Trent Reznor Writing Theme Song for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

[Mantra]

Well of course I'm excited about the new song itself. If he had a song on a My Little Pony game I'd be excited. I just personally think the COD franchise is like the Nickelback of video games, so I felt like this particular licensing choice was kind of unfortunate, but whatever. I guess someone facepalmed my Tomb Raider comparison, but I think it was pretty applicable: terrible movie, good song. I'm sure this'll be a similar thing, where I just play the mp3 and forget where it came from. I see little reason here for anyone to seem dismayed about nin fans, just because a few of us don't like the cod games. Everybody's still happy about the music.

edit: goddamnit, that's the second time in the thread i got the top of the page. fuck.

anyway, I'm not gonna keep on about this, i've said my opinion, and i don't want to derail the discussion or anything so I'll probably duck out of this conversation now.

[sick among the pure]

Please, with the YZ2 connection speculation... I'll eat my hair.

I don't think anyone's saying it's connected to YZ, I know I'm not. Just mentioning that the theme behind Black Ops, and from what we know about Black Ops 2, is along the some vein. So we can see WHY he did this.

[sick among the pure]

Well of course I'm excited about the new song itself. If he had a song on a My Little Pony game I'd be excited. I just personally think the COD franchise is like the Nickelback of video games, so I felt like this particular licensing choice was kind of unfortunate, but whatever. I guess someone facepalmed my Tomb Raider comparison, but I think it was pretty applicable: terrible movie, good song. I'm sure this'll be a similar thing, where I just play the mp3 and forget where it came from. I see little reason here for anyone to seem dismayed about nin fans, just because a few of us don't like the cod games. Everybody's still happy about the music.

It's because instead of everyone being all "yay we are getting a new song and we got conformation for a bunch of awesome shit coming up" everyone's bitching "I hate this game that I haven't even played because past games made by a different developer were dumb dumb dumb!" Leave it to NIN fans to bitch when they get news of new music, because of the source.

[Amaro]

It was quite the surprise for me to hear, but even more so to read that he respects the game or whatever... I'd be lying if I said otherwise. Whateva, B. Whateva.

It's cool he's branching into video games, though, I hope it only keeps up.

[PhoenixML]

It's because instead of everyone being all "yay we are getting a new song and we got conformation for a bunch of awesome shit coming up" everyone's bitching "I hate this game that I haven't even played because past games made by a different developer were dumb dumb dumb!" Leave it to NIN fans to bitch when they get news of new music, because of the source.

Regardless of NIN, CoD has always been a hot topic of "love it or hate it" among gamers. Or more precisely, "hate it", because if you love it, you're not on any forum wasting time, you're play one of the CoD.

[SM Rollinger]

So, is the music in the new trailer the whole thing do we think, or is it longer than that? Title themes for games seem to get shorter and shorter these days.

Id bet the first couple seconds (the piano) is the new song, but the rest of it is doubtful though. Sounds more like youre traditional CoD music, and not what TR described in that interview.

[Goldfoot]

if you love it, you're not on any forum wasting time, you're play one of the CoD.

Which is what I might be doing if I had a reliable internet connection. I should be in a position to have one by the time BO2 comes out, and it's going to be great to hear Mr. Reznor every time I turn on the game. I know I'm going to spend days of playtime on that game, in all three modes. Mostly Zombies and Multiplayer, but for as frustrating as the games can be, when they work well for you, it's a fantastic time. When shit's going your way, you feel unstoppable. I got a MOAB in a 4v4 Domination game one time. It was such an incredible feeling, but at the same time, I've gone on deathstreaks of like 10.

I can understand hate for any type of game; it comes down to your preference. Halo isn't my thing, but I don't actively say it's a shitty game. The point here, as has been mentioned, is that he IS still making music and progress on other projects was mentioned. I have to say I disagree with the whole Tomb Raider analogy Mantra mentioned, and not because I like these games. How many people ACTUALLY like Deep? Seriously.

[Amaro]

I genuinely like Deep. It helps when you're not someone who cares about any song's lyrics. I simply haven't ever cared to listen to/for them.

[screwdriver]

The point here, as has been mentioned, is that he IS still making music and progress on other projects was mentioned. I have to say I disagree with the whole Tomb Raider analogy Mantra mentioned, and not because I like these games. How many people ACTUALLY like Deep? Seriously.

I actually unapologetically like Deep. I think its a great track.

[Blackbookpress1984]

While not thrilled about the area of release, I am excited to see what happens. I think you guys are bitching about the wring things. You should be happy tr is still making new music. If its in a game, so what, just don't buy the game.

[sheepdean]

Deep is a brilliant song

[Vertigo]

Regardless of NIN, CoD has always been a hot topic of "love it or hate it" among gamers. Or more precisely, "hate it", because if you love it, you're not on any forum wasting time, you're play one of the CoD.

Exactly. In my opinion, this isn't an example of NIN fans being negative so much as the polarising effect of Call of Duty.

For my part, I've played demos or matches at friends' houses for four different CoD titles and not enjoyed a single one, and I'm an FPS fan. The series' popularity is a mystery to me. With that said, any new material from Trent is something to be excited about. Furthermore, the last time he created a singular theme song the result was the Tetsuo theme, which absolutely blows my mind every time I hear it - and I've never seen the film it's representing, so I'm sure the new song will be amazing whether taken in the context of CoD or not.

[Space Suicide]

I'm stoked regardless.

[FernandoDante]

portal is hardly fresh

reznor goes out of his way to say in the interview that doing this was doing the biggest sort of franchise-type game there is out there; I could see why you might turn down your more normal "blockbusters," but this is sort of the biggest of the big. and its not like his history ignores this... Quake and Doom3 were sort of the CoD of their times.

I think Portal was the freshest breath of air into the gaming world since Half-Life. A fantastic way to put the player's experience ahead of any other factors. It thrills and entertains you constantly, and it's the funniest game in years. Then Portal 2 came along and managed to make that even better, for more than twice as long. Yes, they are puzzle games, but the way they incorporate all the non-gameplay elements into the game is what makes it "fresh" for me, and I wish I'd see it more often.

While we're at it, the soundtracks for Half-Life 2 (inc. Episodes 1 and 2) and Portal (1 and 2) remind me of Nine Inch Nails in all the right ways. Not that they sound anything alike, but that they're brilliantly constructed, moody electronic soundtracks. I just tend to think that Valve can't do any wrong. IMO, no single-player FPS since Half-Life 2 has surpassed that experience; no competitive multiplayer game has been as addictive as Team Fortress 2; and no co-op multiplayer game has been quite as exciting as Left 4 Dead (1 & 2). And I've said enough about Portal.

[Vertigo]

I think Portal was the freshest breath of air into the gaming world since Half-Life. A fantastic way to put the player's experience ahead of any other factors. It thrills and entertains you constantly, and it's the funniest game in years. Then Portal 2 came along and managed to make that even better, for more than twice as long. Yes, they are puzzle games, but the way they incorporate all the non-gameplay elements into the game is what makes it "fresh" for me, and I wish I'd see it more often.

While we're at it, the soundtracks for Half-Life 2 (inc. Episodes 1 and 2) and Portal (1 and 2) remind me of Nine Inch Nails in all the right ways. Not that they sound anything alike, but that they're brilliantly constructed, moody electronic soundtracks. I just tend to think that Valve can't do any wrong. IMO, no single-player FPS since Half-Life 2 has surpassed that experience; no competitive multiplayer game has been as addictive as Team Fortress 2; and no co-op multiplayer game has been quite as exciting as Left 4 Dead (1 & 2). And I've said enough about Portal.

Agreed on Portal...
Half-Life 2 I think is massively overrated, but HL1 did a lot to introduce cinematic, immersive, story-led gameplay into the FPS genre (for better or worse...). And HL2's Episodes I absolutely love, as they expand on the story-led premise by serialising the narrative, and heighten the sense of immersion by an order of magnitude with the introduction of companion NPCs (fixing one of my major gripes with HL2, that you don't spend enough time with the NPCs to develop any attachment).
Team Fortress 2 is, to me, how Unreal Tournament 2003 was back in the day - irritating and flawed, but compelling enough to keep playing in the absence of anything better. Anyone know of a decent old-school arena FPS doing the rounds at the moment?
Left 4 Dead's great, an incredibly well-realised take on a previously neglected genre. It's been amusing to see them resurrect a number of game concepts from 1999's Aliens vs Predator, as Valve's own Half-Life was the main reason those ideas were forgotten in the first place.

I do think Valve's the most vital developer in the world today, but wouldn't quite go so far as to say everything they touch turns to gold.

/thread derailment. Sorry everyone....

[ThinkIcouldburn]

I hope this isn't the new music Trent was saying we'd hear before the end of the year.

[sa_nick]

Hope there's a soundtrack release coz fuck buying the game.

[sheepdean]

Hope there's a soundtrack release coz fuck buying the game.

COD released all of Hans Zimmer's music, and as Trent is only doing one track, I'm sure it will be on the release, with his name unreasonably big on the cover and marketing devices.

However, I DO hope those of you who get the game and know how to rip BDs will get the 5.1 mix off of it

[WorzelG]

I see this soundtrack work as becoming more like a day job for Trent, not something to spend time over-analyzing. It's a way to bring money in without touring for a year or releasing deluxe things that end up becoming a big pain in the arse! Most people have to do this to fund what they actually love doing. I'll probably get the game though, I heard zombies were in it

[BenAkenobi]

COD released all of Hans Zimmer's music, and as Trent is only doing one track, I'm sure it will be on the release, with his name unreasonably big on the cover and marketing devices.

However, I DO hope those of you who get the game and know how to rip BDs will get the 5.1 mix off of it

knowing how id Tech 3 games usually work, it'll be as simple as unzipping an mp3 (or ogg) file

[sick among the pure]

However, I DO hope those of you who get the game and know how to rip BDs will get the 5.1 mix off of it

If someone wants to walk a fairly tech-challenged somebody through it, I'm certain you'd be rewarded with a PM from someone around 1am or so the night it comes out.

[NIN64]

Didn't see this linked here anywhere. It mentions Trent.

[owinn]

CoD in my view has seemed like a pretty stale franchise and Activision have a reputation for being the most hated company in gaming thanks to Bobby Kotick, but at the end of the day it's a deathmatch game, NIN even had Activision thanked in the Year Zero liner notes - Trent appears to be a big fan and there's more than enough controversy surrounding these games to make them attractive to a guy who was reported to love how politically incorrect Id Software were with Doom etc. And who knew these games were actually fun if you take them as standalone games rather than a series. He really likes CoD, so do an enormous number of gamers so lets not be so quick to judge. Clint Mansell did the music for Mass Effect 3 recently and let's not kid ourselves that it was some quaint little indie game - that was as big for EA as CoD is for Activision, nobody was saying Clint sold out, hell most gamers and fans were all for it, good on him getting his name out there. So you don't like CoD, who gives a shit? Play some Mass Effect, Skyrim or some Super Mario Galaxy if that's more your thing, just don't pretend like the companies who make these games aren't filthy rich no matter how incredible they are and remember that you may not understand it but plenty dislike the franchise you're into as much as you dislike theirs.

[gorast]

I see this soundtrack work as becoming more like a day job for Trent, not something to spend time over-analyzing. It's a way to bring money in without touring for a year or releasing deluxe things that end up becoming a big pain in the arse!

Oh you mean like the Dragon Tattoo soundtrack?

I don't play the CoD games so I don't care about the game itself, so long as we get a decent quality version of the track.

[Frozen Beach]

So, since Trent Reznor admits he plays COD online, I wonder if I've played with him or against him. I wonder if I've pissed him off or he's pissed me off. Do you guys think he's the kind of guy to smash his controller when he gets pissed off? I'm sure he does. It's not like he can't afford another one. When he get's pissed off at a videogame, does he scream "SOMETHING'S GOING TO GET BROKEN!"?

[dominik]

I wonder how he decides under which name he releases new soundtrack music, since the song for Tetsuo is a NIN song.

[sick among the pure]

So, since Trent Reznor admits he plays COD online, I wonder if I've played with him or against him. I wonder if I've pissed him off or he's pissed me off. Do you guys think he's the kind of guy to smash his controller when he gets pissed off? I'm sure he does. It's not like he can't afford another one. When he get's pissed off at a videogame, does he scream "SOMETHING'S GOING TO GET BROKEN!"?

Before I even got to the quote I was thinking the exact same thing (not the have I played against him but the does he rage). I think it's be fun to game with or against him, when he was doing the meet and greets to raise money for the boy, the fanboy in me was all "I just want a hug and to sit down and play video games with him". Then again, he'd probably face-palm at me, for CoD my username is TH3_G00D_S0LD13R, my black ops icon (since you can draw it) is a backwards black capital N with a white background, and my clan is always NIN. I'm a nerd, I know.

[Maurish]

When he get's pissed off at a videogame, does he scream "SOMETHING'S GOING TO GET BROKEN!"?

Or maybe he'll cut someone's head open with a microphone stand... I mean with a keyboard/gamepad.
I'm sure Vrenna thought he was quite safe behind the drum kit.

Here are some links in case someone is interested what is being referred to (using html tags to avoid the auto embedded).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUeC236vbkM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzeAZmkaImE

[slave2thewage]

I would love to get into an online match against a user called "teitan". I bet the obscenity levels would be through the roof.

[cashpiles (closed)]

COD: Black Ops 2 lyrics are up at http://www.callofduty.com/blackops2/



all you've known
laid to waste
loved ones at the gates of hell
in the enemy's hands
pride stripped away

when your walls of security
have fallen to ruins
when there's nowhere left to hide
with the blood of your father in your
tear stained eyes
will you answer
the call of duty?

forced to watch
the rape of my daughter
they murdered my dearest friend
down the road
ashes in the sky
thunder at the strike of dawn
is this the price we must pay?

when your walls of security
have fallen to ruins
when there's nowhere left to hide
with the blood of your father in your
tear stained eyes
will you answer
the call of duty?

when your walls of security
have fallen to ruins
when there's nowhere left to hide
with the blood of your father in your
tear stained eyes
will you answer
the call of duty?