Mercenaries

Track Listing

01 - Mercenaries Main Theme (4:11)

02 - Destination: DMZ (3:37)

03 - Allied Nations (3:22)

04 - Mercenary Without a Cause (5:39)

05 - Deck of 52 (2:03)

06 - For the Motherland (2:31)

07 - Family Business (3:02)

08 - Show Me The Mercenary (2:04)

09 - Honor and Strength (3:26)

10 - Hidden Valley Bunker (4:53)

11 - Sniper (2:15)

12 - Swedish Fireballs (3:03)

13 - Trouble At Work (2:05)

14 - Trains, Planes, and HMMWVs (2:02)

15 - Relentless Pursuit (2:25)

16 - Gas Tank on the Roof (1:03)

17 - Explosion Scherzo (1:51)

18 - Thermal Event (2:11)

19 - Countdown (3:05)

20 - The Blinding Flash (1:07)

21 - The World's Best Carpool Lane (1:54)

Orchestrated and Conducted by Tim Simonec

Performed by The Northwest Sinfonia

Produced by Michael Giacchino and Ford A. Thaxton

Released by La-La Land Records on January 25th, 2005

Total Running Time: 57:43

The trend of orchestral video games continues with LucasArts in the form of their latest non-Star Wars offering (gasp!), Mercenaries. With Michael Giacchino having given a wonderful score for Secret Weapons Over Normandy, it was no wonder that he turned to again for this one. But since Giacchino’s name has started to make waves in the Hollywood community, and giving his scoring duties on Alias, Lost, and The Incredibles, he wasn’t able to turn in a whole score for this project. Instead, he provided themes and his up-and-coming protégé, Chris Tilton, provided the rest of the score. A boisterous action cue with chorus and themes by Michael Giacchino, this is a score that just screams to be liked. But when you really get down to it, this is score that, instead of screaming, is just gasping for air.

It begins on a strong note, showcasing the main theme for the score. The theme then segues into a strongly Asian-styled section (the game is set it North Korea). Finally, the chorus makes one of its few appearances (though we can’t be too picky on this…it’s a videogame score after all). You would think that all three of those ideas would mesh into a killer opening track, but they don’t. Once the theme is over, even the appearance of the chorus is more benign than thrilling. It doesn’t help that the subsequent cues take us on a darker, tension building path. It takes this score a while to actually start cooking. For a game that is supposed to be big on explosions, this seems wildly out of place. There is a constant feeling of the music being restrained from going where it needs to be to truly stand out.

With some good themes floating around, it’s a wonder that they aren’t used more (and more effectively). There are far too many generic action cues that take up space when a more inventive and varied approach with the themes could have done wonders for the score. As an example, take Medal of Honor Frontline. That score did its action cues and tension building moments well, even in the sections that don’t directly reference any of the themes. Instead of something generic, the music in that score felt like it had a definite base that was being built upon. For the most part, even during the more exciting segments, Mercenaries is boring. What makes this even more disheartening is that this is a score that can cook when it wants to, and there are a handful of cues that demonstrate this. When the chorus returns again in full, it’s used far more effectively than in the first track. The last third of the CD is a definite pick-up in the pace of things, though there is no ultimate climax cue and the score ends on a less-than-stellar moment.

In the realm of the videogame itself, amidst the erupting explosions and tattering gunfire, this score will more than fulfill its purpose. It’s just that by itself it could (and should) be so much more. By the end, you’ll find that it is unfortunately tepid.