Sumthing Else

Game Music, Reviews

Dark Void Soundtrack: Condemned to the Void? (Review)

February 12, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 6 Comments Share this

We’ve been talking a lot about Dark Void on the site. We can’t agree more with composer Bear McCreary’s assessment of Western game music while also sharing love for classic 8-bit music, so we had high hopes for the game and his soundtrack. While we later learned that McCreary would be able to demonstrate his love for 8-bit music by scoring Dark Void Zero, there’s still the orchestral epic that is the Dark Void soundtrack to address. So, is it any good?

I suppose I’m really skirting around the fact that this game got horrible reviews nearly everywhere. Now that I’ve said it, the question is whether or not the poor review scores also reflect on Bear McCreary’s contributions to the game. What I’ll tell you before jumping into the review is that he delivers on his promise to do something different in a Western videogame, but it’s admittedly not all that different from what he’s already been doing in film and television throughout his career.

Find out if that’s a good or bad thing in our review of the Dark Void Original Video Game Score after the jump! (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Borderlands Soundtrack: As Dark As They Come (Review)

February 3, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

From the minute Borderlands was announced, I was immediately drawn to its highly-stylized graphics. Since it was released, it’s received numerous positive reviews, and has sold exceptionally well, leading me to believe that it doesn’t only look pretty, but is also a great game. Of course it’s difficult to have an all around well polished project without having things settled in the audio department, however.

The Borderlands soundtrack is just about as unique as the game’s visual style and setting. This is dark ambient music to the core, interestingly combining both acoustic and electronic elements to create a style all of its own. With contributions from Jesper Kyd, Cris Velasco, Sascha Dikiciyan, Tim Larkin, and audio lead Raison Varner, the Borderlands audio team is not only a display of some of the top talent from the West, but also proof that under a single unifying vision, too many chefs in the kitchen can actually work, leading to this coherent and effective body of work.

Let me tell you how in our review of the Borderlands soundtrack after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

Dark Void Soundtrack Coming in February 2010

January 28, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

I hate it when they do that. Literally days after our interview with Dark Void and Dark Void Zero associate producer Shana Bryant and composer Bear McCreary hinted at a soundtrack release, they’ve gone and announced it. The soundtrack is set to release on a single disc on February 9, 2010 from Sumthing Else Music Works.

I recall speaking with one of the title’s producers at Comic Con, and he noted that there were hours of original music in the game. This means that Bear is pulling out his favorite selections for this disc. Also, we know that Dark Void Zero has approximately 15 minutes of music, but only the 8-bit rendition of the title’s main theme will be making it onto this album. It’s still a nice bonus, and I’m greatly looking forward to hearing it along with the Dark Void selections in glorious CD quality.

How about you? Are you looking forward to the Dark Void soundtrack release next month? Do you think it would be cool if they put out the additional music on iTunes or some other digital outlet?

[via Destructoid]
Game Music

Act Surprised: Halo 3 ODST Original Soundtrack Announced For September 22

September 15, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

Well, maybe there is something to be surprised about. The soundtrack is actually coming out on the same day as the game’s release date! Previous Halo soundtracks have been notoriously late, with the Halo 3 soundtrack being about 2 months late and the Halo 2 Volume 2 soundtrack coming out a full year and a half after the game’s release. It looks like Bungie, Microsoft, and Sumthing Else Music Works got things sorted out this time, as the Halo 3: ODST Original Soundtrack will be released on September 22 along with the game.

If you don’t recall, we had the opportunity to get some time with Halo 3: ODST at Comic Con this year. We learned that Marty O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori would be returning, but were challenged to write some darker music than was heard in previous titles in the series. I’ve been looking forward to the game and the soundtrack, so I recommend picking this one up to show appreciation that they’re actually getting it out there in a timely manner.

Are you looking forward to Halo 3: ODST next week? Are you surprised that they’re releasing the soundtrack on the game’s release date?
Game Music

GRIN: Bionic Commando Sound Team Interview

July 2, 2009 | Patrick Gann | 2 Comments Share this

We extensively covered Bionic Commando: Rearmed, the 3D remake of Capcom’s classic NES game, around the time of its release. The soundtrack, written by the game’s creative director (Simon Viklund), used re-arranged and up-sampled chiptunes from the original game and built an astonishingly fun soundtrack using these tools.

Viklund took on a new role, as sound effects coordinator, for the new Bionic Commando (PC / 360 / PS3). Swedish developer GRIN assigned other members of their sound team to the project: music director Erik Thunberg, and composer Trond Viggo Melsen. These two members of the GRIN team were courteous enough to answer our questions about the new Bionic Commando and other recent projects from GRIN.

Check out our interview with the Bionic Commando sound team after the jump.

(more…)
Game Music

E3 2009: New Game and Composer Announcement Highlights

June 10, 2009 | Patrick Gann | 2 Comments Share this

A lot of new games were unveiled at this year’s E3. Some of them were completely new to us, and others were just surprise localizations. Some of the games announced feature some fantastic composers with a long history of good VGM. After the jump, we’ll highlight some of the new games and the composers working on them.

(more…)
Game Music

Can’t Afford Importing VGM? Capcom’s Got You Covered!

May 13, 2009 | Don Kotowski | 3 Comments Share this

Anyone who is an avid VGM collector like myself knows that importing soundtracks can get pretty pricey. Not only is music more expensive overseas, but factor in shipping costs, and you have quite a conundrum if you’re short on cash! Fortunately, Sumthing Else Music has partnered with Capcom to release some recent and upcoming albums both digitally and physically outside of Japan.

Joining the ranks of Devil May Cry 4 and Bionic Commando Rearmed, which were released last year, are a variety of soundtracks for recently released and upcoming games that hadn’t even had soundtrack announcements yet. These include Street Fighter IV Original Soundtrack, Resident Evil 5 Original Soundtrack, Bionic Commando and Dark Void.

As of this posting, the pricing for these albums are not known, but according to Sumthing Distribution, both the Street Fighter IV Original Soundtrack and Resident Evil 5 Original Soundtrack will be released on May 26th of this year.

Are you excited about any of the upcoming soundtracks? Are you happy to see that game soundtracks are finally making their way to the West? I know I am! It’ll definitely help put less strain on my wallet, although I do hope that it becomes more encompassing than just Capcom in the future.

[via Destructoid]