Music

Overview

There are few things in City of Heroes that set the mood more than the short pieces of music that play as you move about the city. Nearly every neighborhood in every zone has unique music that clearly identifies where you are, even without seeing what's on the screen.

The styles of music used vary widely, and range 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 makes 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 (such as Faultline and Rikti War Zone) have made use of these updated sounds.

Reused Music

Although there is a large amount of unique music found throughout the game, there are several neighborhoods that use musical cues which have slight differences from or are exact duplicates of those used elsewhere. Listed below are examples of the neighborhoods that use identical or similar music. They are sorted by the earliest zone/neighborhood in which the music is used, or by the first zone that uses the most complete version. If there are no notes after a secondary listing then it uses the identical version as the primary one.

Atlas Park / Atlas Plaza

Galaxy City / Freedom Court -- longer version

Atlas Park / Prometheus Park

Galaxy City / Gemini Park

Atlas Park / Chiron Medical Center

Skyway City / LaGrange Medical Center -- longer version

Galaxy City / Constellation Row

Firebase Zulu / Point X-Ray -- longer version

Galaxy City / Cygnus Medical Center

Kings Row / Crowne Memorial

Steel Canyon / Steel Canyon Medical Center

Faultline / Overbrook Medical Center

Independence Port / Bell Medical Center -- shorter, similar version

Talos Island / Phoenix Medical Center

Founders' Falls / Harvey Medical Center -- similar version

Peregrine Island / Aquarius Medical Center

Sewer Network / Atlas Park Sector

Eden / The Utopia Complex

Abandoned Sewer Network / Atlas Park Sector

Sewer Network / Kings Row Sector

Abandoned Sewer Network / Kings Row Sector

Sewer Network / Skyway City Sector

Abandoned Sewer Network / Skyway City Sector

Sewer Network / Underworld

Perez Park / Hell's Highway

Crey's Folly / The Blight

Rikti War Zone / Bloody Lane

Abandoned Sewer Network / Underworld

The Chantry / Bastion of Pain

Sewer Network / Steel Canyon Sector

Abandoned Sewer Network / Steel Canyon Sector

Sewer Network / Boomtown Sector

The Hollows / Grendel's Gulch

Rikti War Zone / Sunken Road

Abandoned Sewer Network / Boomtown Sector

St. Martial / The Flush -- unused longer version

Kings Row / Aqueduct

Atlas Park / Downside -- shorter version

Kings Row / Industrial Avenue

Independence Port / Justice Quay

Kings Row / Royal Refinery

Rikti War Zone / The Bulge

Firebase Zulu / Point Victor -- similar version 1, added intro

St. Martial / Turtle Spit -- unused similar version 2, added intro

Perez Park / Bettis Hills

The Hollows / Eastgate Park

Talos Island / The Serpent's Teeth -- similar, shorter version

Striga Isle / The Bogg -- same as Talos Island version

Perez Park / Perez Park

Croatoa / The Misty Wood -- extended version

Steel Canyon / Bronze Way

Eden / Adeva Towers

Peregrine Island / Curry Cove

Firebase Zulu / Point Sierra

Port Oakes / Villa Montrose -- extended version

Steel Canyon / Gimry Ridge

Dark Astoria / Romero Heights -- similar, shorter version

Steel Canyon / Platinum Lake

Founders' Falls / Louis Forest -- omit rhythm, added animal sounds

Steel Canyon / Royal Overlook

Striga Isle / The Maw

Skyway City / Land of the Lost

Striga Isle / The Wolf's Throat

Terra Volta / Raysun Petroleum

Sharkhead Isle / The Crush -- similar, longer version

Independence Port / Bell Point

The Hollows / Eastgate Heights

Peregrine Island / Poseidon Square

The Storm Palace / Lock of Fury

Independence Port / Crey Cove

Perez Park / Gaiman Woods -- added animal sounds

Dark Astoria / Barca Plaza -- longer, added background effects

Brickstown / Dark Waters

Founders' Falls / Hutchinson Park -- longer, added bird sounds

The Chantry / Bastion of Shame -- same as Dark Astoria version

Independence Port / Industry Pier

Brickstown / Prison Power Station

The Chantry / Path of Rage -- longer version with intro

Independence Port / Liberty Quay

Striga Isle / Council Base -- extended version

Firebase Zulu / Firebase November

Nerva Archipelago / Agincourt -- longer version

Talos Island / CirceIsland

Nerva Archipelago / Primeva -- longer version

Talos Island / Eleusis

Nerva Archipelago / Thorn Isle -- longer version

Talos Island / Ithaca Island

Croatoa / Salamanca -- extended version

Talos Island / New Thebes

Croatoa / Sunset Ridge -- extended version with intro

Dark Astoria / Dido's View

Eden / Arcadia

Dark Astoria / Toffet Terrace

The Chantry / Chantry

Terra Volta / Coroman Manufacturing

Cap au Diable / Mount Diable -- similar, longer version

Terra Volta / Rogers Industries

Sharkhead Isle / The Pit -- unused longer version

Terra Volta / Walker Energy

The Hollows / Cherry Hills

Independence Port / Power Island -- slower, shorter version

Peregrine Island / Nelson Borough

Croatoa / The Grim Vale

Bloody Bay / The Forgotten Forest

Brickstown / The Chasm

Striga Isle / Port Noble

Peregrine Island / Bayside Docks

Brickstown / Mashu Bridge

Port Oakes / Arena District -- longer version

Brickstown / Seven Gates

Striga Isle / Bonny Morass -- longer, added animal sounds

Peregrine Island / Mera Heights

The Storm Palace / Path of Madness -- longer version

Brickstown / The Ziggurat

Rikti War Zone / Pavia -- added intro effect

Cascade Archipelago / Tyrant's Rock -- slightly longer version

The Storm Palace / Lock of Destruction -- extended version

Breakout / The Yard -- longer version

Pocket D / Hero Lobby 1 -- longer version

Pocket D / Hero Lobby 2 -- muffled version of Hero Lobby 1

Founders' Falls / The Red River

The Hollows / The Red River

Crey's Folly / Crey Factories

Sharkhead Isle / Hell Forge -- unused longer version

Crey's Folly / Paragon Water Works

Peregrine Island / Cutlass Isles

Monster Island / Cutlass Isles

Crey's Folly / Carnival Town

The Storm Palace / Lock of Anger -- longer version

Peregrine Island / Tempest Quay

The Chantry / Bastion of Denial

Monster Island / Tempest Quay

Mercy Island / Fort Cerberus

Recluse's Victory / Sector 2

Port Oakes / Dockside

Pocket D / Villain Lobby 1 -- similar version

Pocket D / Villain Lobby 2 -- muffled version of Villain Lobby 1

Port Oakes / Fort Hades

Warburg / Warburg

Port Oakes / Marconeville

Faultline / Overbrook Dam

Cap au Diable / Haven

Grandville / The Fab

Bloody Bay / Freedom Base

Warburg / Hero Base

Sharkhead Isle / Hell Forge

Faultline - Aftershock

Sharkhead Isle / The Pit

Faultline - Arachnos Dig Site

Warburg / Villain Base

Grandville / Spider City

Grandville / The Tangle

Recluse's Victory / Sector 4

Unused and Alternate Music

Some neighborhood music cues have alternate unused versions or were omitted completely from the game. The list below highlights some of these.

Atlas Park

Downside -- unused

Steel Canyon

Fool's Gold District -- unused

Faultline (pre-issue 8)

Aftershock -- removed in Issue 8

Dark Canyons -- removed in Issue 8

Downfall -- removed in Issue 8

Precipice -- removed in Issue 8

Reservoir -- removed in Issue 8

Subduction -- removed in Issue 8

Faultline (issue 8)

New Overbrook -- extended version

New Overbrook -- unused alternate version

New Overbrook -- unused New Age version

New Overbrook -- longer Oriental version looped in Mr. Yin's store

Dark Astoria

Moth Cemetery -- unused loop

St. Elegius -- unused

The Chantry

Bastion of Regret -- unused

Bastion of Sorrow -- unused

Breakout

Arachnos Pilot -- unused

Mercy Island

Fort Darwin -- unused alternate version

Mercy -- unused alternate version

Port Oakes

Dockside -- unused alternate version

Fort Blood -- unused

Marconeville -- unused alternate version

Villa Montrose -- unused alternate version

Cap au Diable

Devil's Coat Tails -- unused alternate version

Haven -- unused alternate version

New Haven -- unused alternate version

Sharkhead Isle

Hell Forge -- unused alternate version

The Pit -- unused alternate version

St. Martial

Double Down -- unused longer version

The Flush -- unused

Turtle Spit -- unused

Miscellaneous Unused Music

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Zone1

Zone2

Zone4

Zone5

Zone7

Zone11

Zone12

Zone13

Zone14

Zone17

Zone18

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

Bianco's Italian Cuisine -- Stand outside the restaurant door at (881, 31, -1830) in New Overbrook to hear this music.

El Super Mexicano -- Stand outside the restaurant door at (1088, 31, -1537) in New Overbrook to hear this music.

Grandville

Lord Recluse Voice-over -- This is the speech that loops in the main entrance to Grandville

Dev Prison -- This music can 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.

Miscellaneous

Hero Title Screen -- This is the music that loops on the City of Heroes login screen.

Hero Mission Complete -- This is the music that plays when a Hero completes a mission.

Villain Title Screen -- This is the music that loops on the City of Villains login screen.

Villain Mission Complete -- This is the music that plays when a Villain completes a mission.

Zombie Stinger -- This music is heard when a Zombie invasion begins in a zone.