It’s a dark day for music lovers, for both fans who grew up listening to Linkin Park today and new members of the band’s extended family as well as the other band members and loved ones, as lead singer Chester Bennington has passed away. Bennington was responsible for a good part of the band’s iconic sound, combining both melodic and rap elements together to release some of the most memorable albums of the early 2000s and beyond. Bennington was 41, and in the time he’s been with the nu-metal band Linkin Park, he and his bandmates have made several contributions to the gaming world.
With respect to Chester’s family and the rest of the band, we give our greatest condolences for this unexpected and devastating loss. With that said, Chester left along several bright spots to be thankful for, namely in the gaming realm, so let’s take a look back at some of his and the band’s work in celebration of his life and the music he helped bring us.
8-Bit Rebellion
8-Bit Rebellion was a music and rhythm mobile game from Linkin Park that featured an evil corporation known as PixxelKorp, who has stolen the band’s music. You along with your friends were tasked with getting it back, all the while listening to the band’s hits and hanging out in a virtual space with 8-bit sprites and other cool illustrations. It even featured adorable 8-bit renditions of some of the band’s greatest hits like “One Step Closer” and “Crawling.” It was clearly a love letter to fans of retro gaming, and as a collaboration between the band and mobile developer Artificial Life it was a surprisingly fun adventure to take with you on the go.
Medal of Honor “The Catalyst” Trailer
Linkin Park’s tune “The Catalyst” was featured in the promotional trailer for Medal of Honor, featured from the band’s album A Thousand Suns. It made for a high-octane trailer for a game that unfortunately wasn’t as critically-acclaimed as others out there in the genre. As far as trailers for games based on war go, it was a gripping piece of cinematography that fit well with the track, and fans were excited to hear the song in a triple-A game’s promotional video.
“Guilty All The Same” and Project Spark
Linkin Park’s “Guilty All The Same” project was a music video and video game combined into one, made entirely with Project Spark. It made for a six-minute game video that showed off everything the title was capable of, completely playable if you had Project Spark available to you. Fans could change up both the song and video itself as they pleased within Project Spark itself, and Bennington’s vocals made for an interesting, stark environment as well as soundtrack for the short vignette.
Linkin Park Recharge
This free-to-play puzzler debuted in 2013 as a game meant to remind people about the areas in the world that don’t have a reliable source of power. Including the song “A Light That Never Comes,” which was unlocked in-game from players getting to 10 million MWh, it allowed players to become heroes and collect clean energy to share with the world. The band was featured in prominent promotion for the game, again featuring Chester’s vocals in the song and helping to provide aid for the charity Music for Relief and its environmental initiative Power the World.
Thank you for the music, Chester, and thank you to Linkin Park. Rest in peace.
