1. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
Game Title
Bioshock
Provide detailed descriptions from chosen examples that establish…
Setting
Mood
Game genre
Narrative
Clearly state what production technique(s) you think have
been used to create specific soundtrack elements
This scene is set in the underwater city of rapture. The player has stumbled upon
the place after his plane crashed into the ocean, and he has been told by a strange
man that if he wants to survive down here, he must inject himself with the plasmid.
The music is effective here as the tension builds up when the player (Jack) is about
to inject the plasmid into him. We are unsure of what will actually happen here and
he could even die. High pitched strings instruments are used here. After he falls
from the balcony, the sound cuts and leaves an eerie ambience around the scene.
The main mood here is creepy as the player has fallen into and unusual and scary
world. Fear is also abundant as well as tension. Tension builds with the stringed
instruments at the start, creepiness is felt throughout the scene with supporting all
the music and visuals and fear is seen when the Big Daddy and Little Sister appear
and the end. The strange ambience heard in this scene with these characters
strongly supports all these moods as the player has never seen anything like this
before.
The games genre is action first person shooter. Elements of action and horror are
especially abundant in this game too. This scene and music, however, I believe do
not suit the FPS and action genre. This is because this scene is focused more directly
on the horror side to the game. On this note then, the music here works extremely
well for the genre. The repetitive, high strings and eerie ambience enlarge the
feeling of horror and really send fear to the player to show them that this is a scary
game.
The player has found a strange city underwater named rapture. After his plane
crashed, he has no option but to go down and explore the depths of the city. When
the player gets down, they notice the city looks broken, run down and just plain
scary. They are then introduced to a few enemies. They then get to a ‘Gatherers
garden’ machine where they are told to use the product in has dispensed. Once the
player injects the plasmid, changes in his genetic code cause him to lose balance and
I believe this music was created in a recording
studio and VST. The ambience was created in
VST whilst the strings at the start were
created in a recording studio.
I believe the creators wanted to use one
instrument at a time to create a creepy mood.
The music is slow but very tense too and the
creators did a good job of creating the overall
creepy effect.
The music here fits with the horror genre as it is
very common to hear the sounds used here in
horror games and films. The sounds are well
known for building tension, establishing fear and
growing creepiness.
The music works with the narrative by portraying
to the player that the world they have entered is
not as nice as it once seemed. It is filled with
psychopaths, murderers and genetically mutated
freaks. It says to the player that there will be
many moments of fear in the game.

2. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
fall off the balcony. The player is then shown the Big daddy and little sister, who are
two extremely important Bioshock characters. The music really helps with the
creepy factor of this game and really emphasises its horror theme.