God of War composer reacts to Bot of War from Astro Bot: ‘It made me so proud’
Bot of War was one of several PlayStation tribute levels in Astro Bot
God of War composer Bear McCreary has told VGC that Astro Bot’s Bot of War level made him “so proud” of his music.
As part of a forthcoming podcast interview celebrating the 20th anniversary of the God of War franchise, McCreary told VGC his thoughts on Astro Bot‘s God of War level, which features new compositions of McCreary’s God of War music, this time composed by Kenny Young.
“I had a chance to tell Team Asobi to their face how much I love their game. I met them the day they came into town for The Game Awards. I loved it. I loved the level.
“I probably shouldn’t say this, but I’m going to say it. I had seen it well in advance because my friends at Santa Monica Studios were like ‘you gotta come see this thing!’ because they had been working with Team Asobi on it. While obviously I didn’t work with Kenny on it, there was no need. He nailed it.”
Speaking to VGC in October about Astro Bot’s soundtrack, composer Kenny CM Young told us that he was well aware of the pressure of handling other composers’ compositions in the context of Astro Bot.
“When I was working it out, you are conscious of the fact that this is someone else’s baby, that you are sort of cutting up effectively,” Young said.
“But you know, I think the two things to try and do there is, like, Yeah, do it with love and respect and, respect and those are games that I’ve played that I’ve got a lot of respect for too. So, hopefully, that comes across in the music. I don’t think I’ve ruined it (laughs). I’ve tried to keep the essence of what was there whilst changing it to make it fit Astro Bot.”
McCreary told VCG that Kenny’s work on his music allowed him to appreciate it in a way he hadn’t previously been able to.
“What Kenny did for me is that when I got to the Bot of War level, and you heard those three notes, it doesn’t matter that they were completely recontextualized, it didn’t matter that they had been redone in this fun, robo-electro-pop style. When you hear those three notes, that’s God of War,” McCreary said.
“That makes me so proud, because it really hit me that I made something.”
Elsewhere in our forthcoming interview, McCreary said that he felt his time on the God of War series is “complete.”
