![]() Andersen’s technological approach to Limbo‘s soundtrack matched his aesthetic ideas: to complement the game’s stripped-down visuals, Andersen ran everything through obsolete analogue equipment like wire recorders that degraded the sound while mixing all elements within the soundscape into one tightly-knit whole. For example, when the player would approach “the insects, they become the main instrument of the music.” Andersen took further inspiration from the soundtracks to the silent films that inspired Limbo‘s visuals, “including the frequent use of near-silence, and the lack of audiovisual correspondence”. Instead, it would be “appearing to stem from the environment”, consisting to a large degree of sounds emitted by characters and objects within the game’s world. Limbo‘s score would play less like pre-composed “traditional background music”, as Andersen put it. This turned out to be a perfect fit for what Jensen had in mind for the soundtrack. Andersen’s background lay in acousmatic music - music that integrates not just instrumental effects, but any kind of sounds. On Limbo, composer Martin Stig Andersen and game director Arnt Jensen tried to ensure that the game’s sound would fit perfectly into the finely-tuned sensory package that it aimed to be. ![]() Maybe tellingly, apart from a highly creative art style, Limbo shared another characteristic with 2011’s big indie game smash hit Sword & Sworcery: each game’s soundtrack was developed in close collaboration between composer and game director. That claim was solidified through a very strong critical reception and commercial success that saw Limbo become the third-highest selling game on the Xbox Live Arcade service in 2010. But more importantly, the titlebecame something of a posterchild for the creative potential of independently produced video games. Inevitably, it distinct look and feel would fuel the well-trodden “video games are art” argument. But of course, Limbo‘s sepulchral black-and-white tones were the exact thing that made the game unique, creating an intensely bleak atmosphere like few other games. Case in point: Limbo, a 2D-platformer with an art direction morbid enough to give David Lynch nightmares. It seems that, these days, the best place to find a video game that’s fresh and innovative is the burgeoning independent game scene.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |