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- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Composer Jason Graves says there’s a big difference between how music “works” in multiplayer and in the campaign
- Graves says a campaign usually has narrative beats and “dramatic moments” to follow, while “multiplayer is completely unpredictable”
- He adds that “It’s less about following a story and more about supporting the player’s experience”
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Composer Jason Graves explained the biggest differences between a multiplayer mode and a campaign because the music “works”.
Speaking in an interview with TechRadar Gaming, where the composer discussed his creative process for the game’s multiplayer music and what inspired him most when writing the score, Graves said writing tracks for an online gameplay experience is much different than a story mode with certain narrative beats, because you have to factor in the unknown.
“The biggest difference is how the music works in the game,” Graves said. “In a single-player campaign, you’re usually after a narrative with specific characters, locations, and dramatic moments. You have a much better idea of what the player experiences and when.”
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The composer went on to say, “Multiplayer is completely unpredictable,” suggesting that it requires you to think outside the constraints of a standard narrative score.
“You have no idea how a particular match is going to unfold, so the music has to work in a much more flexible setting,” Graves added. “It’s less about following a story and more about supporting the player’s experience without getting in the way of gameplay.”
Elsewhere in the discussion, Graves said that the multiplayer mode has “a completely different atmosphere than the campaign” and “the music has to make you feel like anything could happen at any time.”
“A lot of what I was trying to capture was forward momentum and pure adrenaline,” he said. “I’ve always thought of myself as the musical equivalent of Master Sergeant Apone in Aliens, pumping all the troops up front, keeping them in line and focused in combat, and rewarded when they return home. ‘Every meal is a banquet! Every paycheck is a fortune! Every formation a parade!'”
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