Soundelux Design Music Group recently provided original music, voice over recording and sound design for Lost Planet 2, Capcom’s new sequel to its enormously popular third person shooter game.Jamie Christopherson wrote the new main theme and the majority of the score for the game, which was recorded by a 96-piece live orchestra, one of the largest ever used for a video game title. Additional music was written by Capcom’s in-house composer Marika Suzuki. The game is scheduled for release this month in North America, Europe and Japan.
Christopherson, who also composed the score for the original Lost Planet game, said that the new score was inspired by music from classic science fiction films. “The main theme touches on the theme from the first game, but then takes it into an entirely new dimension,” he recalls. “It includes big, epic themes—massive music—to match the scope and scale of the game. Everything is bigger than life.
Christopherson conducted the live orchestra in recording sessions at the landmark 20th Century Fox Recording Stage in Los Angeles. He also conducted a second, three-hour session involving live percussion. Shawn Murphy (IRON MAN 2, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN) was scoring recordist/scoring mixer for both sessions.
Soundelux Design Music Group created specialty sound design elements. Working with Capcom’s Sound Director Tomoya Kishi, Supervising Sound Editor Peter Zinda led the team that created sound effects for many of the game’s robotic “Vital Suits,” “Akrid” life forms and weapons. They also conducted Foley sessions to create sound effects for human characters dressed in various forms of armored gear.
The sound team worked with Capcom’s Frameworks 2.0 software to integrate sound elements into the game. “We provided Capcom with sounds and game data. Instead of listening to sounds in isolation, they were able to play them back in the game very quickly,” says Zinda. “It worked very well and led to a much better product.”
Zinda added that the depth and richness of the sounds featured in Lost Planet 2 make for an exciting gaming experience. “It features a huge variety of sounds,” he says. “There are realistic weapons and sci-fi weapons; every Vital Suits has its own character, every Akrid sounds unique. The sounds help tell the story of the game and create its environment.”