When it was first announced, the idea of a game based off of Beowulf fightened me a bit. Once I saw the trailer for the film, which appears to be a gorgeous pseudo-CGI affair starring a near-naked Angelina Jolie and a shirtless Crispin Glover, I knew that things would be OK.
Ubisoft will be releasing the “action combat” game alongside the films release, and have announced today that Sascha Dikiciyan and Cris Velasco would be composing the game’s score. The hot industry composing team (who worked on the scores for Splinter Cell: Double Agent and Hellgate: London, among others) was recorded with live symphony musicians at Skywalker Sound studios.
The game should be released alongside the film, which hits theaters on November 16.
SAN FRANCISCO – November 8, 2007 – Today Ubisoft, one of the world’s largest video game publishers, announced that top video game composers Sascha Dikiciyan and Cris Velasco have created an original orchestral music score for Beowulf™, the new action combat video game based on Paramount Pictures’ and Shangri-La Entertainment’s upcoming feature film Beowulf™. The Beowulf™ video game is scheduled for worldwide release in conjunction with the movie’s opening in November 2007.
Created by the industry’s most in-demand composer team in Dikiciyan and Velasco, the Beowulf™ video game score is an epic musical journey featuring anthemic choral/orchestral compositions and bombastic action cues driven by heavy brass and thunderous percussion. The grand orchestral score was recorded with many of San Francisco’s best symphony musicians at the world famous Skywalker Sound studios.
“The biggest challenge we had for Beowulf’s soundtrack was that the music not only had to support and enhance the game’s actions, but it also had to follow the evolution of Beowulf universe; starting as a very heavy middle age Barbarian music and ending as a modern and powerful Hollywood score,” stated Manu Bachet, Music Supervisor at Ubisoft. “Within a very aggressive schedule, Cris Velasco and Sascha Dikiciyan managed to compose the most refined barbarian soundtrack ever heard on this side of the Danes kingdom.”
“Working with Ubisoft on Beowulf reminds me of why I love being a game composer; it was an amazing experience from start to finish,” said Cris Velasco. “We began by meeting with all the creative teams from around the world to review the incredible visuals and game play that we would use as inspiration for the music. The score was recorded using top players and singers from the San Francisco area, and over the course of two days we had a great time both working in the studio and hanging out at the Skywalker Ranch.”
