1 Hearts of Iron 4: Battle for the Bosphorus DLC Original Soundtrack – The End of the War | Andreas Waldetoft
Taking the top spot is the OST from Hearts of Iron 4’s newest DLC, Battle for the Bosphorus, which focuses on Turkey (and Bulgaria and Greece) during the WWII era. The End of the War makes good use of both Turkish and European styles of music and hits the listener with the ambiguous future the young republic could walk into depending on their gameplay. Hearing saz and violins at the same time highlights the in-between condition the country was in and that you, the player, will determine what instruments will be heard in the coming years.
2 Battlefield 1 Original Soundtrack – Dawn of a New Time (Zajdi Zajdi) | Aliye Mutlu
When BF1 was first announced in 2016, many Turks were quite excited to finally see their country’s history in a AAA title. Whether the game met that expectation is debatable, but its musical brilliance is not. The song, Zajdi Zajdi, is featured at the end of The Runner plotline and does a perfect job at setting the atmosphere, it even has lyrics that are reminiscent of A Ballad for Çanakkale, a famous Turkish folk song about a soldier marching to death during the Gallipoli campaign, which is where the story of The Runner takes place.
“My youth, forest – my sister,
It’s not coming back”
-Lyrics from Zajdi Zajdi
“Mothers and fathers abandoned hope, oh, my youth, alas!”
-Lyrics from A Ballad for Çanakkale
3 Civilization VI Original Soundtrack – Ottoman Atomic Era | Geoff Knorr & Phill Boucher
Civilization is a game with many great soundtracks dedicated to all available nations in the game. Once you reach the Atomic/Information Era as the Ottomans in the latest instalment of the game, you can hear a combination of two classical Mehter hymns (Yelkenler Biçilecek & Ey büt-i nev edâ olmuşum müptelâ). With strings and brass instruments added to the original pieces, the hymns become intensified renditions of the Mehter hymns. Although it isn’t entirely a unique take, it still enhances your gaming experience if you like to hear something to boost your world conquest.
Other great examples of Turkish music in games:
4 Hearts of Iron 4: Battle for the Bosporus DLC Original Soundtrack – The Black Sea | Andreas Waldetoft
5 Civilization V Original Soundtrack – Suleiman War Theme | Geoff Knorr & Phill Boucher
6 Assassin’s Creed Revelations Original Soundtrack – Istanbul | Jesper Kyd
7 Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition Original Soundtrack – The Ottomans | Stephen Rippy, Kevin McMullan, Stan LePard
