Forbes interviews Bear McCreary about “God of War” music

Bear McCreary (’02), a USC Thornton Composition program alumnus, was interviewed by Forbes about his music for the video game God of War. Journalist Joshua Lamb traced the game’s musical history from its conception in 2005 to the 2022 sequel, God of War Ragnarök, which McCreary composed.

In the article, McCreary discussed his initial draw towards the project, taking inspiration from composer Gerard Marino, and musical expressions of emotion and ambience.

“The reason that the theme I originally sketched was so bold and ultimately ineffective was because it only played with surface emotion of grief and stoicism; it needed to have power. I sat back and remembered the way those old scores made me feel. There was a power fantasy that the music helped codify,” McCreary said.

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Photo courtesy of USC Thornton.