Creating the perfect audio-landscape and original soundtrack adds a lot to any gaming experience. Fortunately, in Montreal, Gameloft has a talented audio team to make every one of our games acoustically unique. I was lucky enough to catch up with one member of the team, Vincent Labelle, for a chat about his recent work as Music Supervisor/Music Composer for our new mobile FPS, Modern Combat Versus.
First things first, tell me about your history with Gameloft’s music team.
I’ve been part of Gameloft Audio team in Montreal for a little more than 10 years now. I was here in the early days, back when we were making games for flip phones and Nokias… Good times!
Mobile gaming has evolved so much since then and so has our audio team, we now have a bunch of very skilled composers here with us, each with their own field of interest and background. For me, it’s mainly about composing electronic and cinematic music. This has led me to create music for lots of Gameloft’s most popular franchises, such as N.O.V.A., Asphalt, and Modern Combat.
What was it like working on one of Gameloft’s flagship series?
We like to treat all games as ¨flagship¨ when it comes to audio! From a mainstream racing game, to a casual match-3, we pride ourselves in making every game sound at its best. Although, obviously, the challenges are quite different for both. I like to think that this makes Gameloft games distinctive in the end.
For me it is a passion, and that is why I’m still doing it. Plus, I’m lucky enough to be involved in most of our game’s audio.
Modern Combat Versus was a bit of a departure from the rest of the series – how did you aim to convey this change and what brief were you given for the soundtrack?
Indeed, MCVS is a different experience than previous versions, and this allowed us to do things differently with audio as well. Early on, we pitched the idea of having music that would not interfere with the gameplay, but instead highlight it as much as possible. We wanted to have an immersive, yet raw feeling to the action. It’s a far more minimalist approach than what we’re used to do.
In terms of contrast, we felt we were able to have more bold and epic music in the menus. This allowed us to convey different emotions to those experienced during gameplay. I think it serves the game very well!
Can you tell me a little about your process?
We usually get involved in games somewhat late in the production process, so more often than not, the game has already taken shape. This means that we get to play the game a lot and write music over actual game footage, so we stay focused on writing with the right feel and intention.
For me, it starts with a long quest to find any element that could define the overall tone of the game. It could be a sound, a processing techniques, or another thematic element. It takes shape from there usually, and then the music comes out on its own afterwards.
Where did you draw inspiration from, what feel were you attempting to convey, and how did you aim to achieve it?
My colleague, Benjamin Beladi, and I really like the epic and dynamic feel of modern movie trailer music. We both thought it would suit the game well, so we started with that. Also, the game’s background story was very inspiring to us. Each faction gets its own distinctive tone: dark and mean for the Korp, hopeful and engaging for OCTO. So, we each wrote music for a different clan.
For the game intro and lobby, we aimed for a common tone, influenced by both faction sounds. There are bits and pieces of the same theme hidden away in each and every cue of the game! It really brings unity to the whole soundtrack.
Okay, finally, sum up the MCVS OST in five words.
I would say, “Epic and engaging” (sorry, that’s only three words).
Follow Gameloft Music and Audio on YouTube to hear more of the Modern Combat Versus sound track and more OSTs from your favorite mobile games. These tracks, and more, are also available on SoundCloud.
