Helldivers 2 composer Wilbert Roget thinks scoring games is ‘first person’ and ‘third person’

Just looking at video game composer Wilbert Roget’s credits from 2024, the contrast and depth of his work is startling. Roget composed the rousing, over-the-top tracks that accompany the saving of democracy in Helldivers 2but also the spooky soundtrack for the indie survival-via-your-car game Pacific driveRoget’s work will also be heard in the summer of 2019. Star Wars Bandits later this month.

Polygon asked Roget some questions about his process as part of Polygon FM, our theme week celebrating the intersection of music and games.

Polygon: Was there a game soundtrack or song that inspired you to start making game music? Can you paint the scene of what that felt like for you, and why the music was so effective?

Willem Roget: I’ve been playing classical piano since I was very young, and while I loved arcades, I didn’t have video games at home until I got a PlayStation 1 in high school. I always thought I’d have a career in music, but that wasn’t until I Final Fantasy 7 that I knew I specifically wanted to be a video game composer. Uematsu’s soundtrack was brilliant in its own right, of course, but it also seemed more “inviting” than any other music I’d ever heard before — the clear and direct composition, mixed with Uematsu’s signature melodic writing style, seemed to say, “Hear this score? You can do it too!”

So I immediately started writing my own RPG-inspired music for the rest of my high school years, took on indie projects, and the rest is history.

Can you break down one of your own songs and its influences? Was it inspired by game soundtracks, other music, or something else?

I would like to discuss the main theme Helldivers 2“A cup of Liber-Tea”!

The piece was written to represent the Helldiver soldiers themselves, so the goal was to write an anthemic melody that could inspire players to be part of an epic, heroic effort. As with the game itself, the most obvious inspiration might be Basil Poledouris’ timeless score to Spaceship Troopersalthough my biggest influence in terms of orchestration was Michael Giacchino’s military video game scores, such as Medal And Secret weapons over NormandyThe melody itself refers to Johan Lindgren’s memorable theme for the original Hell divers also a few times, especially in the final climax.

In terms of classical music influences, my choice to write the piece in 5/4 time was a reference to Gustav Holst’s “Mars, the Bringer of War.” The entire second half of the piece was inspired by Paul Hindemith’s “Mathis Der Maler” symphony in its use of dramatic counterpoint. I used the melody of the solo violin bridge section, Lindgren’s aforementioned Helldivers 1 theme and the four-note descending Helldivers 2 motive to create a powerful climax and a token of appreciation for the players of the original Helldivers.

What are the main instruments used to create the soundtrack for Pacific driveHow did you choose those instruments?

Pacific drive was unique to me because it was the first score where I designed and invented the instruments before I wrote the music. I had two sonic principles: the concept of beautifying ugly or grotesque sounds, and the sound of isolation. So I recorded construction drills and creaking rusty doors, played a metal colander with a double bass bow, played a clothes dryer like a drum kit; anything that I thought sounded cacophonous in an interesting way, I recorded and processed into synthesized pads and leads.

On the more traditional instrumentation side, I played guitar with an ebow and brass slide, and worked with vocalist D’Anthoni Wooten and double bass virtuoso Sam Suggs. Their performances had a haunting and yearning quality that beautifully conveyed the concept of isolation.

Is there anything else we should know about your approach to composing video game music?

I like to think of game music in terms of “first-person” and “third-person” scoring when conceptualizing each piece. Most pieces fall into the latter category: third-person cues act as a detached commentary on the scene, focused on the story and larger narrative themes. But in some circumstances, I would find inspiration in imagining myself standing next to the player character, observing the environment and situation—for example, the intensely silent terror of standing in the middle of a war zone at night, hidden amid distant gunfire. I called this “first-person scoring” because the music is no longer a commentary, but rather simply reflects the emotional state of the character.