If you played our last game, Never Alone, you undoubtedly remember the sounds and the music - the delicate crunch of snow under Nuna’s feet, the elegant piano of the main title theme, and the wind whipping through the snow-ravaged landscape. Impossible Acoustic’s Brendan Hogan and Jamie Hunsdale created a truly awe-inspiring soundscape for the game, and we were so thrilled with their work that we asked them to work their magic again with The Endless Mission.
The Sound and Music Makers
Jamie Hunsdale is a veteran foley artist, sound designer, and voice actor. He specializes in the organic creation and manipulation of audio. Brendan Hogan is an award-winning sound designer specializing in digital manipulation and synthesis of new sonic textures. Together they co-founded Impossible Acoustic, based out of Seattle.
Joining them to create the music for The Endless Mission is Catherine Joy, a seasoned composer for film and games - including the feature documentary Gold Balls, and the video game The Hole Story, which won the 2016 ID@Xbox Rising Star Award.
From Left to Right: Jamie Hunsdale, Brendan Hogan, and Catherine Joy
In taking on the audio for The Endless Mission, they identified one central challenge: how can each genre’s sound and music simultaneously feel unique and cohesive? We’ll be exploring in-depth how they’re tackling this in a future blog post.
Hearing it in Action
One of the first big moments in The Endless Mission happens within the prologue. It begins by throwing a cube which summons the Terminal - the game’s hub world. The earth rumbles beneath your feet while the Terminal and surrounding world rises up around you.
To illustrate the impact that sound and music have on creating memorable moments we’ve put together a clip that features the scene with and without the sound. You may find the difference staggering.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSj4eZdpa7s
We’re thrilled to be working with Impossible Acoustic again and can’t wait to share a deeper look at the audio of The Endless Mission very soon!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/827880/The_Endless_Mission/