Soundtracks can make or break a game. For adrenaline-fuelled, nail-biting action, nothing works better than some heavy riffs and pounding drums to match players’ thumping hearts as they fight through swarms of zombies, fight against evil, and face the final bosses to claim their victory.
Heavy metal has truly earned its place within the world of gaming. Whether they’re golden oldies featuring rock and riffs like Duke Nukem, or more recent games such as Metal: Hellsinger, there are plenty of ways to enjoy the heavier side of gaming. Add some special heavy metal celebrity cameos into the mix, and it makes the rock and metal aspect of gaming all the more entertaining.
Updated October 1, 2022 by Lucas Olah: The show must go on. Rock and Metal are important parts of many people's lives, and nothing is going to change that. This means that more games use these genres throughout their stories, some even being molded by them. With that said, it was only a matter of time that a list such as this one would need to be updated, with more games that show us the beauty of both Rock and Metal. From new entries in the gaming world to older pieces that were not considered the first time around, here are a few games for us headbangers to enjoy.
15 Metal: Hellsinger
With a silent demon on a quest to recover her stolen voice, this game combines everything you could need from Metal culture. Demons, Hell, a quest to face the Devil themself, and combat that mixes with music.
You fight your enemies in the first person using both melee and ranged weapons, and your damage increases when synchronizing your attacks to the beat of the music, adding flair to its gameplay. You can expect songs from Lamb of God, Trivium, Serj Tankian, and more.
14 Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy
The Guardians of the Galaxy offers an interesting mix of what the MCU does with the comics, creating a game with a powerful story, good humor, and extremely well-written characters. Following the MCU inspiration, this game offers a vast list of songs from the past, which even play when using special abilities.
Many impactful scenes of the game also featured licensed music, and if that is not enough for you, the game also has a full original album from a fictional band named Star-Lord, and their songs are amazing as well, mixing along the licensed scores perfectly.
13 Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 + 2
This one is actually representing the series since most entries play some absolute bangers when it comes to Rock. Tony Hawk has a huge legacy of games along with his career, and the first two, who are still considered some of the best the series has to offer, were remade and put together.
Sadly, not every song from the original games returned, but that doesn't take away from the fun you can have when playing and listening to this game.
12 The Guitar Hero And Rock Band Series
Both of these entire series deserve to be mentioned as a whole. Though they sadly do not have the same level of fame they once did, these series were a fever back in the sixth and seventh generation of consoles (from PlayStation 2 to 3 and to Xbox 360). You could live the fantasy of starting your own garage band and playing through countless songs, even going as far as having entries dedicated to specific bands, such as Aerosmith and Metallica.
Later entries even gave you the experience of playing other instruments and not just the guitar. Nowadays, it'll be hard to find the instrument controllers they used to have, but you can still have a lot of fun with a simple joystick.
11 Brütal Legend
Players enter a new world entirely based on heavy metal, gore, and headbanging galore in Brutal Legend. Playing as Eddie (voiced by Jack Black), this game is a full-throttle love song to heavy metal from Tim Schafer, featuring a brutal atmospheric soundtrack by Peter McConnell (who also composed the soundtracks for games such as Psychonauts and Grim Fandango).
The rest of the soundtrack contains over 100 tracks from a huge range of metal artists, from Megadeth to Mirrorthrone and everything in between. You’ll also recognize celebrity voice talent cameos from metal legends like Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy Kilmister (Motorhead), and Rob Halford (Judas Priest).
10 Doom
The Doom series has always been famous for its raw, gritty metal soundtrack as the perfect complement to its gory, violent gameplay, so it comes as no surprise that Doom is a strong contender on this list.
Doom Eternal kicks things up to eleven with an electronic metal soundtrack composed by Mick Gordon, who also worked on Doom 2016 and the Wolfenstein series. Melee and metal have always gone hand-in-hand in video games, and adding in a bunch of bloodthirsty demons really amps up the adrenaline to the next level.
9 Prince Of Persia: Warrior Within
The second installment of the Prince of Persia franchise needed a heavier, grittier soundtrack to suit the more intense in-game themes of despair and destiny. And boy, did Stuart Chatwood give us that in bucketfuls.
Working with Inon Zur (who composed the soundtracks for the Dragon Age and Fallout series, as well as Bethesda's upcoming game Starfield), this dream team cooked up some great metal tracks, setting the edgy tone for the Prince’s desperate fight against the Dahaka to change his destiny. Not to mention, the band Godsmack lent a few tracks to the game, with I Stand Alone and Straight Out Of Line.
8 Valfaris
A 2019 indie pixel graphics platformer, Valfaris features brutal combat and blasting heavy metal beats as players journey through the far corners of space. With a soundtrack composed and recorded by former Celtic Frost guitarist Curt Victor Bryant, it’s easy to see why this game’s music was so well-received by both critics and players.
Playing as a flamethrower-wielding mutant of muscle blasting his way through the 2D space-themed levels, all with a fitting background of metal riffs, guns, and gore, Valfaris proves that a great soundtrack can go a long, long way.
7 Quake
.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=740&dpr=1.5)
There’s something about a dark fantasy FPS that almost requires a metal-inspired soundtrack. With music composed by Nine Inch Nail’s Trent Reznor, Quake ticks every box for raw, edgy, and electronic metal sounds to set you in the mood for adrenaline-fueled shootouts.
This original shooter has players blasting mutated ogres and twisted creatures through castles, medieval bases, lava dungeons, and more. With Quake now available on PC and consoles, players can enjoy this iconic soundtrack without needing to time-travel back to 1996 to fully appreciate it.
6 Coffee Crisis
This indie beat-em-up brawler passed mostly under the radar when it was originally released in 2018. One factor that you definitely can’t ignore though - that soundtrack. Featuring original heavy metal soundtracks from Pittsburgh-based band Greywalker, the thrash metal backing perfectly ties in with the Streets Of Rage-esque pixel graphics and action-packed gameplay.
Not only do you hear the metal, but players must also save the metal from destruction in combat with aliens to protect the beloved Coffee House HQ. There are also some cameos from metal bands including Nile, Terrorizer, Lords of the Trident, and Psychostick.
5 Halo 2
.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=740&dpr=1.5)
As well as that intro theme, Halo 2 has so much to offer for great heavy music in its soundtrack. Paired perfectly with orchestral numbers from Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori, this 2004 FPS also features original songs from bands including Incubus, Hoobastank, and Breaking Benjamin.
Additional guitar sounds in the choral introduction theme were created and produced by Grammy award-winner Steve Vai. Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger even went on to say that "Halo is the only video game that ever inspired us to write a whole suite [of music].” Praise indeed.
4 Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
If electronic, industrial metal is your bag, this game will be everything you’re looking for and more. Featuring heavy riffs from metal singers like John Bush (Armored Saint, ex-Anthrax), and metal guitarist Logan Mader (ex-Machine Head), there’s a huge surplus of talent involved in the making of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance’s soundtrack.
Taking place four years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 4, players take the role of Raiden, a half-cyborg half-human ninja, taking down enemies with his High-Frequency katana blade.
3 Killing Floor 2
Players, fans, and Redditors alike have always rated the Killing Floor soundtrack extremely highly, and Killing Floor 2 is no exception. As players team up to fight the mutant hordes of enemies known as Zeds, they can enjoy heavy, thrashing guitar riffs to neatly blend in with the sound of bullets as they engage in brutal melee combat to save humanity.
The original soundtrack features music written by zYnthetic, as well as guest appearances from metal artists such as Rocky Gray (Evanescence, Living Sacrifice), and members of Demon Hunter and Living Sacrifice. With a library of licensed songs from bands like Impending Doom and Fit For A King, players are always kept on the edge of their seats.
2 Splatterhouse
Fans of old-school horror games will love Splatterhouse. This beat-em-up arcade game from Namco pits players against zombies and other nasty creatures as mask-wearing Rick, who must save his girlfriend Jennifer from a grisly end.
With music from bands like Five Finger Death Punch, Lamb of God, and Mastodon, it’s a metalhead’s dream playlist to enjoy slicing and dicing in this horror-themed side-scrolling platformer. Splatterhouse has also just ported to Nintendo Switch, meaning any players who enjoyed horror games like Friday The 13th have a chance to give this retro game a go.
1 Twisted Metal
Evil clowns meets Mad Max-style racing? You bet. The Twisted Metal series is famous for its energetic car combat, and what better to push the pedal to the metal with than… well, metal.
As well as original tracks recorded by members of Primus and Buckethead, there’s a vast array of licensed songs to rock out to from well-known artists such as Rob Zombie, Iggy Pop, and Wolfmother. With rumors of a new Twisted Metal game in the works, as well as a potential TV show from the writers of Deadpool and Zombieland, it’s exciting to see what other metal masterpieces can come from this franchise in the future.