Any media, including video games, have background work behind the scenes that fans often don’t get to look right in the eye. Take, for example, sound effects. The bangs, pings, sloshes, and winds all that help make the world feel like a more atmospheric place are thanks to various sound artists that work hard to get those exact noises on a clear recording. Sometimes these sounds require some downright unusual methods, from pouring water into a bowl, to moving thin steel back and forth. Some sound effects come from places you might not expect. God of War Ragnarok was a game highly celebrated by critics, fans, and artists not only for the game’s direction and story but for the sounds and atmosphere that the game presents to its audience.
The sound direction being one of the main winners of the game, it’s no surprise that some looking into has been done surrounding the methods that brought the game to life. During the Game Developers Choice Awards, the game got Best Audio. It also received the Best Game Foley award from the Annual Game Audio Network Guild Awards. If you don’t know what the word foley means, it’s sound effects added to games or movies; in God of War Ragnarok’s case, those choices were spot on.
How Does Foley Work in God of War Ragnarok?
Joanna Fang is the lead sound designer for the God of War Ragnarok project; part of her duties involves helping create the sound effects you hear in cutscenes and in the overworld. During a recent video tour, she shared her methods, both the unusual and the expected. Some methods weren’t all that surprising. Sounds having to do with swords often involve actual swords.
For a few less distinct items, however, replacements can be used to replicate their sounds. For example, a wooden bow and a quiver being placed on a table is a sound Fang needed to construct. It sounds no different than a wooden bowl and a pistol holster, which she shows in the video tour. Some other items she uses throughout her work are of a wide variety. Her arsenal includes things like cantaloupe, celery sticks, actual armor, boxing gloves, pasta noodles, and wet rags.
