![]() ![]() The music is more like Blade Runner – dark and moody – which compliments the much more intense storylines you’ll find down there, and also in the rest of the game. The Citadel’s hub is now deeper in the station, and with it comes grittier ambient music to match the scenery. Those who ran through the first game will remember the light, fluffy sounds of the Citadel Presidium. The first game had quite a light soundtrack, and it is obvious that in Mass Effect 2, they went for a much darker feel to the game. This is the start you were expecting now it is time to go and fight the Reapers.Ĭomposer Jack Wall was at the helm for both of the first games of the series, and composed the majority of the music. As the cinematic inspects the new ship, the score rises in volume and pumps you full of a feel-good mood. As you finish up your debrief with the Illusive Man post-mission, his theme song drifts away, and you’re introduced to a building orchestral score as the Normandy SR-2 is unveiled. You regain control of Shepard, team up with the Illusive Man and Cerberus, there is another triumphant moment in the Mass Effect 2 score. Thankfully, it is a science-fiction game, so reanimating dead tissue that has been exposed to the vacuum of space is absolutely a possibility. As the oxygen is sucked from Shepard’s suit in space, a melancholic piano finishes this most startling of opening cutscenes, leaving the player totally dumbfounded.Īfter this gut-wrenching beginning to the game, things start to turn themselves around for the player. As the Collectors deliver the death blow to the Normandy, Shepard is lost to space and the score disappears again. Getting back through a force field, the score returns, reaching a fervour that completely grips you. The reason I love this part of the score so much becomes apparent as you gain control of Shepard and make your way to the bridge to save Joker, your ship’s pilot.Įxiting from a door, suddenly the chaos of your wrecked ship and the score is muted, as you step into the nothingness of the space vacuum. This is an extremely emotive piece that, having seen your beloved spaceship torn asunder will fuel your rage for the coming game. The score fits beautifully around the laser bursts from the enemy ship, and soon thereafter morphs into the Collector’s theme song. The music shifts quickly into a powerful orchestral piece, that escalates as the Collector threat becomes more apparent. A subtle crash from a gong cymbal alerts the player that it is time to get worried. A lot of the Mass Effect music is very Tubular Bellsat times, and in this next cutscene it is used liberally – that is until the Collector alien ship turns up. This short, but powerful scene sets the stage for the prologue and really knocks back the good feeling you got after defeating the first Reaper attempt.Īs the cutscene returns you to the familiar scene on the Normandy, that sense of dread isn’t dispelled. The sounds are electronic, and are thrown through all number of filters to present an extremely futuristic palette. The soundtrack to his scenes are very Mass Effect – spacey, minimal background music that inspires intrigue, whilst also giving a sense of dread and foreboding. But not before we’re teased with a scene from one of the game’s many antagonists – the Illusive Man. We begin Mass Effect 2 back on the SSV Normandy ship, hunting down the last scraps of Geth resistance, completely diverted from the Reaper target which threatens to wipe out organic life in our solar system. The story picks back up with what could almost be a prelude to the current political climate we find ourselves in – fighting enemies that we should be trying to understand. Having foiled these sinister plots by killing the puppet master of the invasion, Sovereign, we leave our hero Shepard, touting to end the Reaper threat once and for all. It turns out that Saren was trying to bring a race of sentient alien machines called the Reapers to the Milky Way in order to reset life as we know it. In the first Mass Effect, we slowly unraveled a sinister plot, hatched by a rogue Turian (one of the many species of alien in the game) called Saren. Mass Effect 2 told one of the greatest stories in gaming history. Because of that latter emotion and its relation to the last two games of the series, I decided to lock down on the best of the trilogy – Mass Effect 2. This series of games not only defined a lot of modern RPG tropes, but brought with it a range of emotions from sheer empowerment to seething anger. In this latest edition, we wanted to direct your gaze back to the Mass Effect trilogy developed by Bioware for Xbox 360 first, then eventually also Playstation 4 and PC. Welcome to the latest edition of Sound Test, a feature where we explore the music of video games, and how the score enhances the experience of the game itself.
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