One of PlayStation’s newest videos on its hit God of War game shows h ow some of the title’s most incredible sounds were created. The game’s full of powerful abilities, weapons, and enemies that all have weighty sounds to match with one of the most impressive noises coming from Jörmungandr, the World Serpent who players encounter during their travels. The awe-inspiring creature’s voice was created using a combination of several different sounds and effects, lead sound designer Mike Niederquell and game director Cory Barlog explained.
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The World Serpent’s voice is one that’s fitting for the time that it takes to reach the ancient being. When it’s first heard, its voice is unintelligible, but you know it’s saying something important. The screen shakes when it talks in a booming voice that apparently has many different effects at play, some of them coming from different animals and others created through singing and autotune-like effects. Barlog said the only clear direction he gave Niederquell when designing the sounds of the game pertained to the World Serpent’s voice.
“It’s a mysterious entity that comes out of the water,” Niederquell said. “It’s giant, larger than life, and you want its voice to represent that and you want that to be surreal, something you’ve never heard before and be very alien.”
Part of the serpent’s voice came from Niederquell doing his own version of Tuvan throat singing. After recording his own voice, he used pitch plugins to alter the sound. That led to the deep, gravelly voice that the serpent makes.
Animal noises ranging from kitten purrs to whale clicks were also incorporated into the serpent’s voice. Kittens, buffalo, tigers, beluga whales, and other animals had their noises used to make “creature-esque” noises that couldn’t be produced as easily. The final product led to the booming voice that’s heard in the video above.
The same video also covered other effects like the sounds the Leviathan Axe made when it’s used. Kratos’ new weapon of choice spends a lot of its time stuck traveling through the air, stuck in enemies and environments, and returning to Kratos’ hand with different sounds needed for each. Footsteps and other noises as well as the dialogue between Kratos and Atreus were also covered in the video.
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