Music
Overview
There were few things in City of Heroes that set the mood more than the short pieces of music that played as you moved about the city. Nearly every neighborhood in every zone had unique music that clearly identified where you were, even without seeing what was on the screen.
The styles of music used varied widely, and ranged from soft pop and techno to hard rock and full orchestra. The music used for the original release of the game through Issue 5 consisted of fairly generic synthesized instruments and percussion, which made it more difficult to maintain uniqueness without sounding amateurish.
With the release of City of Villains and Issue 6, the palette of instruments and percussion was completely overhauled which allowed for more realistic and lush arrangements. All zones added or revamped since then (such as Faultline and Rikti War Zone) made use of those updated sounds.
The new music for the Praetorian zones in Going Rogue, and that which was added after Issue 18, was written by award-winning composer Jason Graves. It had a high level of thematic unity, with both melodic and rhythmic motives providing a more coherent immersion while playing through that content. One potential drawback to this composition method, however, was that it could be difficult to discern differences between pieces because they did all sound very similar.
After the shutdown of City of Heroes, a member of the Titan Forums converted the .ogg music files into MP3 format and made an archive available for download.
- A Note About Browsing This Page: Most browsers (Edge, Firefox, & Chrome) can play these .ogg audio files within the browser itself just by clicking on the file link. However, Apple's Safari web browser does not have a built-in player to listen to .ogg audio files. For ease of use, try using one of the other browsers mentioned above instead of Safari.
Neighborhood Listings
Hero Zones
This is a consolidated listing of each zone's neighborhoods and the music associated with them. Neighborhoods marked with an asterisk (*) were duplicated or modified from music elsewhere in the game. See the following section for details.
Zone | Neighborhood | Zone | Neighborhood | Zone | Neighborhood | Zone | Neighborhood |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Outbreak | Atlas Park (Pre-Issue 21) |
(Unused) |
Atlas Park | Echo: Galaxy City | |||
Sewer Network | Kings Row | The Hollows | Four Seasons (No Music) |
Perez Park | |||
Steel Canyon | (Unused) |
Skyway City | Aeria Plaza (No Music) Vista Plaza (No Music) The Gruff (No Music) |
Boomtown | Echo: Faultline | ||
Faultline | Independence Port | Talos Island | Striga Isle | ||||
Dark Astoria (Pre-Issue 22) |
(Unused) (Unused) |
Echo: Dark Astoria | St. Elegius (No Music) Moth Cemetery (No Music) |
Terra Volta | Croatoa | ||
Brickstown | Founders' Falls | Blackstone Hills (No Music) |
Crey's Folly | Eden | |||
Abandoned Sewer Network | Peregrine Island | Firebase Zulu | Tempest Sector (No Music) Point Tango (No Music) |
Cascade Archipelago | |||
The Chantry | (Unused) (Unused) |
The Storm Palace |
Villain Zones
Zone | Neighborhood | Zone | Neighborhood | Zone | Neighborhood | Zone | Neighborhood |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Breakout | Mercy Island {Pre-Issue 21) |
Mercy Island | Port Oakes | ||||
Cap au Diable | Bloody Bay | Sharkhead Isle | Siren's Call | ||||
Nerva Archipelago | St. Martial | Fortune's Wheel (No Music) |
Warburg | The WEB (No Music) |
Grandville | ||
Recluse's Victory | Monster Island |
Zone | Neighborhood | Zone | Neighborhood | Zone | Neighborhood | Zone | Neighborhood |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rikti War Zone | Pocket D | Ouroboros | Cimerora | ||||
Midnighter Club | Dark Astoria |
Praetorian Zones
Zone | Neighborhood | Zone | Neighborhood | Zone | Neighborhood |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nova Praetoria | Imperial City | (unused) |
Neutropolis | ||
Underground Nova | Underground Imperial | Underground Neutropolis | |||
First Ward | Night Ward |
Reused Music
Although there was a large amount of unique music found throughout the game, there were several neighborhoods that used musical cues which had slight differences from, or were exact duplicates of, those used elsewhere. Listed below are examples of the neighborhoods that used identical or similar music. They are sorted by the earliest zone/neighborhood in which the music was used, or by the first zone that used the most complete version. If there are no notes after a secondary listing then it used the identical version as the primary one.
- -- longer version
- -- longer version
- -- similar version
- -- longer version
- -- shorter, similar version
- -- similar version
- Abandoned Sewer Network / Atlas Park Sector
- The Hollows / Grendel's Gulch
- Abandoned Sewer Network / Boomtown Sector
- -- unused longer version
- Abandoned Sewer Network / Skyway City Sector
- -- unused extended version
- Abandoned Sewer Network / Steel Canyon Sector
- Abandoned Sewer Network / Underworld
- -- longer unused version
- -- similar version 1, added intro
- -- unused similar version 2, added intro
- The Hollows / Eastgate Park
- -- similar, shorter version
- -- same as Talos Island version
- -- extended version
- -- similar version
- -- extended version
- -- extended version
- -- similar extended version
- -- omit rhythm, added animal sounds
- -- similar to Dark Astoria version
- Striga Isle / The Maw
- Striga Isle / The Wolf's Throat
- -- similar, longer version
- -- similar extended version
- -- similar extended version
- The Hollows / Eastgate Heights
- -- added animal sounds
- -- longer, added background effects
- -- longer, added bird sounds
- -- same as Dark Astoria version
- -- added atmosphere
- Abandoned Sewer Network / Kings Row Sector -- same as Sewer Network version
- -- longer version with intro
- -- extended version
- -- longer version
- -- longer version
- -- longer version
- -- unused similar version
- -- extended version
- -- extended version with intro
- -- added intro
- -- similar, longer version
- -- unused longer version
- -- longer version
- The Hollows / Cherry Hills
- -- slower, shorter version
- -- different intro
- Warburg / Hero Base -- same as Bloody Bay version
- Striga Isle / Port Noble
- -- longer version
- -- longer, added animal sounds
- -- longer version
- -- added intro effect
- -- slightly longer version
- -- extended version
- -- longer version
- -- longer version
- -- muffled version of Hero Lobby 1
- The Hollows / The Red River
- -- omit bells, extended slower version
- -- unused version, added intro
- -- unused longer version
- Monster Island / Cutlass Isles
- -- longer version
- -- extended version
- -- unused longer version
- Monster Island / Tempest Quay
- -- shorter, unused version
- Faultline / Overflow
- Bloody Bay / Arachnos Base
- Recluse's Victory / Sector 2
- -- similar version
- -- muffled version of Villain Lobby 1
- Warburg / Warburg
- Siren's Call / Buildville
-- unused version
- Bloody Bay / Water Street -- unused version
- -- shorter version
- Faultline / Overbrook Dam
- Bloody Bay / Water Street
- Grandville / The Fab
- -- unused longer version
- -- unused similar version
- Faultline / Aftershock
- Faultline / Arachnos Dig Site
- -- shorter version
- Grandville / Spider City
- Recluse's Victory / Sector 4
- Echo: Dark Astoria / Barca Plaza
- Echo: Dark Astoria / Dido's View
- Echo: Dark Astoria / Raimi Arcade
- Echo: Dark Astoria / Romero Heights
- Echo: Dark Astoria / Toffet Terrace
Unused and Alternate Music
Some neighborhood music cues had alternate unused versions or were omitted completely from the game. The list below highlights some of these.
Atlas Park
- -- unused
Steel Canyon
- -- unused
Faultline (Pre-Issue 8)
- -- removed in Issue 8
- -- removed in Issue 8
- -- removed in Issue 8
- -- removed in Issue 8
- -- removed in Issue 8
- -- removed in Issue 8
Faultline (Issue 8)
- -- extended version
- -- unused alternate version
- -- unused New Age version
- -- longer Oriental version looped in Mr. Yin's store
Dark Astoria (Pre-Issue 22)
- -- unused loop
- -- unused
The Chantry
- -- unused
- -- unused
Bloody Bay
- -- unused alternate version
- -- unused alternate version
Breakout
- -- unused
- -- unused
Mercy Island
- -- unused alternate version
- -- unused alternate version
Port Oakes
- -- unused alternate version
- -- unused
- -- unused alternate version
- -- unused alternate version
- -- unused alternate version
Cap au Diable
- -- unused alternate version
- -- unused alternate version
- -- unused alternate version
Sharkhead Isle
- -- unused alternate version
- -- unused alternate version
St. Martial
- -- unused longer version
- -- unused
- -- unused
Imperial City
- -- unused
- -- unused
- -- unused
Pocket D
- -- used in missions
- -- muffled version of above
Miscellaneous Unused Music
BoomBox Tracks
This list includes the different tracks that could be selected when using the BoomBox emote. Lo-Fi versions of the tracks were implemented in Issue 17 to more accuractely simulate the sound quality from a real boombox.
Altitude | ||
Beat | ||
Catch Me | ||
Dance | ||
ElectroVibe | ||
Disco Freak | ||
Dog Walk | ||
Heavy Dude | ||
Info Overload | ||
Jumpy | ||
Kick It | ||
Looker | ||
Meaty | ||
Notorious | ||
Move On | ||
Peace | ||
Quickie | ||
Raver | ||
Shuffle | ||
Spaz | ||
Technoid | ||
Venus | ||
Wah Wah | ||
Wind It Up | ||
Yellow |
Mission Music
Going Rogue and Combat
These tracks were first introduced in Issue 18 and continued to be used through sunset. They typically were featured during boss fights in missions, or accompanied with tense storytelling moments. The zone name for each file does not imply that it was used exclusively for content in that area. For example, Who Will Die Episode 5 used Underground4_D during the fight after the cutscene.
Zone | General Combat | Other Mission Use | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nova Praetoria | |||||
Imperial City | |||||
Neutropolis | |||||
The Underground |
Incarnate Trials
These looped tracks were introduced in Issue 20 for use as background music during Incarnate Trials. The "A" and "B" tracks were released first, while the "C" tracks were added with Issue 21.5.
"High" Loops | |||
"Low" Loops |
Mood Music
These tracks were used in missions, usually just inside the opening area to set the mood. The first wave of them were introduced in Issue 6, while more came in Issue 18. Many of the Issue 6 tracks were looped versions of other music previously used for city zones, but most of them were unused overall.
Issue 6 | Issue 18 | Issue 24 |
---|---|---|
Cutscene Music
These tracks were used in the various cutscenes which played in missions, task forces, and trials later in the game. They were generally first started to be used in Issue 18, and continued up to the last Issue 24 beta.
Incarnate Trials
- Death Incarnate () () ()
Signature Story Arcs
- Sig Story Arc 05 () () ()
- Sig Story Arc 06 () () ()
Task Forces
Morality Choices
Story Arcs
- Clone Death () () ()
- Protean () () ()
- Rage Quit () () ()
Special Events
Easter Eggs and Obscure Music
This final list includes music cues which a player would typically have to go to a specific spot to be able to hear.
Faultline
- -- Stand outside the restaurant door at (881, 31, -1830) in New Overbrook to hear this music.
- -- Stand near the jukebox in the Cryptic Lounge to hear this music.
- -- Stand outside the restaurant door at (1088, 31, -1537) in New Overbrook to hear this music.
Grandville
- -- This was the speech that looped in the main entrance to Grandville.
- -- This music could be heard coming from the restrooms in the Dev Prison room hidden in the tunnels of Grandville. It is an altered version of the old standard Moon River, with some PG-rated sound effects added.
- -- This music could also be heard in the Dev Prison.
Imperial City
- -- This music could be heard while inside the C.D.E.C. building.
- -- This "spoken" loop could sometimes be heard outside the TPN building.
- -- This music could be heard while inside Studio 55.
First Ward
- -- This was the "breathing" noise made by The Seed of Hamidon as it flew around First Ward.
Miscellaneous
- Title Screen Music
- Character Creation Screen Music
- Mission Completion Music
- -- This music was never used in-game, but was frequently used as background music for early promotional videos.
- -- This music looped while you used the "Jingle Jet" temp power during a Winter Event.
- -- This music looped in the area of the Carnival of Shadows tent setup on mission and zone maps.
- -- This music was heard when a Zombie invasion began in a zone.
- -- This music was heard when a Deadly Apocalypse began in a zone.
- -- This was heard when a Deadly Apocalypse ended.
- -- This was heard when approaching the sonic barrier surrounding the Praetorian zones.