Before discussing music for Mass Effect 4, I'd like to mention what I think of the soundtracks from ME 1-3.
ME1: The most successful of the trilogy's soundtracks in that, while not the most technically impressive of the three, the soundtrack for ME1 accomplished exactly what it intended. Jack Wall and Sam Hulick created a mysterious atmosphere that accompanied you throughout the game, from the Normandy's theme onboard to the quirky planet exploration music that at time feels like it's about to break out into to Uematsu Nobuo's Another Moon from Final Fantasy IV. And the soundtrack does consistently remind you of the environments of sci-fi films from the 80s and 90s.
ME2: The best of the series. Wall branches out quite extensively by adding orchestral effects to his electronics from ME1, a formula used to great success throughout the game, most memorably in the tremendously epic Suicide Mission. It also contains the best action/battle themes in the series - the most notable are "Jacob" (Sam Hulick) and "Tali" (Jimmy Hinson) from their respective loyalty missions; the latter returns in ME3 during the Rescue Admiral Koris mission. Wall's orchestral effects seem to have been influenced somewhat by legendary composer Jerry Goldsmith's work, especially the terrifying themes associated with the Collectors; the out of tune piano notes and pounding strings drive home the horribly unnatural nature of this enemy. My only serious problem with this soundtrack is its one obvious plagarization of Goldsmith's Alien soundtrack: compare the beginning of An Unknown Enemy with the music beginning at the 3:00 mark of the opening of Alien.
The DLC soundtracks are mostly disappointing. I can confidently say Wall's greatest contribution to Mass Effect was keeping the influence of Hans Zimmer's Remote Control Studios far away from the series, despite Wall's citing of Zimmer as a major influence. However, Sascha Dikiciyan, Cris Velasco, and Christopher Lennertz wasted no time in trashing the DLCs with teeth-grinding spamming of the ridiculously overused "FOD" Foghorn of Doom (FRRRRNNNKKKK) and generous cribbing from Zimmer's "The Rock" soundtrack, especially in LOTSB, making fighting through the Illium part of the DLC a chore for me. The main combat theme of Overlord is compelling, if a little repetitive, but overall the music for the DLCs pales in comparison to ME2's itself.
ME3: Clint Mansell did exactly what Bioware hired him to do: compose sparse and depressing music for a depressing game. His simple piano themes do serve to accentuate the drama in many places, and his "Leaving Earth" is suitably epic for the demise of human civilization. Though Mansell can't resist plugging in a couple of Reaper blasts, I mean FODs, right in the middle of the cue, which hamstrings this otherwise visually powerful scene. Aside from that, Mansell apparently did not compose much music for the game. The action music ranges from serviceable to annoying, with Dikiciyan and Velasco allowed to continue their previous mock-Zimmer efforts. Sam Hulick's contributions, many of which appear in the endgame, are mostly welcome, though I cannot believe the same guy who did such great work on the previous two games composed the irritating "Mars" theme. For that matter, all of Cerberus' themes are just as bad, with the exception of Wall's recycled Illusive Man. I'm also disappointed in the lack of an identifiable theme for the Reapers. Such an epic enemy deserves worthy music, but if they have a theme, I missed it. The Collectors' themes were so effective that the lack of one for the Reapers is very noticeable. Overall, the soundtrack gets the job done, but lacks memorable cues and doesn't tie in all that well to Wall's themes from ME1 and 2. It does manage to reference Wall's orginal Mass Effect theme at appropriate times, especially during the Extended Cut endings.
As for music in a future ME game?
My pick would be Cliff Eidelman, a very talented composer who hasn't had a huge amount of high profile work - meaning I think EA could hire him on the cheap. By far his most well known score is the fantastic Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Director Nicholas Meyer (Wrath of Khan), having failed to license Gustav Holst's "The Planets" for the film, instead asked Eidelman to write a score emulating Holst. While Eidelman makes numerous references to the often-imitated Mars: Bringer of War, he was amazingly successful in creating a huge variety of original themes, including his own Spock theme, a new Klingon theme, and a "conspiracy" theme that dominates the movie. He even references James Horner's Spock theme from Star Trek 2-3 briefly, but surprisingly barely touches the original Alexander Courage theme. Much more detail is available here. I think Eidelman's talents would match well with the exploration-focused hardcore sci-fi RPG many fans seem to have in mind.
Alternatively, just bring Jack Wall back. As I understand he declined ME3 to write other soundtracks, he'd probably need a briefcase full of cash to be persuaded to return, but no composer seems to understand the ME universe as well as he does.
While his pricetag is probably too high by now, Brian Tyler is one of the best modern composers out there. He constantly demonstrates that the bombastic synthetic sound of Remote Control can be more effectively produced with traditional instruments and has an extensive resume that suggests he would knock a Mass Effect score out of the park. In fact, I think his Battle: Los Angeles soundtrack could easily be arranged to be far, far more effective as a Mass Effect 3 soundtrack than anything Mansell and co. could manage. For fun, compare 0:15 to 0:45 of his "Main Titles" with the Normandy's theme from ME3. However, with Tyler having cranked out several soundtracks for Marvel Studios and on the hook for the next Avengers movie, he's almost certainly too expensive and too busy.
Rather interestingly, Tyler wrote a soundtrack in 2008 for a film called... the Lazarus Project.
Some of you are probably ready to fireball me for picking on Hans Zimmer's studio, though in fairness Zimmer himself is very talented - I just find it hard to enjoy much of his work after "Crimson Tide," and the army of copycats that follow him around the music world just aren't helping.
Jeremy Soule, a past Bioware collaborator and highly talented composer, could be an option, and though his work on Black Isle's Icewind Dale was a welcome surprise, IMHO his KOTOR score didn't have enough life to fit well in the Star Wars universe. However, I think his work on The Elder Scrolls probably qualifies him for just about anything.
The bottom line for me is that I think ME3 went in the wrong direction with its music; any future games ought to build on Wall's work in ME1-2, even if Wall doesn't return. FWIW, I think Eidelman could develop a fantastic score, but there are a lot of good options out there.
What does everyone else think?
Modifié par Monty Hall, 11 février 2014 - 11:08 .
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