Soundtrack Review: Assassin’s Creed 3 (2012)

Assassin’s Creed 3 Soundtrack Review: This is a review of the video game score Assassin’s Creed 3 by Lorne Balfe.

“Assassin’s Creed 3 has the best music of the series thus far and all thanks to Lorne Balfe.”

Assassin’s Creed is without a doubt one of the biggest franchises in gaming today. Assassin’s Creed III is the fifth game in the main series of games and twelve in total. The games are set in various periods in history and this is set between 1753 and 1783 (mostly) as the war between the assassins and the Knight Templars continue. This used to be Jesper Kyd’s baby, but it seems that Lorne Balfe has taken over as main composer of the series.

Track List

1. Assassin’s Creed III Main Theme	100
2. An Uncertain Present	80
3. Escape In Style	100
4. Welcome To Boston	80
5. Freedom Fighter	80
6. A Bitter Truth	100
7. Through The Frontier	80
8. Connor’s Life	100
9. Trouble In Town	100
10. Farewell	100
11. Homestead	100
12. The Battle Of Breed’s Hill	100
13. Speck Of Dust	80
14. Modern Assassin	100
15. Desmond’s Destiny	80
16. The Aquila	80
17. Fight Club	80
18. Eye Of The Storm	80
19. Temple Secrets	80
20. Beer And Friends	80
21. Battle At Sea	80
22. Breaching The Walls	80
23. Wild Instincts	100
24. What Came Before	100
25. Assassin’s Creed III Main Theme Variation	100

There have been numerous Assassin’s Creed games and it wasn’t until Revelations that composer Jesper Kyd got help from Lorne Balfe to create a massive 3 CD score. I have nothing against Jesper Kyd and I thought he did a great job with the series, but Lorne Balfe brought something new, something different to the franchise and that was something I really liked. It was perhaps a bit of epic-ness. Balfe’s melodies were really solid so in Assassin’s Creed 3 he got full control and I am happy to say that it has been a success.

Just listen to ‘Assassin’s Creed III Main Theme’ and you’ll immediately hear what most of the score is like. There is a sense of epic-ness that has been lacking from earlier games in the series. The way he can just use an instrument and let it linger just enough before he changes tone really has a great effect on various cues. Something he picked up from Hans Zimmer perhaps?

Conclusion

Assassin’s Creed 3 has the best music of the series thus far and all thanks to Lorne Balfe. He really is great at putting really good themes together and he can do wonderful action cues as well. There isn’t a single misplaced cue here and the 60+ minutes of music is exactly what I want to hear from this great video game series.

GEEK SCORE: 89.6