1. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
Game Title
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (WotLK)
Provide detailed descriptions from chosen examples that establish…
Setting
Mood
Game genre
Clearly state what production technique(s) you think have
been used to create specific soundtrack elements
The setting that the sound itself sets feels like the action is happening somewhere
on a frozen wasteland (the occasional winds and ‘freeze breaks’) – 0:50, this
therefore indicates that the action is happening somewhere where it is very cold
and it is probably a wasteland which can lead us to further clues as to the mood that
would be set and the game genre that such terrain could be used in. Further
indication to that is when we hear steps of a character that are kind of dulled out,
possibly by the snow that he is walking on (0:40 to 0:50) – the additional winds also
show us that he must be somewhere high, possibly on a mountain and therefore
there might be snow there because of the low temperatures that happen on high
altitudes. At about 2:13 in the video we can hear something smashing against
something that sounds like ice, and very hard at that. This furthermore suggests that
we might be on icy wasteland tundra.
The mood is set on a very dark and dramatic one but epic at that throughout the
clip. In the soundtrack, we can hear various vocals that create a very dramatic tune
albeit a very good one and epic at that, this adds tension and therefore creates a
mood of uncertainty and a feeling that something wrong is happening. At the end,
the music takes a particular dark turn and we can really hear a lot of dark ambience.
This suggests that whatever is happening is big but very dark and perhaps evil. This
sets the moods nicely and ironically towards what the narrator is saying.
The sounds that are created for the setting are
quiet easy to make, just go out on a windy day
(possibly in the winter) and record about an hour
of ambience and then edit it out, ice is even
easier, put some ice in a bucket and crush it with
your fist to create the ice walking effect. The
walking on the snow can be done in a similar
fashion. Additional editing can yield great results
and a very possible improve in quality.
There isn’t a lot of indication as to what game genre this is, judging by the things
that we heard before, i.e. the sounds of wind etc. we can say it might be a survival
game, but also, later on, at about 1:20 in the video, we can clearly hear a sword
being pulled out of its sheath. And at the end of the video we can hear a very loud,
dragon like scream and then many smaller screams afterwards. This suggests that
we are more in a fantasy setting with medieval elements.
The music is a simple work of art on something
like the reaper, it was probably done by an artist
for the sake of this cinematic and therefore
nothing can be really said about it, he probably
used various small sound files and combined them
together to make sense. Additionally, the artist
would probably require the voice of a professional
opera singer since the soundtrack in this requires
it. (Can be heard in 1:10)
The sound of the sword could be very easily
replicated by sliding a sharp knife across a smooth
but hard surface several times and then editing it
and making it more viable in a sound recording
environment. The screams could be very easily
done with things like, recorded squeaking door

2. Salford City College
Eccles Sixth Form Centre
BTEC Extended Diploma in GAMES DESIGN
Unit 73: Sound For Computer Games
Narrative
A good narrative runs throughout the clip, from the very beginning to the very end.
The narrator seems like the father of the character he is speaking about by saying
lines like: My son at 0:14 gives a clear indication of the relationship of the character
and the narrator, i.e. the father and the son, the narrator gives us a lot of details
towards his son as well as his place of origin, from 0:16 he said, the day you were
born the very forests of Lordaeron (giving us the location and thus more
information) whispered name Arthas (the name of the character), later on the
father talk about how he saw Arthas grow into a strong man and ‘into a weapon of
righteousness’ suggesting that the story is set somewhere in a fantasy world (light vs
dark etc.) (1:15) after that the narrator states: ‘our line has always ruled with
wisdom and strength’ indicating that the son and the father as well as their family in
general have come from a royal family, possibly rulers of the mentioned earlier
Lordaeron. Then he talks about ‘showing restraints when exercising his great
power’, which supports the idea of Arthas being a great ruler/king of the land
mentioned earlier, Lordaeron. Because of all of this, we can get a very good idea of
what has happened, that the narrator is the dead father speaking about his son and
how the father is amazed by how his son has grown. The last line that the narrator
(father) says is quite important: (2:38) ‘But the truest victory my son, is stirring the
hearts of your people’ which indicates that there might be a big challenge awaiting
Arthas.
and then editing that to sound like a scream.
There isn’t really anything to be said here, the
voice actor simply read out the text that was
given to him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nr3ootvuks