Orchestrated and Conducted by Tim Simonec

Additional Orchestrations by Michael Gasbarro and Michael Giacchnio

Performed by The Hollywood Symphony Orchestra

Produced by Michael Giacchino

            Promotional Release

     After successfully porting the Medal of Honor series from the Playstation system to the PC with Allied Assault, members of the development team moved over to Activision to jumpstart another WW2 shooter franchise, Call of Duty. Building upon the successful foundation that the Medal of Honor series has forged for itself, Call of Duty has made a serious impression on the gaming community. And, in realizing one of the major parts as to what made the Medal of Honor games so successful, the developers called upon the talents of Michael Giacchino to compose the score for the game.

     This time around, Giacchino makes a wise choice in taking the score in a completely different direction than where he had previously tread for the Medal of Honor games and  Secret Weapons Over Normandy. The score is darker, louder, and more chaotic. The main “theme” consists of a heavy string riff that bares no resemblance to the lyrical main titles of previous scores. In fact, the music bangs the listener over the head right from the outset, and it may take a while for one to get used to. Once you can work over the fact that this is not simply another Medal of Honor score, but Giacchino’s attempt to show the horrors of war by scoring it like a horror film, you can start picking out all the little motifs and themes and the complexities that the music possesses. The sheer business of all the different musical sections )performed by the wonderful talents of the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra) have to be experienced to be appreciated. And the fact that Giacchino can score such chaotic moments without having the music fall apart is a testament to his composing ability.

     That is not to say that a majority of the score is filled with chaotic action music. There are several places where things calm down and the more conventional sections of the score are given a chance to shine. It is these more contemplative cues, along with the tension-building moments, that really help to bolster this score in the places where the chaos becomes too much to handle. In this instance, track ten (Red Square) is the best of the lot, and features the excellent use of a classical piece to provide another theme of sorts for the score (this track is featured on the Call of Duty website).

     Giacchino has proven once again that he does not have to fall into a rut. While Call of Duty takes a far different approach from the Medal of Honor score. Though it won’t be to the delight of everyone, it still has its moments and appeal.