We faced the task of creating an alien language for the inhabitants of the Reverb world. The developers asked us to base it on Arabic, but we immediately ruled out gibberish or Simlish options, since we needed linguistic congruence.

The core requirements included several critically important aspects. The language had to remain consistent from character to character. Grammatical constructs had to be recognizable within it. Certain frequent words, such as “mom” or “scary,” the player had to learn from context.

The solution was the Satik language (from the word “satik” — connection), which combined Baltic semantics, Arabic three-consonant morphology and grammar, as well as Russian coronal articulation. To give it uniqueness, we enriched it with three characteristic sounds: two tongue clicks reminiscent of clicks from Khoisan languages, and a rhythmic inhalation through the nose.

The sound of the language is revealed in the title track:

The concept of living weapons in Reverb required a fundamentally new approach to sound design. Each weapon is a living organism that grows accustomed to its owner and evolves alongside them.

We created a sound system reflecting the biological nature of the weapons. Each weapon type received characteristic organic sounds: breathing, heartbeat, the sounds of muscle contractions during shots. The weapon reacts to the player's actions — it rejoices at successful hits, expresses displeasure at misses, and tires from intensive use.

The work on weapon evolution sounds was especially interesting. As parameters improve, additional appendages literally grow on the weapon — optical sights, new muscles for precise shooting, and other organic modifications. Each upgrade is accompanied by characteristic sounds of growth and adaptation.

Creating sounds for Reverb's monsters became one of the most creative parts of the project. Our goal was to make the players' blood run cold. We worked with voice actors, experimenting with various vocalization techniques. The collaboration with an actor skilled in the growl technique proved especially productive.

Each creature received a unique sound signature. The Bell Female — a creature with a bell grown into its head. The Kookaburra became a nod to the Lovecraftian universe — almost empathetic in a calm state, but in aggressive mode it turns into a ventriloquist with insane laughter. The Khulud — a large monster with a sense of ancient power. The Man with the Lantern — four improvisations over the same base layer, each revealing different facets of the character.

Creating the characters of the Nanny and the Freaks became one of the most challenging tasks, requiring a delicate balance between different emotional reactions from players.

For the Nanny, we set the goal of conveying the “uncanny valley” effect. We started with a contralto reminiscent of Nina Simone, creating a sense of familiarity. Then a tender baby-talk cooing toward children appears in the speech, but gradually a hysterical reaction to the pain of loss emerges in the voice, followed by complete savagery. In the pursuit phase, we added elements reminiscent of Venom — the actor recorded two tracks: a normal timbre and a super-low one at identical timing, which were then mixed for a multilayered frightening effect.

The Freaks presented a complex emotional challenge. Their visual image combines a child with a crawling, inhuman creature. The combination of endearment and revulsion creates the emotional dissonance that was our goal. Dialogues between the Nanny and the Freaks in the Satik language add an additional layer of dread — the meaning of the phrases reflects the Nanny's distorted, unrealistic perception of her “children's” behavior.

Working on Reverb required going beyond traditional game audio design. The entire world sounds fundamentally different — we created a comprehensive sound ecosystem where every element interacts with the others on a biological level.

The Satik language we created functions as a full-fledged linguistic system, the living weapons react to players' actions like real organisms, and the creature sounds evoke a deep emotional response. This is one of the most ambitious approaches to sound design we have had the chance to work on.