10

Destiny

contains Destiny (2014) | Destiny 2 (2017)

Year: 2014-2017
Composer(s): Michael Salvatori; C. Paul Johnson; Martin O’Donnell; Paul McCartney; Skye Lewin; Rotem Moav; Pieter Schlosser
5 star tracks: 13

I checked in this score after it had been mentioned positively several times and because Bungie as the development team was also responsible for the aforementioned Halo-series. What can I say? Expectations fulfilled, but unfortunately not exceeded. With a few atmospheric tracks, it's only good enough for 10th place in this list for composers Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori, but that's still something.

9

Command & Conquer

contains Command & Conquer: Red Alert (1996) | Command & Conquer 2: Tiberian Sun (1999) | Command & Conquer: Generäle – Die Stunde Null (2002) | Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (2007)

Year: 1996-2007
Composer(s): Frank Klepacki; Jarrid Mendelson; Bill Brown; Mikael Sandgren; Steve Jablonsky; Trevor Morris
5 star tracks: 14

What I loved about this series: building, commanding, destroying. All at a crisp RTS pace, in an unused setting and with plenty of self-irony. Plus a soundtrack that fluctuates between mystically oppressive and electric guitar screeching and gets the blood boiling? Actually a guarantee for a high ranking. But unfortunately, background music is rarely dominant enough to shine on its own.

8

Supreme Commander

contains Supreme Commander (2007) | Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance (2007) | Supreme Commander 2 (2010)

Year: 2007-2010
Composer(s): Jeremy Soule; Howard Mostrom
5 star tracks: 14

Same can be said about Supreme Commander which, with its huge battles, brought the childish dream of world domination within reach. The soundtrack by composer Jeremy Soule perfectly captures the epic scale of the conflict. The military character harmonizes perfectly with the future setting, but was unfortunately continued less gloriously in the sequel by Howard Mostrom. As a result, one game almost single-handedly manages to lift the entire franchise to a well-deserved 7th place.

7

Anno

contains Anno 2070 (2011) | Anno 2205 (2015)

Year: 2012-2015
Composer(s): Dynamedion
5 star tracks: 18

I must admit that I cheated a bit with this one. After all, the Anno-series is traditionally rather unknown for its future setting, but its more or less peaceful settlement building from the 16th to the 19th century. The two rule breakers who move us to the years 2070 and 2205 were rather neglected by me, as the setting lacked the core aspect of the historically accurate chaining of goods.

What dampened my gaming experience was more than made up for by the soundtrack from German creative company Dynamedion. Both scores are beautiful to listen to and convey a hopeful and peaceful image of what awaits us in the future. And when it does come to conflict, the fight tracks are also convincing - a solid 7th place.

6

Earth

contains Earth 2150 (2000) | Earth 2160 (2005)

Year: 2000-2005
Composer(s): Maciej Pawłowski
5 star tracks: 19

A series propably noone remembers, named Earth, that for me began with Earth 2150was after Command & Conquer 2: Tiberian Sun my first real-time strategy experience - and not a bad one! At least the second game was able to inspire me with its innovative setting and the gigantic techtree, whereas the successor Earth 2160 unfortunately turned out to be a bad buy. Nevertheless, the music of both games has stuck in my memory and the franchise has climbed to 6th place.

5

Crysis

contains Crysis (2007) | Crysis: Warhead (2008) | Crysis 2 (2011) | Crysis 3 (2013)

Year: 2007
Composer(s): Inon Zur; Péter Antovszki; Borislav Slavov; Tilman Sillescu; Hans Zimmer; Lorne Balfe
5 star tracks: 19

I was actually looking forward to revisiting Crysis in the remaster. However, as this improved version will probably make PCs glow just as quickly as the original, I will have to remain patient. It's a shame really, as I consider the first two episodes with their nano-suit action and world-saving pathos to be some of the best shooter experiences. In hardly any other first-person shooter orgy one could complete missions so freely and creatively while feeling like a badass.

The fact that the whole thing was musically accompanied by top composers such as Inon Zur, Dynamedion and even film composer Hans Zimmer is the icing on the cake. A listening experience that, in my opinion, goes too much under the radar and only just misses out on the winner's podium in this list.

4

Halo

contains Halo 3 (2007) | Halo Wars (2009) | Halo 4 (2012) | Halo 5: Guardians (2015) | Halo Wars 2 (2017) | Halo Infinite (2021)

Year: 2007-2021
Composer(s): Martin O’Donnell; Michael Salvatori; Stephen Rippy; Neil Davidge; Kazuma Jinnouchi; Gordy Haab; Brian Trifon; Brian Lee White; Gareth Coker; Joel Corelitz; Curtis Schweitzer
5 star tracks: 20

There's not much that mus be said about Halo : The Xbox bandwagon is staged in such a bombastic and emotional way that it's almost a crime to only find it in 4th place here. In the end, it's the mass of content that puts it so high up on my list - and considering the previous game series, a 4th place is nothing to sneeze at.

3

Mass Effect

contains Mass Effect (2007) | Mass Effect 2 (2010) | Mass Effect 3 (2012) | Mass Effect: Andromeda (2017)

Year: 2007-2017
Composer(s): Jack Wall; Sascha Dikiciyan; Cris Velasco; Christopher Lennertz; John Paesano
5 star tracks: 38

Fucking Mass Effect. As I wrote in my review of the first Mass Effect , this franchise is pure sci-fi. And not just in terms of the story, gameplay and atmosphere, but also musically.

Jack Wall, who is largely responsible for the soundtrack, has managed to give this game series an unmistakable atmosphere. Every track, every theme feels unique, futuristic and yet approachable. Whether it's an action piece or a sad contemplation, my remaining hair almost always stands on end. The score of the Mass Effect-series to me is ultimate, the pinnacle of scripted entertainment. And even the weaker parts still have pieces that move me and therefore elevate this franchise to third place among the top 3 best sci-fi scores.

2

Star Trek

contains Star Trek: New Worlds (2000) | Star Trek: Starfleet Command II – Empires at War (2000) | Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force (2000) | Star Trek: Armada II (2001) | Star Trek: Bridge Commander (2002) | Star Trek: Starfleet Command III (2002) | Star Trek: Legacy (2006)

Year: 2000-2006
Composer(s): Julian Soule; Inon Zur; Kevin Schilder; Danny Pelfrey; Rod Abernethy; Jason Graves
5 star tracks: 40

Star Trek, one of the big franchises with 'Star' in its name, is only beaten into first place by one track and reaches silver in my list of the top 10 scores of sci-fi franchises with a total of 40 5-star titles. Perhaps this can be explained by the fact that I grew up watching many Star Trek-games or most of them had independent scores. This is because, unlike number 1, there is not one defining theme for this franchise, the fanbase is much more fragmented and not clearly divided into camps.

All the better that the music in the games sounds somewhat uniform and the different soundtracks create a feeling of togetherness. Recurring elements can often be recognized, a Legacy sounds similar to a Bridge Commander , while New Worlds fits right next to Starfleet Command. My Trekki- and gamer heart rejoyces, a 2nd place more than deserved. But one franchise still manages to take the crown.

1

Star Wars

contains Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003) | Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords (2004) | Star Wars: Republic Commando (2005) | Star Wars: Empire at War (2006) | Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (2008) | Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (2010) | Star Wars: The Old Republic (2011) | Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (2019) | Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (2023)

Year: 2003-2023
Composer(s): Jeremy Soule; Mark Griskey; Jesse Harlin; Frank Klepacki; Stephen Barton; Gordy Haab
5 star tracks: 41

How could it be otherwise, that Star Wars will emerge victorious from this competition? The sheer mass of games in the War amongst the Stars universe alone meant that the series had to appear on the podium. Although there are many games that contribute a few catchy tunes, two games are the real MVPs. The two outstanding Knight of the Old Republic-games together already contribute more 5 tracks than the entire Command & Conquer-series.

After that, there aren't many more original creations, since a lot of the scores are just remixes or adaptations of John Williams' well-known film works or simply don't reach the same quality. But with the new blossoming of the license, we are facing a content offensive that should also bear musical fruit. Because if I were to include the film and series OSTs in the ranking, Star Wars would be behind Star Trek! But for this list, it's George Lucas' sci-fi madness that finds its way to the top of this list and into the author's heart. Here's to many more great pieces and goosebump moments in galaxies far, far away!