Preview: No Man's Sky's Infinite Soundtrack

The game that has been turning head since it was announced in 2014 is the action survival game that is set in an open universe, No Man's Sky. This game is also set to release in June of 2016 on PlayStation 4. When I say open universe, I mean that the is 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 planets to explore. That's right over 18 quintillion different planets that has there own ecosystems, climate, animals, and topography. The game designers, Hello Games, didn't individually create each planet, but created a program that produces a procedurally generated universe. The program creates a planet then puts the according plant and wildlife on the planet that would fit the ecosystem and does that 18 quintillion times. Sean Murry, Hello Games Managing Director, was quoted on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert that even if a planet was discovered every minute we would all be dead before every planet would be discovered and personally that is an incredible and mind exploding thought.

The accompany and infinite universe, Hello Games hired a post-rock band named 65daysofstatic and Paul Weir. The idea behind the music in this game is 65daysofstatic would create melodies, loops, textures, and sounds and Paul Weir put these into a program that would randomly create a music to accompany the gameplay. On top of all that the music would also change in the game when approaching different terrains and whether the player is in high or low danger. The members 65daysofstatic was quoted by The Guardian saying that the idea that people could visit these planets that no one in the world has ever been to before and hear a version of the song that no one else will hear and we haven’t heard before, is so exciting.

Since the game is not released yet there are only a few samples of the music that No Man's Sky has to offer. There is a song that will be on the soundtrack that was released and 65daysofstatic played at a PlayStation Experience 2014 and gave the audience and example of what the soundtrack might sound like. So check those out if you are interested and I will update this again when the game is released. Thanks for reading and keep on jammin'. 

Banjo-Kazooie's Ever Changing Soundtrack 

It's June 29, 1998 and Rare, then Nintendo exclusive game designer, released their first 3D platform collectible hunting game for the Nintendo 64. The most comparable game that existed at the time would have been Super Mario 64. Banjo-Kazooie stars a duo of a bear named Banjo and a bird named Kazooie and their quest to free Banjo's sister, Tooty, from the evil clutches of the witch Gruntilda. Banjo and Kazooie have to hunt down puzzle pieces to create picture so they can slowly unlock the entrance to Gruntilda's castle and free his sister. Banjo-Kazooie was rated highyl by reviewers and still has a special place in gaming history, with it most recently being re-released on Xbox One of a collection of Rare games.

Banjo-Kazooie's soundtrack was revolutionary for the time because of depending on what you were doing in the level the music would change and the legend behind this idea was Grant Kirkhope. In an interview with Gamnesia, Kirkhope was quoted as saying that the developer wanted the music to be like that of the Lucas Arts Monkey Island series would the music would fade in and out depending on where you were in the game. Kirkhope started as a composer for Rare two years before did the Banjo-Kazooie music. Kirkhope has worked on such games like GoldenEye 007, Viva Pinata, Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z and coming some Yooka-Laylee, a Banjo-Kazooie spiritual successor. After Rare's purchase by Microsoft, he really wanted to expanded his horizons as a composer and left to be a composer for hire.

I will be talking about three song in this article and of the three, two of them have multiple versions that play a different places throughout the level. When these songs play throughout the level the only different is usually an instrument change and increased or decrease in speed. The song are "Treasure Trove Cove", "Mad Monster Masion" and "Final Battle Music." 

The level of Treasure Trove Cove is accompanied by the song of the same name. The level is beach and pirate themed and is completely surrounded by water. The music in the level is mainly island musical instruments like steel drum and bongos with xylophone, but as you travel around the area the music will change. When you enter water and start swimming the music is more subtle as if you actually dunked your head in water and listened to the music playing. As you approach a character named Capt. Blubber the music will change in the same music, but more flute and accordion than islander percussion instruments. The last evolution in the song is when approaching a giant crab named Nipper the music gets much faster and intense like most boss fights. This song and all of its variations are some of my favorite in the game.

The last level I will be talking about that has variation in it is the "Mad Monster Mansion." The song sounds just like a spooky haunted house music from Scooby-Doo complete with the organ, owl sounds and almost haunting moans. Much like Treasure Trove Cove, when you go under water in Mad Monster Mansion makes it more subtle and recreates in the water sound. The music also changed when you enter the haunted mansion, cemetery, and church. As before this is my second favorite songs.

The last song I will be talking about is the "Final Battle Music" and it doesn't have any variations. The main theme of that song is closely related to the song in the Wizard of Oz when there is the tornado. The similarities are even stronger because most of the fight Gruntilda flies around on her broom. The song also has song banjo music playing admits the epic music to signify Banjo fighting the evil.

I used to play this game all of the time when I was younger, but I sadly never 100% the game. The music was truly one of the funnest parts of the game that inspired of the intense moments that fuels the game. The soundtrack you can find on YouTube. Thanks for reading everyone and keep on jammin'.  

 

Far Cry Primal's Gritty and Natural Soundtrack

Set in the 10,000 BCE in central Europe, you control hunter Takkar of the Wenja tribe. As Takkar you must help your tribe survive in Ordos from rival tribes like the Udam and the Izila and from the animal because humans were not at the top of the food chain. The gameplay is FPS like the other games in the series, but there isn't any modern weapons in the game only weapons that can be crafted from things found in the environment like clubs, spears, bows, and rocks shaped into knives. Far Cry Primal was released by Ubisoft on February 23 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and on March 1 on PC.

The game designers of Primal really wanted the entire experience of the game to be authentic to a time so they hired composer Jason Graves to make them a soundtrack. In an interview by Ubiblog with Jason he was quoted as saying that Primal was a different experience in every way for all of the other games that he has composed for. Graves has worked on all of the Dead Space series, Tomb Raider (2013), Until Dawn and many more. 

To truly capture the feeling of the setting of the game, all of the instruments that Graves used on the soundtrack were out of materials that existed at the time period of the game. Some of the instruments that he used were bamboo, clay pots, dirt, gravel, plants, stones of various sizes, stone flutes, horns made out of horns and a special instrument called the Aztec Death Whistle. Graves wanted to make sure that none of the instruments was non-metal and natural. 

I will talking about three songs that show the variance in the music that Grave created for the game. The song are "Heart of Ordos", "Survival of the Udam", and "Wadijam Izila." 

The "Heart of Ordos" is the main theme for your Wenja village. This song doesn't have as much percussion as the other song and has some stone flute and horn sounds which adds a feeling a of comfort because it is your base of operation in the game. Graves was quoted as saying about the song that its supposed to remind the tribe the idea of ancestry and those who have passed. 

The next song, "Survival Of The Udam," is based on the tribe of the same name Udam. The Udam tribe is the game as very large fierce fighters that are painted with red war paint. The song goes along with the description of the tribe. The music is very guttural, slow and very brooding. There are also some simple male grunting sounds. The song is also very simple when I comes to the natural instruments because the tribe was stronger more than they were creative.

The last song "Wadijam Izila" is for the Izila tribe. This tribe has a strong religious like worship of the fire and sun. They cover themselves in blue paint and like to use more ranged weapons than the Udam because they are not as hulking as the Udam. The Izila tribe relies on spears, bows and there own creation of firebombs. Graves made the music in this song very fast and softer to represent the idea of these fast footed warriors and spread through the song is the use of the Aztec Death Whistle. The Death Whistle when used can create a sound that close to that of a human screaming and the instrument is shaped like a skull to add effect. Those screams add a feeling of fear into the music and that is one of the weapons that the Izila use because they can not meet straight head on in a fight. 

Primal's soundtrack truly shows that fantastic musicians and composers can create music even with the simplest of instruments and Jason Graves knocked it out of the park. I enjoyed this song even more because it came with the deluxe version of the game. This soundtrack opened my eyes into Jason's career as I discovered that he made the soundtrack to some of my favorite games. If you want to check out the soundtrack you can listen to the whole thing on YouTube or buy it on iTunes or Amazon as well. Thanks for reading everyone and keep on jammin'.

Fez's Multidimensional Soundtrack

Fez is an adorable indie puzzle platform game that will switches between 2D and 3D perspective in order to maneuver around the environment. The main character, Gomez, must travel around the world and collect golden cubes and cube fragments to restore order in the universe. The game has risen to critical acclaim from many different video game news outlets and has been ported to a variety of systems including PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and 4. 

Fez's soundtrack was created by Richard Vreeland otherwise known as Disasterpeace. Disasterpeace used soft synth pads and reverb for the soundtrack to create a 80's synth vibe. He would also use bit-crushing and tap warping effect on the music to create the idea of space and time breaking during the gameplay. Disasterpeace was quoted by Kotaku saying he worked on this game at night for 13 to 14 months. After this Disasterpeace would go on to compose other games like The Floor Is Jelly and Hyper Light Drifter and the horror movie It Follows.

Fez's soundtrack much like other great video game original soundtracks are based on being super cinematic and react to players movements and location. The music on this soundtrack is very atmospheric and well fits the game vast environments and incredible artwork. I will be talking about two songs that truly show the level of atmosphere and feeling the soundtrack can make people feel. The songs are "Adventure" and "Glitch."

"Adventure" is the first song you will hear when you start into the game and it is this cheer little tune that fits how the game opens to this colorful, bright and quirky game. As you 2D platform around as Gomez in his world this music will accompany you. This song perfectly goes with the idea of not necessarily standing out in the moment as this great song, but works as a whole with what is happening on the screen to create a cinematic moment.

"Glitch" is the perfect example of what I mention previously about a song that has been distorted on purpose to invigorate the idea of time and space breaking down all around you when you are playing. This sounds in this song just sound off in slight ways, seems like parts are missing and like it skips like a vinyl record. It can sound slightly creepy and make you uneasy at times when it moves when cheery calm music to skipping and off sounding music.

I have supported Disasterpeace's music since this game came out and am excited to hear what he did for his next soundtrack for Hyper Light Drifter. If you really love the sound of synth you can find the soundtrack either on YouTube or buy it from his BandCamp page as well.