Annie Norton

Date of Award

2017

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Clark, Maribeth

Area of Concentration

General Studies

Abstract

The aim of this thesis project is to study, analyze, and synthesize three subjects close to my heart: music, video games, and storyworld immersion. Video game soundtracks are the ideal union of these elements, based on the traditions of all three. The paper begins by drawing comparisons to film soundtracks, noting certain games with strong resemblances to cinema, followed by a discussion on the ways in which the two mediums differ. Special attention is given to topics like implementation and player feedback, since these are areas that differ from cinema the most, and the game series Dead Space is used as a case study here. Furthermore, the paper clarifies that games can have purposes beyond just story, and that soundtracks influence player immersion in non-narrative, competitive games too. Here the video games Hearthstone and Overwatch serve as case studies to explore the claim. Finally, I synthesize the knowledge of soundtracks I’ve gained from this project by detailing some of my envisioned soundscapes that I plan to construct moving forward from this thesis project.

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