BlizzCon

Game Music, Reviews

To Hell and Back: Diablo 15 Year Anniversary (Review)

December 5, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

Blizzard Entertainment has some of the biggest franchises in the business under its belt, but none has spoken to me more over the years than the Diablo series. It’s always been one of my favorite game franchises, and the scores Matt Uelmen crafted for the first two games in the series are among my favorite soundtracks of all time.

While Uelmen left Blizzard Entertainment in 2007, we were able to glean some details about how the Diablo III soundtrack and this special BlizzCon 2011 exclusive album have drawn from the musical legacy of the series, and we were impressed with what we heard in the Diablo III Beta that was released earlier this year which showed us that the team is on the right track with sticking to the franchise’s musical roots.

Is this album a worthy celebration of the 15th anniversary of the Diablo series? Find out in our review. (more…)
Featured, Game Music

BlizzCon 2011: Our Annual Interview With Russell Brower

October 25, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

BlizzCon 2011 took place this past weekend, and while the biggest announcement coming out of the two-day event was the World of Warcraft expansion titled Mists of Pandaria, Diablo III and StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm were also on hand for attendees. There was the annual audio panel where the audio team shared their experience and a couple performances related to Diablo III, and of course we were able to sit down with audio director Russell Brower to discuss some of their upcoming projects.

Hit the jump for updates on all three of Blizzard Entertainment’s upcoming titles. (more…)
Game Music

BlizzCon 2010: Audio Director Russell Brower Weighs in on Our Context Debate

November 4, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 3 Comments Share this

This is the last piece we have from BlizzCon 2010. It’s not really about anything that the company has been up to, so I’ve been holding on to it. During our lengthy chat with Audio Director Russell Brower where we talked about StarCraft II, Diablo III, and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, we also touched on the subject of context, as I thought he may have some interesting insights having worked on games with so much music that is loved by so many fans.

As it turned out, I was right. Aligning himself more with Wes’s “Everything is a Context” as opposed to Gideon’s “Context is Everything” argument, I think you may find what he has to say to be interesting.

Hit the jump for more. (more…)
Featured, Game Music

BlizzCon 2010: Cataclysm Puts WoW at 36 Hours of Music, Plus New Details

October 28, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 11 Comments Share this

And that’s not all we learned about Cataclysm at BlizzCon 2010. In addition to a live performance of some of the music from the game, we received a great deal of information about how the new music will be implemented in the game, what will be featured on the CD that will be included with the Limited Edition version on of the game, and what will be happening to the original music that Jason Hayes and the Blizzard Entertainment team wrote for the original World of Warcraft.

Find out all the details and see some photos from the show floor after the jump! (more…)
Game Music

BlizzCon 2010: All Aboard for New Music From Diablo III

October 26, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

The biggest news regarding Diablo III at BlizzCon 2010 was the new Demon Hunter class reveal. Not huge news, I know, but we did get some hands-on with the class (It was a blast!), and heard a new piece of music in the lengthy demo. What we heard was an emotional cue with swelling strings and plucked guitar in the background. This is apparently the work of Joseph Lawrence, who has been handling many of the game’s interiors, creating what Audio Director Russell Brower has been calling “amazing ambient experiences” for the dungeons, and also writing some music.

I noted that there was some silence in the game when talking to Brower, to which he commented, “I still firmly believe that silence is one of our best tools. It’s all a game of contrasts. Music is an art and a craft of contrasts. Light versus dark. Heavy versus light. And sound versus silence.” Well said, and the silence does work quite well in the game.

So, who’s all working on the game? Brower himself had teamed up with Laurence Juber to create the powerful Diablo III “Overture” reveal piece, but since that time, Juber has been inspired, creating several cues for the game itself. Joseph Lawrence has been handling the lion’s share of in-game music as far as we can tell, while Glenn Stafford scored the Demon Hunter trailer shown above and Derek Duke handled the PVP Arena trailer that was also released at BlizzCon 2010.

I’m definitely looking forward to hearing more. How about you?
Game Music

BlizzCon 2010: To Liberty and Beyond – StarCraft II News and Photo Gallery

October 26, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

Yes, even though StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty has been released, there was some cool StarCraft II stuff on hand at BlizzCon 2010. From a vinyl record release to a live performance of music from the game, there were even some details about the next chapter, Heart of the Swarm.

First of all, Revolution Overdrive was released. This is a vinyl record featuring music from the jukebox in Wings of Liberty, and Audio Director Russell Brower noted that they filled it to the max (about 40 minutes of music). The limited release record is meant to be a collector’s item, coming with a code to download the music (with additional tracks) on iTunes. The music will be available without purchasing the record (which was on sale for $25) next week on iTunes. The image on the disc itself is of the lady featured on Tychus Findlay’s suite, and was apparently meant to resemble the ladies painted on the front of World War II airplanes. They had one of these signed by the artists up for auction, and it was listed at over $600 the last we checked.

Another happening including a performance of Raynor’s Theme by Laurence Juber on guitar and renowned harmonica player Tommy Morgan during the sound panel on Saturday. The two brought down the house with some wild western music. Morgan talked for a bit at the panel, and noted that he’s been involved in over 7,000 recording sessions, being responsible for many of the classic harmonica performances heard in Clint Eastwood’s early spaghetti westerns.

Finally, Heart of the Swarm! I asked Russell Brower about the fact that music for the Zerg and Protoss had already been created since the races were playable in the Wings of Liberty multiplayer. He noted that this was true, but that he’d like to record new themes for each of the races for their respective game releases within the trilogy. I’m certainly looking forward to more Zerg music, as “The Hive” from the Wings of Liberty soundtrack wasn’t enough to keep me satiated!

What do you think of Revolution Overdrive? Will you be picking it up on iTunes?

Hit the jump for our StarCraft II photo gallery, including the impressive display case for Revolution Overdrive! (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

BlizzCon 2010: Fall of the Lich King Soundtrack (Review)

October 25, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 4 Comments Share this

Another year at BlizzCon, another exclusive soundtrack CD. While there wasn’t much in the way of news regarding Blizzard Entertainment’s upcoming projects at this year’s event, there were at least many memorable musical moments to be had. I’ll be sharing some of these in the coming days, but will first delve into the BlizzCon 2010 exclusive Fall of the Lich King Soundtrack.

The disc’s title may sound similar to Wrath of the Lich King, and I think you’ll find the content of the album to be similarly dark. What we have here is the approximately 35 minutes of music that were added to the game with the 3.3 patch update, Fall of the Lich King, including the popular theme, “Invincible.” The music comes courtesy of Russell Brower and Derek Duke, and as always, it’s of the highest quality, so join us after the jump in our review of the Fall of the Lich King Soundtrack.

Hit the jump for more! (more…)