Since its release nearly two weeks ago, the stealth action game Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain has attracted many positive reviews from both critics and ordinary gamers; it has even occasionally been described as the best Metal Gear game yet. As good as its visuals and gameplay are, however, it’s too easy to overlook how much the music has contributed to its appeal.
There is, for instance, a fun side-mission in which cassette tapes – the game is set in the 1980s, we should quickly add – can be discovered and collected for listening to later. The classic 1980s tunes on the tapes include Joy Division’s indie classic “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, Europe’s wonderfully OTT “The Final Countdown”, and “Kids in America” by the lovely Kim Wilde.
There are also original musical compositions on the soundtrack – including the brilliantly thumping title track, “The Phantom Pain”, by composer Ludvig Forssell. You can compose yourself – ahem – to pick up Metal Gear Solid V Original Soundtrack Selection on iTunes – but, first, why not read more about the game and its sounds in the new issue of AppleMagazine?