different genres. Additionally, this game uses radio to spice up different gangs and give them more personality, such as the Brotherhood listening to The Krunch while the Ronin listen to K12 (an electronic music station).

Okay, after this wild game, it’s time for something darker, serious, and unfortunately, the one showing off the “other” side of in-game radio…

Cyberpunk 2077

I honestly don’t think that the radio in Cyberpunk has any memorable tracks.

Like, it doesn’t have anything that caught my attention outside of Chippin’ In and Never Fade Away, which are songs of the in-game band “Samurai”. Yep, only 2 songs per how many? ELEVEN RADIO STATIONS, ALL OF THEM TOGETHER HAVE OVER 150+ SONGS!!!!!!!!! I do very much love this game for it’s very good story and characters, I like it for it’s personality, but for all of its music that it has, there are only 2 songs that are interesting for me, even more annoyingly, those two are storyline-related songs, so those have to be “Tip top perfect” and no other way around that’s just sad, wish that with their next game they will try to make more of interesting songs, but hey, they got a coverage and its not bad in any depth, its a good noise in the background when driving around the NightCity.

To close it off, I have a question for all of you: Do you have your own favorite In-Game radio? If so, please write about it in the comments. I will respond to every single one!

Cheers from your Edgiest Man Alive™ -Karlox Dark.