Inon Zur has had quite the year. Between working on the music for Fallout 4 and its DLC, Zur has also composed the music for his first-ever VR game, Eagle Flight, which is also the first VR game developed by Ubisoft.
Eagle Flight, for those that don’t know, is a VR game where players take on the role of an eagle flying over Paris. The twist here is that humanity disappeared 50 years ago, so Paris has been completely abandoned. In fact, nature has made its way back into the city, with vines snaking through buildings and trees growing where they shouldn’t be.
iDigitalTimes talked to Zur about how working on Eagle Flight compared to more traditional games. Surprisingly, Zur says his approach wasn’t all too different from what he normally does, at least for this project.
“The first thing we talked about from a sonic point of view was ‘how can we approach it in the most effective way,’” Zur said. “So we thought to go back and see what the music was actually doing in the game and what its role was.”
Zur feels that unlike the other sounds in a game, like the sound effects and dialogue, a game’s score is more part of the storytelling than anything. “Unlike mixing and producing the sound effects and dialogue for the game that has to be in full engagement and connection to what you see when you’re flying, the music doesn’t change at all because it’s in your head,” he said.
Allowing the music to live as its own thing, granted Zur the ability to compose like he has in the past. “We decided to mix and compose the music in a total traditional way,” he said. “Write a score that will serve the game no matter if it’s in VR or a regular game.”
Despite having Paris as a backdrop in Eagle Flight, Zur said the music doesn’t take inspiration from its setting at all. “We did a few tries to see if we can weave in some Parisian elements, and it just didn’t work. It didn’t feel right,” he said. “Paris is the background and the location, but this version of Paris is different. It’s deserted and empty from any human beings.”
There are a few inspirations for the score, but they don’t come from what we think of as a Parisian sound. “The only influences are actually French classical composers like Debussy and Ravel,” said Zur. “Some of the harmonics and soundscape that I’m using for the game is influenced and inspired by them.”
When listening to the score for Eagle Flight, there is a predominant use of female vocals. This fit in line with the three main components Zur wanted to fit into the soundtrack. “One component is the flying feel, the second is excitement and the third is a primitive feel,” he said. “Both female vocalists are bringing in this fresh and new adventure feeling. It just really worked and influenced a lot of what I was doing there.”
Complementing the female vocals are a traditional orchestra and primitive percussion instruments. “I used primitive percussion instruments and tribal beats to enhance the primitive pan of the game,” Zur said. “The orchestra is almost playing not in conjunction with the tribal percussion, but above them. The orchestra is playing these epic, but very slow melodies that are soaring into the air, while the percussion is giving us the earth beneath us with the animals and greenery. In between this, you can hear the vocals.”
Zur said the most important thing for him in any form of entertainment, be it games or a movie or TV, is a good story. He contends a composer should be thinking of ways to create his or her own world in parallel to that of the narrative in order to support the overall story.
This is even more important for games specifically. “Games have so much room for music to influence and support the story because you aren’t locked into picture like you are with movies or TV,” Zur said. “You can concentrate in the pure narrative behind the game. This way, composers can create an entire sonic world that will be an emotional layer for the game.”
“You should feel the music, not hear it,” said Zur.
Eagle Flight is now available on PS4 for the PSVR and PC for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. The score can be found on Spotify and iTunes.
So what do you think? Are you interested in flying around an abandoned Paris as an eagle? Will you be giving the Eagle Flight score a listen? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
