Trent Reznor calls Quake a career highlight, Doom felt like 'a bomb went off'

Trent Reznor, the composer behind Quake's soundtrack, appeared at QuakeCon as the event celebrated the shooter's 30th anniversary. He said his introduction to id Software's shooters began with Wolfenstein, which felt "impossible" and unlike anything he had seen in video games before. He even bought his first PC just to play it.

Doom, however, was the turning point. Reznor described its release as a bomb going off: the game was technologically ahead of its time and had no equal. He was struck by how it felt like no adults were involved, nobody said no, and that freedom was fantastic. He drew a parallel between Doom and his own music, where he was also "misshaping things" to express himself.

The id team later invited Reznor to work on Quake's music and sound effects. He said he is extremely proud of that work, more than many other things in his career, and believes the game still holds up today. His brief livestreamed appearance on a panel with John Romero and Marty Stratton was unexpected.

To mark Quake's anniversary, a line of Nine Inch Nails Quake-themed merchandise was released, including an ammo box replica. A new 19-level Quake episode was also announced and launched right during the panel.

Reznor noted that while Quake may look dated now, Doom was genuinely terrifying in 1993. A PC Gamer journalist at the event recalled that E1M3's music sent shivers down his spine, and his first encounter with a pinkie demon made him shut the game down. The soundtrack was so tense, he said, that he sometimes muted the music just to stay calm.