Helldivers 2 composer Wilbert Roget thinks of game scoring as ‘first-person’ and ‘third-person’

polygon.com:

If you look at video game composer Wilbert Roget’s credits from 2024 alone, the contrast and depth of his work is shocking. Roget composed the stirring, over-the-top songs heard when saving democracy in Helldivers 2, but also the haunting soundtrack for indie survival-via-your-car game Pacific Drive. Roget’s work will also be heard in Star Wars Outlaws 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 pursue creating game music? Can you set the scene of what that felt like for you, and why the music was so effective?

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

So I immediately began writing my own RPG-inspired music all throughout the rest of high school, 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’d love to discuss the main theme to 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 tune that could inspire players to be a part of an epic, heroic effort. As with the game itself, the most obvious inspiration might be Basil Poledouris’ timeless score to Starship Troopers, though in terms of orchestration, my biggest