Darksiders 2

[Shepard]

Death's Story Trailer

[Scott_Pilgrim]

Μάλλον day one...

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Exclusive DarkSiders 2 Interview With Jesper Kyd

THQ may have delayed Darksiders II by a few months but that doesn't mean they stopped promoting the game, in fact they're doing quite the opposite. Due out this August, Darksiders II follows the journey of Death during the tumultuous fallout from a pre-apocalypse. Veteran composer Jesper Kyd sheds some light on what gamers can expect from the soundtrack for the upcoming action title.

Comic book writer and creative director for Darksiders II, Joe Madureira, also had a few words to share in light of having Kyd on board the crew, saying..."The work that Jesper has done on the Darksiders II soundtrack is truly inspiring. He captured the essence of the universe so well, in fact, that I listen to the tracks while I’m working to get myself in the right frame of mind.”

Gaming Blend: What's the starting point for your process when working on music, for instance what's the first thing you do when you're sitting down to make a theme for a game like Darksiders II?

Jesper Kyd: It’s been a few years since my last fantasy score and Darksiders II is only my second fantasy soundtrack. So a lot of ideas came instantly. I am accustomed to mixing different styles of music and the Celtic fantasy music was a lot of fun to work on. I recorded everything from bag pipes to Celtic vocals. The various Realms in the game include: Death Plains, Demon Realm, Angel Realm and Earth. The Makers and Angel Realms include music such as “Into Eternity”. The other half of the score is much darker and includes music which has a lot of depth, atmosphere and melody but with a darker approach. For this part of the score I blended unusual instruments such as old organs, spring reverbs, space echoes, analog delays etc.

Gaming Blend: So did you see the task as taking over for Cris Velasco, Mike Reagan and Scott Morton as trying to carry on what they established or was it more like having an opportunity to expand Darksiders, musically, into a new direction?

Jesper: Vigil was looking for a new sound, something unique that would help set the atmosphere in Darksiders II apart from other fantasy-inspired games. I haven’t listened to the DS1 soundtrack, since I didn’t want any unconscious elements to sneak into the score from DS1. The Darksiders II score includes music inspired by the locations, the mythology behind the realms as well as the settings and gameplay specific music.

Gaming Blend: Was it something special or unique about Darksiders II that drew you to the project?

Jesper: I was drawn to the setting first and foremost. Writing a score for the realm of the after-life, from Heaven to Hell and everything in-between, was very appealing to me. For this score, I was able to go beyond our world and into the eternal realms of what could happen after death. Also, I felt the unique look and art style of the game allowed me the creative freedom to push the music into entirely new directions.

Gaming Blend: We've been given access to a few sample tracks and one of them really stands out, the song 'Into Eternity'. Is there any way you could give us any hints on how this song came to be and what the context is in relation to how it's used in the game?

Jesper: This piece is created for the race called The Makers. They are one of the oldest races in the Darksiders universe and built many of the realms you visit in the game. With this race, being as old as creation itself, there was something eternal about them that I wanted to capture. The Makers’ music has Celtic influences as well, something that will be more apparent in other Makers tracks.

Gaming Blend: Were there any characters or particular moments in the game that you were especially drawn to that helped make it easier for you to come up with certain themes in Darksiders II?

Jesper: It was clear from the beginning that Vigil was not simply looking for themes to accompany Death on his journey. Instead they were looking to create a distinct identity for each of the different realms. So my research for this project was more of a soul-searching approach, since each person will have their own personal idea about life after death, heaven and hell etc. I did not want to be inspired by specific art or stories since it could end up giving the score a specific religious undertone. There was more of a personal journey involved with this score.

Gaming Blend: Have you had any talks with THQ or Vigil to possibly reprise your role as composer for any additional Darksiders games?

Jesper: I had a blast working with Vigil and THQ. They really understood what is required to achieve a unique music score. I would love to work with them again – at this point it’s too early in the process, let’s release Darksiders II first.

Our thanks to Jesper Kyd and Joe Madureira for chatting up the Darksiders II soundtrack. You can learn more about Jesper Kyd and his music over at his Official Website, and we'll keep you posted on when you can get your hands on the official Darksiders II soundtrack.

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Darksiders 2 Exclusive Soundtrack Music
http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Darksiders-2-Exclusive-Soundtrack-Music-42413.html

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Darksiders II: An Interview with Jay Fitzloff Part II VIDEO
Last week we gave you Part I of our interview with Vigil games producer Jay Fitzloff. Today, we round out our chat and talk RPG elements, a desire for an individual identity and more.

After getting some hands on time with the game, there were two instantly notable differences to the way in which Darksiders II plays. The first was the instant increase in speed and expansion of mobility. The second, more interesting realisation was the implementation of deeper RPG mechanics, which led us towards the question of, why?

“It wasn’t like we set down and said let’s throw these elements in and go that direction. What it was, again, talking about the big dream of Darksiders I and all the features we wanted to have but didn’t have time to do. And all those features were stuff we wanted for Darksiders I but they got left on the cutting room floor. So when we sat to start Darksiders II and, when you make your first game a lot of your time doesn’t end up in the game, it ends up in the engine and fine tuning the message and kind of feeling out your dream and making it a reality. So for the second game, most of our team are the same people, just more people and you get to put all of that focus into the game for the most part; so we had time to put all those elements in. And then in reality, what that is, again there are three pillars in Darksiders II which is combat, platforming and puzzle solving.”

“It’s an expansion; everyone of those is the same basic layout in Darksiders II. But all these pillars are deeper and expanded so in combat, that loot, the skill tree, all that is an expansion of combat. The traversal is expanded because Death is more agile and can climb higher, so level design is more vertical as well as horizontal, so we can make more challenging platforming that way. And then the puzzle solving gets bigger, I don’t want to say harder, but more intricate and bigger. We have more area to work with and death has more options in what he can do with items and combat; so that allows us to create more intricate puzzles.”

Upon its release, it wouldn’t be uncommon to hear the original Darksiders referred to by both fans and critics alike as a successful meshing of The Legend of Zelda and God of War. It’s a hell of a comparison, but we wondered if it was one Vigil was happy with; or did Vigil desire to break away from this self imposed mould?.

“It’s both actually,” Fitzloff shoots back quickly. “We’re happy with the comparison because any comparison that has been made has been a cool game. So, and I don’t want to name any names of a bad game, but if somebody made a comparisons that said this game stinks like X, it would have been like ah well that’s not so great. But yeah, every game we got put up against was an awesome game. We also know that Darksiders is a hard game to encapsulate because it covers a pretty board spectrum of things I think most games would focus on one area, be it combat or platforming. We kind of have this spread of elements, so that’s why we feel people needed a comparison. But also we’re trying to break out and have our own identity, I think what Darksiders does is very unique; that combination doesn’t really exist anywhere in modern games I don’t think. So we’re hoping that when Darksiders II comes out and it’s a success and people get to know it, say a year from now or sometime down the line another game will come out and people will say yeah it has a Darksiders kind of feel. And then we’ll become the touchstone, the comparison point and then I think we will feel as though we’ve achieved or arrived.”

To finish up, we thought it wise to ask the mother of all questions. In one sentence, why should you, a Dusty Cartridge reader, go out and pick up Darksiders II come August. It took some thought, but the reply came out eventually.

“I think people should go buy Darksiders II because it’s a rare breed in games today, in that it’s an action adventure game that actually has adventure in it.”

It’s an intriguing reply, and we’re not ones to end things on a cliff-hanger, so being the inquisitive folk we are, we demanded an explanation. Thankfully, Fitzloff chooses not to slap us and get talking instead. “Well we were just talking before, people still call games action adventure titles, but they’re really just action titles that have an item that’s easy to get, and you get it, and good job”.

“So we’re really making an action adventure title. I think you saw words like, ‘you explore’ and you’re going around and we’re willing to let a player be like, not confused, but it takes a minute. You have to think about what do I do? You know, the old classic “I see that item and I know I want that item but how do I get to it?” Then you look around the environment, you see everything going on, you start playing around with the environment and then eventually you’ll get there.”

“Instant classics like Portal obviously nail this style of gameplay, but not everyone is so lucky. “It’s a fine line between fun and frustration and we’re definitely, that’s a razer’s edge that we’re willing to go along. But we think a player will feel a lot better about solving it on their own and getting to that point and feeling accomplished rather than the arms race of cut scenes that’s going on with action games today, where it’s like kill a guy, awesome cut scene, pick up an item, awesome cut scene; you know like this spoon feeding. I mean the thing about Darksiders II is that we’re kind of an old school game in a new shell or a modern skin and we’re happy with that, that’s our philosophy and that’s the kind of game we like, so that’s what we’re doing.”

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Darksiders 2 New Release Date of August 14, Pre-orders 5 Times Higher
Darksiders 2, the highly anticipated sequel to the excellent Darksiders, has a new release date of August 14th and pre-orders for the title have been outstanding. According to twitter, pre-orders for the game is 5 times higher than its predecessor and has to make THQ happy.

[Shepard]

Πρέπει να μοσχοπουλήσει ο τίτλος για να κρατηθεί και η THQ ζωντανή! Τα preorders είναι ένα καλό σημάδι!

Check Out Sample Music Tracks From Darksiders II
http://www.gameinformer.com/games/darksiders_ii/b/xbox360/archive/2012/05/15/check-out-sample-music-tracks-from-darksiders-ii.aspx

[Shepard]

Death Strikes, Part 2


Πώρωση!!!!

[Sephiroth]

Περισσότερα από τον Πέππα (που έπαιξε Darksiders 2 στο Λονδίνο) σε λίγες μέρες

[Tobajaras]

Πήγε να δει τη video game μεταφορά της καθημερινότητάς του ε?