Buy it... if you itched to hear Michael Giacchino branch out from the John Williams mould in the first "Medal of Honor" score and start exploring his own styles with the same standard of high quality.

Avoid it... if the reason you enjoyed "Medal of Honor" was precisely because of its close stylistic similarities to Williams' music, for this subsequent entry explores more intimate territory.

Giacchino

Medal of Honor: Underground: (Michael Giacchino) The closing days of the 1990's heralded a new age in video game music. Traditionally classified as electronic garbage by the majority of orchestrally minded film and television score collectors, video game music began a slow, but sure experimentation in the orchestral realm during this time. The budgeting of such an allotment for the talent needed for a large-scale video game score began surfacing more often in the first few years of the next decade. By 2003, hearing grand, sweeping orchestral music while wasting away an afternoon on the computer or in front of the television console and playing a first-person game wasn't so outlandish. One of the key contributing factors to this trend in gaming music was Michael Giacchino's successful endeavors for Electronic Arts and Dreamworks Interactive's original "Medal of Honor" game in 1999. With an orchestral ensemble performing music that matched much of the intensity and construction of John Williams' similarly themed efforts in the genre for the big screen, Giacchino proved that not only could an orchestral score for a such a concept work, but that it should be a standard of excellence for video game production with the highest expectations from adult players. The fact that several of the cues in the first "Medal of Honor" score were mirror images of Williams' style didn't seem to matter in retrospect, given how refreshing the sound was (especially compared to Williams' shift at the time towards more somber tones in his own work). It was not unexpected that the young and rising talent would return to score the sequels to "Medal of Honor," and "Medal of Honor: Underground" was the second chapter in a string of efforts for the genre that would span five games and two production houses over the following few years. After being re-hired as the franchise composer, Giacchino insisted on the same performing group, the Northwest Sinfonia of Seattle, but also a moderate chorale of 25 boys' voices to add yet another layer of emotion to his work. The resulting music pleased and impressed the game's producers and players once again.

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The plot of "Medal of Honor: Underground" involves the efforts of women in the French Resistance during World War II and thus requires less of the full-scale combat music that was evident in the first game's score. More subtle performances, including appropriate insertions of the underpowered, though effective choir, offer a less epic, but more thoughtful tone than its predecessor. The performances for this recording aren't quite as accurate in the brass section as in the previous game. The noble title theme for the series is left by the wayside (due to the lack of the primary character or his American forces in this entry), though the Nazi motif returns for the sequel (including a performace in the first thirty seconds). With fewer bold elements in "Medal of Honor: Underground," the listener is less reminded of Williams' music, though there still exist several stylistic references to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, among other 1980's works of the master. Giacchino's inclination is still to steer close to the rhythmic patterns of Williams' layering of brass and timpani, but it is not as readily obvious this time around. For those who greatly enjoyed the original "Medal of Honor," this may come as a disappointment, but then again, Giacchino does paint more of his own emotional canvas for the sequel. To represent the French culture and location, Giacchino introduces an accordion in the opening cue, a loving gesture towards the romantic elements of the story's premise, though the instrument sadly disappears thereafter, missing an opportunity to further enhance the personality and distinctiveness of this score over the others in the series. The subtle early cues develop into more ambitious, recognizable action music in the latter half of the album. On that product (with initially limited availability, commercially), a generous hour of Giacchino's music is presented, followed by a decent, original period song performed by female voice. The album once again offers some specialty tracks at its conclusion, with a radio broadcast complete with sound effects and a hidden one-minute track of dialogue and music from the game. Overall, "Medal of Honor: Underground" is a different listening experience compared to the entries that came before and after, but it maintains a standard of quality that outshines nearly all others in the video game genre. ****

Bias Check:

For Michael Giacchino reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.6 (in 11 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.39 (in 6,229 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.