Garry Schyman

Game Music

E3 2010: Front Mission Evolved and 15th Anniversary Box?

June 16, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 3 Comments Share this

Front Mission Evolved isn’t the same tactical strategy game that you’ve come to know and love over the past 15 years. But that doesn’t mean it’s a button-mashing action game either. Front Mission Evolved is a surprisingly deep mech combat action game that will still have you strategizing while you blow up and smash your opponents (especially in the game’s awesome multiplayer mode).

With FME is taking the franchise in a different direction, the game not only features beautiful graphics and environments (even more amazing in 3D), but also an epic and powerful soundtrack by composer Garry Schyman. We had the opportunity to speak with top team members from developer Double Helix as well as senior producer Shinji Hashimoto from Square Enix Japan about the game’s music and got some interesting responses.

Read about what they had to say after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

GDC 2010: A Whirlwind Tour of the Audio Track

March 18, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on GDC 2010: A Whirlwind Tour of the Audio Track Share this

This year’s GDC felt much smaller than previous years. Gone was the four story behemoth that is west hall, and everything was instead crammed into the Moscone Convention Center’s north and south halls. The audio track in particular took place in one of two rooms, both in north hall, which were often much too small, which led to sessions filling up and people being left out in the hallway without the chance to hear several panels (the Flower panel in particular was so popular that people lined up outside the room despite it filling up just to meet Vincent Diamante after his hour talk).

So, what were the sights and sounds from north hall? We checked out a number of panels, and rather than post about each one individually, I thought it would be more manageable for you guys if I simply gave a brief summary of each panel that we attended and focused on highlights from the session. There were definitely a lot of surprises, and even some information revealed about the composer of Metroid: Other M from a non-audio track session!

Hit the jump to check out our coverage. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Bioshock 2: A Return to Rapture and to Form (Review)

March 3, 2010 | Gideon Dabi | 1 Comment Share this

Garry Schyman has been an awfully busy man this year. In fact, both Bioshock 2 and Dante’s Inferno were released on the same day. Coincidentally, both games were treated with a fair amount of skepticism and derision at the mere announcement of their respective developments. Whilst Dante’s Inferno was deemed a game that could not possibly be anything short of ludicrous based on its source material, Bioshock 2 was deemed needless; the sequel that had no business being made. Much to the dismay of the nay-sayers, Bioshock 2 – by most accounts (including my own) – has proven itself to be very deserving of being made and could very well be a GOTY candidate.

From the phonographs and radios pumping out oldies tunes to the highly regarded “Cohen’s Masterpiece”, the music of Bioshock was integral to creating the world of Rapture and, subsequently, the game’s incredible artistic success. Often times in games, the same composer is not brought on to score the sequel. Most developers (and filmmakers, for that matter) often have someone else play on the themes written by the previous composer. Equally often, the original’s score is forgotten about and a whole new score and set of themes are written for the sequel (read: Army of Two: The 40th Day). In this case, 2K Marin chose to keep Mr. Schyman and have him lead us all back to Rapture.

Was it a good move? Does Schyman manage to rekindle our love for Rapture? Click the jump to find out! (more…)
Game Music

To Hell and Back: A Conversation With Garry Schyman

February 23, 2010 | Gideon Dabi | 7 Comments Share this

Just before the release of Dante’s Inferno, I had a wonderful opportunity to sit down with composer Garry Schyman and pick his music-filled brain. Philosophical pontificating about the craft and the gaming business ensued and it was certainly worth every minute. Most exciting for me was a nice insight into the main theme of Bioshock.

Click on to read as I badger the mind behind Bioshock, Bioshock 2, and Dante’s Inferno! (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Garry Schyman’s Score Sends Me To Hell: Dante’s Inferno (Review)

February 8, 2010 | Gideon Dabi | 2 Comments Share this

In addition to the great poet, Virgil, who is Dante’s guide through his perilous and horrific journey through Hell (and his own redemption), we also have a musical poet to guide us through Visceral Games’ Hell. Much like in 2007’s Bioshock where the underwater city of Rapture became the true antagonist and star of the game, Dante’s Inferno’s Hell is clearly the star here. And, now that I mention it, both games’ scores were composed by same man. Coincidence? Of course not.

It is the great Garry Schyman that tells us with a fervent hand to “Go To Hell.” The only thing left to decide here is whether or not we are happy that he is the one to have sent us there and, more importantly, do we feel like his score has driven us down deep enough into the scourge of all creation to merit the blessing of Dante Alighieri.

Click the jump to find out! (more…)
Game Music

First GDC 2010 Audio Track Sessions Announced: Hell and Emotion

December 11, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

Can’t believe it’s already that time of year again. The Game Developer’s Conference is one of the best places in the world for game audio as it provides an opportunity for composers, sound designers, and audio directrors to get together and discuss the latest and greatest in the industry. The first batch of sessions have just been announced, and we of course hit the directory to see what to look forward to from the audio track.

First and foremost, I got excited when I saw Final Fantasy XIII, but as it turns out, Yoshinori Tsuchida and Tomohiro Yajima will be discussing audio programming of the game’s sound effects, and not the game’s music. Bioshock composer Garry Schyman will be discussing his score for Dante’s Inferno (which Gideon is ecstatic about), and a lecture will be held discussing the sound design in the Halo series by Bungie’s Jay Weinland. Two other highlights include a panel that will explore the lessons of the 8-bit era in terms of audio titled “Where It All Began / Lessons That Can Be Learned From ‘First Generation’ Music” featuring panelists Rod Abernethy, Alexander Brandon, and Brian Schmidt, and another panel titled “The Musical Recipe of Emotion” featuring Tom Salta, Laura Karpman, Marty O’Donnell, Jason Hayes, and Chance Thomas. Sounds like it’s already shaping up to be a great GDC, and there are surely more panels to be announced in the near future, so stay tuned!

Is there a particular game or topic that you think needs to be discussed at this year’s GDC? Are you as curious as I am to see what Abernethy, Brandon, and Schmidt will have to say about 8-bit music?