God of War composer Bear McCreary reveals E3 reveal was the “greatest night of my creative life”

Iconic film, TV and video game composer Bear McCreary has announced a European ‘Themes And Variations’ tour, bringing together twenty years of beautiful music to the stage with a six-piece band. Starting at London’s Indigo At The O2 on April 18^th, the composer behind God of War, Godzilla, Walking Dead, and much, much more will travel across Europe performing a large library of his works.

Speaking to VideoGamer for an upcoming episode of the VideoGamer Podcast, McCreary discussed the beautiful reveal of Sony Santa Monica’s God of War during E3 2016. As the first ever look at a new generation of the iconic PlayStation IP, the composer revealed that this one moment is still the “the greatest night of my creative life”.

Bear McCreary on PlayStation’s God of War reveal

Speaking on the podcast, the composer explained that the reveal of God of War was incredibly bold. Prior to the reveal, McCreary took to the stage with an orchestra to conduct music of a game that no one knew, with a unique sound unlike anything that PlayStation had ever released, and played music for six minutes straight.

“When this game was announced in 2016, it was at the E3 presentation that Sony did at the Shrine Theater in Los Angeles and it was packed,” the composer said. “It’s where they used to do the Oscars, okay? It’s this beautiful old theater. The red curtain is down and there’s an orchestra in the front and there’s a choir off to the left and there’s this interesting Faroese singer named Ivor off on the other side. And then I walk out and start playing a piece of music you’ve never heard before.”

“The first time people see his face, hear those three notes associated with him, the feeling I got, I mean, I’m getting chills just talking about it.”

GOD OF WAR COMPOSER BEAR MCCREARY

McCreary explained that “it’s so rare to start [a presentation] with music that isn’t nostalgic”. With minutes of blaring, emotional, downright confrontational music, it was a powerful moment that would lead into the return of God of War without relying on the themes of past games that would lead to one of the greatest E3 reveals in history.

“It’s not like we’re playing the hits,” McCreary said. “We’re not playing the old God of War theme. We’re just playing this new piece of music and not for a minute. It’s like a four-minute fanfare. It’s like West Side Story, right? Or Lawrence of Arabia. It’s like, this is an overture, this is a counterpoint.

“And then the curtain’s open and you see a little boy playing with toys. And then somebody calls him and he gets up and he runs into this cabin in the woods and he’s talking to someone off-screen. Then and only then, it’s been like six minutes. Kratos with a beard, old and scarred steps out of the shadows. That moment, when I assigned those three notes that you’d been hearing for the last five minutes, he steps out—boom, buuh buuh buh. I’m conducting them with a live orchestra. The first time people see his face, hear those three notes associated with him, the feeling I got, I mean, I’m getting chills just talking about it.”

The composer explained that the crowd was “euphoric”, erupting in cheers as Kratos returned from the shadows. However, that was just the applause he could see. All across the world, gamers were whooping and cheering at the reveal, and McCreary’s themes are now synonymous with the new generation of God of War players.

“Let me put it this way: it was the greatest night of my creative life and I wasn’t even considering that,” the composer explained. “That was something that I got to enjoy after the fact. Watching the reaction videos [of E3], watching the reaction videos as the game came out, to Baldur’s first appearance, to finding the Blades of Chaos, to finding out about Freya and, like, people were sharing their reactions. And I was so grateful for those YouTube videos because it’s, like, I don’t get to be in the living room with you. So thank you for sharing that experience.”

Hearing the fanfare at E3 2016 and seeing the reactions online sparked a new need in McCreary. The reason the composer is even doing his new tour in the first place is because of the reactions he saw over that night.

“That’s why I wanted to do these concerts, man,” he told VideoGamer. “Cause it’s like that feeling of being in the room and conducting an ensemble going, ‘buum buum bum’. I’m greedy for that. I want this in my life more. So that is why I have put together the Themes and Variations tour, fundamentally. That’s why.”

Tickets for McCreary’s Themes and Variations Tour, brining together music from over twenty years of the composer’s history, can be booked right here.