Gaming: One Of Bioshock Infinite's Best Narrative Devices Is Its Music

Its old-timey twisting of pop tracks is one of my favourite ways a videogame has made use of licensed music.

Yes, I know the game is 13 years old at this point and old enough to have a social media account, but just in case: spoilers for BioShock Infinite's story below. You've been warned!

It's been a hot sec since I played BioShock Infinite now, but I'll never forget hearing the crooning of "I may not always love you…" drifting into my ears as barbershop quartet the Bee Sharps floated onto my screen, their a capella rendition of the Bee Gees' God Only Knows really selling the dreamy image of Columbia's city in the sky.

Welcome to Soundtrack Sunday, where a member of the PC Gamer team takes a look at a soundtrack from one of their favourite games—or a broader look at videogame music as a whole—offering their thoughts or asking for yours!

It's almost hypnotic in a way. Hell, maybe it was, because not once did I think to myself "Hmm, isn't it weird that a game set in 1912 is using a song that didn't release until over 50 years later?" I definitely should have thought that, because the way BioShock Infinite toys with real-world music is one of its coolest narrative devices.

That is to say that also, the song is also just a straight-up banger. Not one that's being played in clubs, mind, but a nice old-timey banger. I'm not exactly one to be listening to barbershop quartets and a capella covers in my spare time—I'd already served my time as a Glee fan at the turn of the decade—but I do recall absolutely rinsing this track for a brief spell after I first rolled credits.

It's got excellent vibes that help establish the tone of Columbia—or at least what BioShock Infinite wants you to think Columbia is—but it still sits firmly in that weirdly unsettling limbo that has the back of your brain firing off alarm bells. Something is wrong, sure, but what exactly?

Licensed music in games is often used to help ground the game and its believability for both its setting and time period. GTA Vice City was filled with '80s bangers to really sell it to you, if Tommy's fuck-ass shirt wasn't enough of a giveaway. Sports games dip into a huge mix of modern tracks and old classics that feel authentic to the spirit of the game.

That's why I find it so interesting that listening to God Only Knows didn't ring any alarm bells. Look behind the veil and mist of four blokes in stripey suits, and it's out of place. Half a century out of place. But I think genre-switch aside, what m

Source: PC Gamer