2020 was a very hard year for many people especially for the musicians who made the music for Doom, BPM and Hades.
Gordon said he liked the idea in Doom about why the UAC was going to hell. They found a special energy there called Argent energy. They opened a portal to hell and saw lots of this energy. They wanted to use it. The technology in Doom 2016 looks like a mix of hell and machines like the old Doom games from 1993. The music also has a strong machine sound which Gordon kept but he added some heavier electronic sounds too.
Gordon imagines that when he plays his synthesizers the electricity inside them is actually made of bad, evil people’s souls. These souls create the sounds he makes. So he uses lots of pedals and effects to change the sounds. First he finds the cleanest sounds, then he changes them to make them dirty or scary. He also adds sounds like chainsaws and screams to make it feel like something evil or dark.
At first Id Software said no guitars for Doom 2016’s music. But Gordon thought just using synthesizers wasn’t enough to make the music feel like Doom’s scary fiery world. Guitars have been part of Doom’s music since the first game in 1993 inspired by heavy metal music from the ’70s and 80s. So Gordon disagreed with Id Software and decided to use guitars to keep the metal style alive.
Gordon says when he picks up the guitar and plays the melody it immediately feels like the world of Doom. Instead of making something totally new he uses ideas from the past. He compares it to the Terminator movies each new movie has new music but they all use the famous theme by Brad Fiedel. If that theme isn’t there it feels strange. So it’s nice to take parts from the old music and bring them back now.
The music in Doom 2016 was loved by many people. They liked how well the songs fit the game's fast and wild action. Gordon made strong and exciting music using electronic sounds, loud guitars and fast drums. The music makes you feel like the monsters should be scared of you not the other way around.
The idea of giving power to the player is also in Doom Eternal. But this game uses a slower way of fighting where players switch guns to match and kill enemies. Because of this the sounds had to change a lot. Also since hell is taking over Earth the music had to show this too.
Gordon says that the game Eternal had more things to manage and was harder because players had to pay close attention. The loud wild music made it harder to focus. To help players concentrate on the new challenges Gordon wanted to make them feel confident. He thinks strong steady music beats help players feel confident. In Doom 2016 the music was crazy and busy which was cool but not very groovy or steady.
The music in Doom Eternal is a bit softer to help players by giving them a steady beat to follow while playing. The new game continues the mix of heavy metal and scary synth sounds from the 2016 game but now as Gordon says It's slower and heavier with fun rhythms. This lets you match your moves to the music’s beats.
The idea of getting into the groove was made very real by the music creators Sam Houghton and Joe Collinson for the game BPM: Bullets Per Minute. Instead of letting you shoot whenever you want like in Doom this game makes you do everything shooting, dodging and reloading right on the beat of the music. To help players keep up all the songs were made to play at the same speed.
Houghton says it was really hard because they could only write music at one speed for more than an hour. They had to keep the beat exactly at 88 beats per minute making it very clear in the music. When playing the game you don’t look carefully you just feel the rhythm. Even though it sounds tough this helps players feel powerful by getting them into a calm focused state where they move in time with the music.
At first the levels in BPM are easy with simple enemies that move to the beat. But over time harder and different enemies appear still moving to the music’s beat. Collinson and Houghton couldn’t change the music’s speed So they used heavy sounds like deep guitars and scary church organs to make the music feel tense. They also used classic heavy metal tricks to make the player feel more nervous.
Collinson says there is a special sound called the Phrygian mode. It’s made by playing one note and then the note just a little higher. It sounds spooky. The composers didn’t have a big budget So they made music at home. Sometimes they made the music darker by scraping guitar strings and adding echoes. This made a creepy feeling like people screaming in the background.
Even though there are some tricky devil tricks the hell in BPM is meant to be fun. It’s a fun kind of hell not a scary one. It’s like a mix of Dante’s Inferno and Marvel says Houghton.
Last year, there was a game called Hades. It is an indie roguelike about Zagreus who tries to leave the fiery underworld where his father, Hades, rules. The music in the game is louder and heavier than before because the composer Darren Korb wanted to match the underworld setting. He said metal music fits hell well and felt it was important to include it. He also thought people expect to hear some metal in hell’s music.
Hades’ music is different from other hell-themed games like BPM and Doom Eternal. That’s because the game takes place in Greek hell which is not the same as the Christian idea of hell. Korb the composer, used softer electric guitars and drums with sounds from the Mediterranean to match the Greek setting. He included Turkish instruments like the lafta and baglama to make a special Mediterranean prog-rock Halloween style. This helps create a unique feel for the Greek underworld in the game.
He says the Mediterranean part shows the place. The prog rock part is loud and strong. Halloween shows the fun and light side that the other parts don’t have. He wanted the music to be fast exciting and full of energy. It sounds Mediterranean but is not too serious. The music has a little joke or smile in it he says.
Gamers often have to go back to hell many times. But these three games show that music can make it fun in different ways. They all use heavy metal music with loud guitars and drums. This kind of music is important for the idea of never-ending punishment but it’s just the beginning.
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