from Digital Music News
Avid gamers are hard to reach these days, thanks to the release of Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The hugely-anticipated game is suddenly casting ‘obligations’ like employment, friendships, and marriages as mere distractions. Sounds like Grand Theft Auto IV all over again, yet this time, the soundtrack is much different.
Instead of a dashboard radio tuner, the action of Modern Warfare 2 carries a cinematic soundtrack. And, who better to craft that musical backdrop than Hans Zimmer, the composer extraordinaire behind blockbusters like Pirates of the Carribean, Gladiator, and Rain Man, to name a few.
The result is a big-screen auditory experience, though Modern Warfare 2 was Zimmer’s first foray into gaming. So, instead of set time periods to develop musical arcs, Zimmer was forced to score something that fit the always-variable frames of an action game.
The choice of Zimmer is symbolic. Of course, Zimmer is hardly a budget choice, though the gaming industry now rivals – and often surpasses – Hollywood in terms of title receipts and the scope of its projects. On that note, Modern Warfare 2 is also stuffed with big-name voices, including 50 Cent, whose voice appears in multiplayer and ‘special ops’ modes.
