Soundtrack and Immersive Audio
By Joe Nickolls, Line Producer
Our Street titles not only look and play differently; they also have an audio style all their own. FIFA Street is an over the top visual and gameplay experience, so it makes sense to have the music and sound effects follow suit. While playing football (soccer) in the streets and parking lots isn’t really underground, it is off the “beaten path” when it comes to music. You won’t be hearing top 40 songs while you’re performing a bicycle kick on a Portuguese rooftop!
Like skating and snowboarding culture, street football also has a style all its own. And it’s that style that helped us take the game in a new musical direction. Our Audio Team here on FIFA Street is second to none and that talent has been applied to our game.
First off, we wanted to capture what’s hot and “going to be hot” in the next year or so in music. Working with our global music team, we sourced out artists and songs that we felt reflected the canvas of FIFA Street 3. It’s a great mix of music with emphasis on electronic and electro. There’s 37 songs and mixes in the game that sound great whether you’re actually playing the game or not.
From dance inspired tracks from Chromeo to the hip hop influences of M.I.A., to the downtempo chill of Underworld ” we have a great soundtrack this year! You can check out the full list of songs at the bottom of this blog. We also have special treatments of music in both our menu system and while you’re in GameBreaker mode. Using special dub versions when we can, and custom GameBreaker tracks when you’re in the middle of things in the game ” it always sounds fresh.
FIFA Street is all about Style and Substance. So making sure the music adds to that “style” while you’re playing is key. We’ve spent hours in our sound studios just “listening” to tracks ” making sure they fit the game.
More often than not, we leave the game running in our team room and just listen to the music. This isn’t “Video Game” music ” it’s simply great music that fits perfectly into the genre of game we’re making. I love the way that the music compliments the gameplay instead of competing with it. It’s an unwritten rule that good audio and music makes games LOOK better. Just try and play a game with the sound off and you’ll see what I mean.
Music is only half the equation. The audio special effects, ambient noise and localized player calls add a lot to the game. It sounds great when you’re playing France vs. Spain and the players are calling out to each other in their native languages. We recorded thousands of lines of dialogue, so there’s lots of variety when you’re playing the game.
We also used localized recordings of different environments as well. Playing down at the shipyard sounds like a real shipyard because a real shipyard was what we recorded! Added touches like church bells ringing in the distance in Europe just add to the immersion. Kicking a ball against a wooden fence sounds a lot different than kicking one against a chain link fence. We make sure that the sounds you are hearing while you’re playing are the sounds you SHOULD be hearing when you’re playing. Of course we have some cool special effects when you’re taking shots and making saves as well.
Keeping in mind that FIFA Street 3 is an arcade football (soccer) game, we strike a balance between authenticity and fantasy ” and the audio is a huge part of that.
– Joe
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