Listen: Trent Reznor ‘Call Of Duty: Black Ops II’ Soundtrack & Interview

A first sample of Trent Reznor’s new soundtrack to the next Call of Duty video game Call of Duty: Black Ops II, which was revealed last week. Antiquiet have pointed out an interview (watch below) with Reznor along with the game’s director Dave Anthony, studio head Mark Lamia, and writer David S. Goyer (who co-wrote The Dark Knight Rises).

The interview is pretty insightful into how games are starting to become immersive forms of storytelling, and Reznor’s soundtrack certainly adds to the overall experience of the game. Reznor calls video games “a true art form” and that “it’s every bit as viable as film work or music.”

The game takes place around the scenario of a new cold war between the US and China, with an international villain in the middle, playing off two countries’ rivalries. Reznor has described the music as “aggressively sounding” guitar-driven rock that will also have bass and drums, and says that “there is a lot of reservation and angst and sense of loss and regret and anger bubbling under the surface”, which fits in with the feeling of the game.

Recent work has seen Reznor working on the soundtracks for films Social Network and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo for which he won and Golden Globe and an Oscar, but this isn’t his first move in soundtracking video games, previously working with id Software on their FPS pioneering game Quake, which saw him create the various sound effects, and then return to help with Doom 3, only to abandon the project.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II will be available in Australia from the 13th November.

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