Den of Wolves stood out to me throughout this yr’s packed Recreation Awards celebration for one main motive. The music. Sure, the idea of a brand new first individual heist sport from the builders of Payday 2 is sufficient to garner vital hype, however it’s the pounding, relentless rhythms that snatched my consideration. Contained in the Peacock theatre, you may really feel your chair shaking.
As a fan of drum and bass myself, I used to be delighted to have an opportunity to take a seat down and chat to Simon Viklund in regards to the strategy to music in Den of Wolves. We had talked earlier than, forward of the sport’s preliminary reveal final yr. However now that gameplay is on the market, I wished to dig deeper into this subject to search out out the trick to creating heist video games exhilarating via music, and if there have been any new particulars on Steel Gear Rising: Revengence composer Jamie Christopherson’s involvement.
So first, what precisely is the music fashion in Den of Wolves? It is not fairly dubstep, not fairly drum and bass. Fortunately, Viklund was keen to elucidate precisely the place each tracks we have heard up to now dwell within the musical panorama. This, after all, got here with him miming the drums together with his fingers and a set of mouth sounds.
Viklund: “Each are 150BPM – final yr’s trailer and the TGA trailer. Final yr’s trailer is in half time, so it has extra of a hip-hop really feel to it. Whereas this one has extra of a techno factor. I am simply experimenting with various things. I name it the ‘different mid-tempo’. The mid-tempo is like 100-110 BPM, the form of music you have got in Cyberpunk. 120-130 is the place Dubstep is. With Den of Wolves, I am at 150BPM, 160. It is this no-man’s land – as a result of it’s important to go above 170 to achieve Drum and Bass. That is why I name it the opposite mid-tempo.
“Not all music might be like that, clearly. However I like exploring rhythmical, nearly hypnotic issues that simply repeat, y’know? The music is not very melodic actually, it is only a grove you get into with this fixed rhythmical factor.”
He mentions Cyberpunk, a sport that many will draw comparisons to no less than so far as the setting is worried. That sport had a boundary-pushing soundtrack. So did Den of Wolves’ company dystopia present an identical alternative? The reply, in brief, is sure.
Viklund: “Yeah, completely. It is forcing me to attempt to make one thing [interesting]. I am unable to go tremendous cutting-edge and avant garde – I am not attempting to consider what music could be like in 2097. It could be so on the market that I suppose individuals would wrestle to really feel the feelings you need them to really feel after they play the sport. It must be rooted in what individuals recognise as motion music now, that provides a way of perspective or badass-ness. That is why I herald hip-hop influences and lure music with the brass hits – I actually like that sound. Combining that with the drum and bass rhythms is cool. It is received simply sufficient of that cutting-edge feeling to it.
This all is finished in assist of making a soundtrack that isn’t solely distinct, however achieves an important function: making the participant really feel “f*ckin badass”, as Viklund places it.
Viklund: “We would like them to really feel like, sure! Cool and harmful. The music wants that avenue vibe to it. Regardless that we’re not preaching and saying it is you towards the firms, it feels slightly bit such as you’re looking for your self. Regardless that you are doing missions for firms and CEOs, you may do against the law inside the crime. Looking for primary.”
However what about Jamie Christopherson! His presence on the Den of Wolves soundtrack was large information final yr, particularly for followers of his legendary work on Steel Gear Rising: Revengeance. In line with Viklund, Christopherson has certainly composed music for the sport, not that we have heard it. Nonetheless, there’s an actual need to proceed the partnership to raised play to Christopherson’s strengths.
Viklund: I will be utterly sincere and say that I requested him to do some atmospheric music for the sport, and he made some implausible tracks. It was tremendous helpful to get the ball rolling, however it’s not what he… The music was nice, however it’s not using what he does finest, why it is best to actually flip to Jamie Christopherson. So I feel we actually want to return to Jamie. We’re nonetheless in touch, and he actually desires to work extra on the sport – he cherished serving to out! However we have to use what he is identified for. Excessive power music, like what he did for Steel Gear Rising: Revengeance.
With no agency launch date in any respect, except for a really obscure 202X window, we have little that factors to when the remainder of the soundtrack might be blasted instantly into our ears. Fortunately, the observe we heard within the current gameplay trailer is on Spotify! So on the very least, we will move the months / years with a style of the opposite mid-tempo.