Trent Reznor and David S. Goyer Talk Call of Duty: Black Ops II

CoD in the future. With Trent Reznor music. Not gonna write this one off just yet.

@cassus: I think it'd be awesome if he did the soundtrack for a Metro game. That's a series that would complement his musical style a lot better. Dark ambient stuff has gotten a lot cooler in that last few years.

I hope Activision gets none of my money if I buy the soundtrack.. I don't care about codblops or any cod game, full stop. But Trent does some amazing atmospheric music. The soundtrack for The Social Network is just stunning. The textures and ominous warmth is something I'd never heard before in movies, and being a long time NiN fan, him doing more of this kind of stuff is very exciting. Just wish it was for a different game.. Like.. I dunno.. I would like to see what he could do with games like Planetside 2 or maybe some kind of indie game.

Speaking of soundtracks; I really enjoyed much of the music in Guild Wars 2. You should check it out.

the guy who was against big labels morphing his brand into something that would sell more records is now working for the biggest example of the establishment and stolen IP in art. irony! lol and im a huge NIN fan this is actually a really sad event in time.

@Incapability said:

Man, that got real pompous real fast.

"Video games, are, and I'm stating a fact here, the most amazing form of both art an entertainment in the whole world. In the whole, world."

I mean, I know you have to sell your game and stuff, but... damn.

Better than music, film, painting or theatre plays? Yeah, those don't matter that much since notable elements of them rode the waves of social changes and even started revolutions - small potatoes, indeed.

But hey, I bet all of the Call of Duty games and military shooters, in general, appeal to mature, classy, cultured, artsy people...right?

i was "meh" on call of duty games but, finding out that my all time favorite musician is scoring this year's game? i'm now more excited than ever before!

Just because David S Goyer is the writer for this shit doesn't mean it'll be good... Blade Trinity anyone??? Oh, or how about THE CROW 2: CITY OF ANGELS. The prosecution rests.

I'd rather have a proper NiN record than (t)his movie stuff. His involvement easily makes CoDBlOps2 my most anticipated CoD game to date though.

@FreedomTown said:

Screw Trent, the guy is like a 60 year old teenager.

Love the guys acting like professionally composed music has never been integrated into gaming before. Great PR promoting.

Also, you can't change the fate of the main character in a video-game, sorry bud. It is scripted, predestined...you don't change the fate of anything. But nice PR statement....

I know right? Talking about their project like they're ENTHUSED about it. Like it's something they ENJOY working on. What a bunch of posers. Glad you're here to SHAKE UP THIS SYSTEM OOOWWW!!!

well it looks like this game might be above average. we will see.........

Look at those hand gestures.

To me, the Quake soundtrack is one of the best soundtracks in video games. The music fit the game.

I remember putting the CD of the game in my CD player and listening to just the soundtrack.

A Reznor soundtrack sounds great! Manye this will be a call of duty game I'll try out.

i hope the story is good

@Tactless said:

@FunExplosions: Why did yo say that? Now I can't unsee this.

Hey man, Tough Crowd was my favorite show of all time. Isn't necessarily a bad thing.

@FunExplosions: Yeah, Trent's cheeks are getting droopy.

Aw man Trent you're looking so old....

@FunExplosions: Why did yo say that? Now I can't unsee this.

Ok , I am a Trent reznor fan so I am more inclined to play this than I was (which was not at all).

Reznor's starting to look like Colin Quinn.

Oh, the irony...talking about the music, the story, the drama, the cinematic experience and all that jazz, when, in the end, we all know it's going to be about the same ol' shit like red dot sights, perks, killstreaks, map packs and lots of angry screaming kids online.

Man, that got real pompous real fast.

"Video games, are, and I'm stating a fact here, the most amazing form of both art an entertainment in the whole world. In the whole, world."

I mean, I know you have to sell your game and stuff, but... damn.

I love NiN and I think Reznor is one of the most talented musicians this generation. It'll be great to see what he puts out, even if I have no interest in this game whatsoever.

@grizbo: totally used bing. I didn't know you were the sheriff around here, perhaps I'll run my posts by you next time, make sure they are fit for your forums. k?

I don't see why people are so angry at this... I mean I have a problem with Reznor working on a game promoted by Oliver North when he's such a self-confessed lefty, but saying he's not relevant is wrong. He's won a Grammy, nominated for a few more, has done a lot push forward how music should be delivered online, won an Oscar and has put out some great albums and even better world tours (sold-out in most cases) over the last few years.

You don't have to like him or this score, but just because you haven't heard from him a while does not make him irrelevant... (yes, I am I card carrying NIN fan and TR doing new stuff is always good news, but I think my points are valid regardless)

@tastyhouse: Congratulations on using Google, I guess? Maybe next time do that first and don't post at all, because this case of "butthurt" you gave me is really "sucky".

@grizbo: no need to get butthurt about your sucky artist. I didn't like any of his stuff, and I havent heard anything about him for a while now. Looks like he's been working on some film scores. He's like a less talented Danny Elfman (now I'm trolling).

@LooseChange: His twitter avatar is from Robotron, dude. He was gaming before most of this site's regulars existed.

@Gordo789: I wish I could tell you that Trent fought the good fight, and the Sisters let him be. I wish I could tell you that, but Call of Duty is no fairy-tale world.

@tastyhouse said:

not trying to troll, but does anybody care about trent reznor anymore? was NIN really that good in the first place?

Yes, of course. And yes, it was. For not trying to troll, you really excel at it.

not trying to troll, but does anybody care about trent reznor anymore? was NIN really that good in the first place?

Interesting that there's no mention of Jack Wall, who's actually writing the bulk of the score to the game. Then again, it's Activision, so that's no surprise.

The future is black!

More like 9mm inch nails... amiright?

Interesting, I can't tell whether this is progress for the games industry or regression. Do we need to make games more like blockbuster films? Or should vidya games tread their own creative path?

Seems more like Activision went "well, we got multiplayer pretty much down...um...let's crank the production value up a notch for the singleplayer, but not change a damn thing about the gameplay." If that is the realisation of this movie/game synergy, then it's missing the point about what games and movies actually are. But that wouldn't surprise me about activision.

edit: reread my comment and realised that what I just wrote could have been written ten years ago and still be considered a fair point.

@ArcadiaExeter: How dare you sir! (I did laugh though, he is aging unfortunately!)

@FreedomTown said:

@TheHT said:

@FreedomTown said:

Screw Trent, the guy is like a 60 year old teenager.

Love the guys acting like professionally composed music has never been integrated into gaming before. Great PR promoting.

Also, you can't change the fate of the main character in a video-game, sorry bud. It is scripted, predestined...you don't change the fate of anything. But nice PR statement....

Wow, who pissed in your cheerios?

Oh, sorry I forgot I just need to make comments like , "Oh man this game looks awesome!!! NIN making the music for a CoD game, awesome!! Day 1 buy for sure u no wat I mean"

Well no, you don't have to do anything. I was just wondering why you're so angry with Trent Reznor and the things said in this video (and some things that were not said).

Man. That ad would have focus tested much better with me without the preorder tough voice guy thing on the end. Sure is hard to keep making CoD appealing year after year, I bet. You have to do the cheap and dirty marketing as well as the "Hey guys, video games, creativity, recognizable name from other industry."

For what it's worth, I hope CoD does change a lot this time around. It has to eventually, right?

@FreedomTown: I think for the most part, it's more about an Academy Award winning composer creating the score for one of the biggest blockbuster games franchise's latest release. It's not about "dude from NIN" making a video game score. The "dude from NIN" did the music for Quake back in the day too.

I wonder if anyone back in the 80s and onwards was super cynical about the "dude from Oingo Boingo" composing the music for Batman, Beetlejuice, Pee Wee Herman, Edward Scissorhands, Nightmare Before Christmas, etc.

That music in the background is definitely NINspired... Really looking forward to hearing more.

@TheHT said:

@FreedomTown said:

Screw Trent, the guy is like a 60 year old teenager.

Love the guys acting like professionally composed music has never been integrated into gaming before. Great PR promoting.

Also, you can't change the fate of the main character in a video-game, sorry bud. It is scripted, predestined...you don't change the fate of anything. But nice PR statement....

Wow, who pissed in your cheerios?

Oh, sorry I forgot I just need to make comments like , "Oh man this game looks awesome!!! NIN making the music for a CoD game, awesome!! Day 1 buy for sure u no wat I mean"

@Spiritof said:

Trent Reznor looking more and more like someone's grandpa makes me feel really old.

It also makes seeing pictures of his wife even weirder.

@FreedomTown said:

Screw Trent, the guy is like a 60 year old teenager.

Love the guys acting like professionally composed music has never been integrated into gaming before. Great PR promoting.

Also, you can't change the fate of the main character in a video-game, sorry bud. It is scripted, predestined...you don't change the fate of anything. But nice PR statement....

Wow, who pissed in your cheerios?

@AgentMOO said:

Damn Activision, you found my one weakness. Trent Reznor

BLOPS 2; You were up above it. Now you're down in it.

@Dark_Lord_Spam said:

CAMERA ANGLES.

I have to disagree that merging movies and games is a wholly positive trend. A good cinematic can do a lot, but it's no where near as effective as when crazy shit is happening and you have full control. As much as I love good stories, I'd rather play a game than watch one.

Yea but then you couldn't have the COOL AWESOME SCRIPTED SEQUENCES ALL THE KIDZ LOVE.

Recent Single player game experience :

"on rail in game script - move to next shoot scene"

"control character, shoot enemies in confined area - move onto scripted event"

"real-time event, have player press a button, or a directional, or maybe both "

"move onto cinematic bridging to another player controlled shooting scene"

"back into another rail script because we haven't done that in like 10 minutes"

"have one of the characters on screen yell out some cliche Marine blurp, like 'Huuwwaaa!!' or something just as dumb"

"place said cliche 'Bro-Talk' throughout the game, at key points just to remove any actual emotional attachment to what is happening"

"rinse-repeat"

Screw Trent, the guy is like a 60 year old teenager.

Love the guys acting like professionally composed music has never been integrated into gaming before. Great PR promoting.

Also, you can't change the fate of the main character in a video-game, sorry bud. It is scripted, predestined...you don't change the fate of anything. But nice PR statement....

You know what would be awesome? Trent Reznor composing the soundtrack for Metal Gear Solid. Or Splinter Cell.

I'd jizz.

CAMERA ANGLES.

I have to disagree that merging movies and games is a wholly positive trend. A good cinematic can do a lot, but it's no where near as effective as when crazy shit is happening and you have full control. As much as I love good stories, I'd rather play a game than watch one.

@VooDooPC said:

@QuestionMarkMan said:

Nobody has pointed out that Reznor is only writing the theme. Jack Wall is the one doing the actual soundtrack.

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/07/10/black-ops-2-soundtrack-bolstered-by-trent-reznor-mass-effect-co/

I heard about this when they originally announced it and it is a bummer. I heard Trent Reznor was doing the music and got really excited but I then realized he's ONLY doing the main theme. Excitement lost.

I'll just YouTube the theme when it's released. Sorry Trent!

Jack Wall has done some decent stuff too, but some it is kinda generic Hollywood music theory compliant cinematic video game music, and .. yeah, Reznor doing the entire thing would've been much more interesting. His soundtrack for Quake 1 is still fantastic to this day, it's sad that people who bought the Steam Quake pack got screwed over with missing music for that (unofficial patches fixes that, but it's ridiculous that Id Software and Steam let such a broken release through), since the music does so much for the atmosphere.