So let’s examine a soundtrack today. As you may or may not know, I’m a fiend for music. I have a very strong appreciation for music as an art form, as I grew up learning various instruments. While I have since stopped playing and creating music, I’ve never lost my love for it. The way the sounds, pitch, tone and melody stimulate the mind is something far more magical than most people know. Rather than rant about the reasons music is so great, I’ll focus my thoughts on soundtracks, specifically the Halo: ODST soundtrack.
Before we begin, let’s take a look at our composers.
Martin O’Donnell & Michael Salvatore are almost household names among gamers these days. If they aren’t, they definitely should be, because while Halo is great , the soundtracks have always been GREATER. M&M have composed the soundtrack for all 3 Halo titles. As with any franchise, there are themes, melodies and songs that carry from one title to another. This is a key component for any game series, as the player needs to feel some type of association between games. Believe it or not, the music has quite the effect on your emotions and memory. We’ve all come to recognize the Halo theme like we grew up with it. A perfect example would be during the trailer for Halo 3. Without seeing anything on the screen, there is nothing but a cord played on the piano. I may be off on my music theory, but I believe it’s played in E Dorian. It’s one cord, and as soon as I heard it, I knew it was for Halo.
That my friends, is the power of music. No visuals and no art that reminds you of the game, the experience, and the emotions felt after running through those campaigns. All you need is one note played, and a flood of memories come into play. This aspect of sound is what makes M&M a brilliant tag team. These guys know how to trigger emotion with sound, and that is one of the most important elements one can ask for in a soundtrack.
Enter Halo: ODST.
The latest installment in the Halo megafranchise is Halo: ODST, a chapter of the story that takes place during the events of Halo 2. Rather than placing players behind the mask of the familiar Master Chief, gamers are taking up arms with a new brand of hero, known as ODST, or Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. During an orbital drop onto Earth, our boys pass right on top of a Covenant ship that enters a slipspace (hyperspeed) jump which sends the entire mission into hell. Upon landing, players take on the role of multiple ODSTs as they begin their mission of trying to rendevous, while following the sketchy orders of an ONI officer. ONI is the Office of Naval Intelligence, and they are essentially the CIA/KGB/FBI spy intel bastards that turn every aspect of a conversation into a classified, or need to know basis discussion. As the game progresses, you uncover the mysteries of this mission ONI has you on, and discover what the Covenant were looking for when they arrived on Earth.
Following still? Good. Long story short, the ODSTs are a bad ass volunteer branch of the UNSC (United Nations Space Command). Unfortunately, they aren’t as strong, fast, or resilient to damage as our MJOLNIR armor clad Spartan friends. That being said, the gameplay requires a different approach, with a larger focus on stealth and tactical decisions over the run and gun gameplay of previous Halo titles.
Hopefully that gives you an idea of what the setting of this game is.
Enter the soundtrack.
After composing the score for the first 3 titles, M&M have developed an overarching theme for the franchise…a framework for “what Halo sounds like” if you will. Between the monk hymn, the E cords, and perfect use of violins, Halo in itself has it’s very own theme, which is recognizable in various forms. It may sound strange, but as far as I can tell, a change in gameplay/characters/feel for the series was introduced with ODST, and with that, a change in the theme was in need. My favorite part about this soundtrack is that while it is thematically separate from the previous titles, it still manages to sound very familiar. The “Halo sound” is one that I have come to love, and I was quite happy to find that it still made it’s way into the ODST soundtrack.
If there’s one thing that M&M have proven over the past few years, it’s a complete mastery of instrumental association (I just made that term up). The composition of every single song carries so much raw emotion, that it’s almost scary to know that they were able to command so much power out of their songs. A perfect example is as follows: I had a friend over, one who doesn’t play games, never heard anything from the soundtrack before, and is generally not a big fan of music. As I chastised her for her lack of culture, I played a few songs from the soundtrack, and asked her to describe how the songs make her feel, and what the music makes her see. I wasn’t at all surprised when she described a scene that was pretty much spot on for what was going on in the game when each respective song played. That is the power of association. M&M composed a score that when heard, literally taps into your mind and brings out images of mystery, anticipation and sadness to name a few. I would imagine that while writing these pieces, Martin simply thought to himself “When people hear this song, I want them to experience and feel emotion X”. And god damn, did he deliver.
I’m sure when playing and coming to a certain point in the game, you’ve had the feeling of “Allllllll right, shit’s about to get real serious here. Time to get ready for a fight”. I can guarantee that there have been times when there was no visual indication of that happening on screen. There might not have been enemies just yet, but the sound…the music tells you and forces you to prepare and steel yourself for the upcoming battle. Or maybe one of the characters you have come to like has died. Well sure that was sad, but when the music kicks in, it pulls at every single nerve in your brain that says “this is a sound that you hear when something sad happens. This is a sad event. Feel sad god damnit”.
I can go on about this forever, but I guess I can sum it up by saying that the Halo: ODST soundtrack is one of my favorites in the entire Halo franchise. Listening to it is a journey through the events of the game. It takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions, with everything from mystery and intrigue while exploring the city, to nervous fits prior to a large scale fight, to sadness when learning the fate of a friend, to anticipation of a large scale vehicle battle.
The 2 disc soundtrack flows across 17 songs, each of which brings something new to the table, which tapping into those fond memories of your past Halo experiences. It’s another favorite of mine, right up there with the 2008 Prince of Persia, and Chrono Cross.
If you aren’t familiar with some of the other songs from the Halo series over the past few years, take a moment to listen to some of these. They are easily some of my favorites from across all 4 titles.
Perilous Journey (Halo)
Under Cover of Night (Halo)
Ghosts of Reach (Halo 2)
Impend (Halo 2)
In Amber Clad (Halo 2)
Heavy Price Paid (Halo 2)
Unyielding (Halo 2)
Unforgotten (Halo 2)
Farthest Outpost (Halo 3)
Delta Halo Suite pt 1. / Delta Halo Suite pt 2. (Halo 2)
Delta Halo Suite is probably one of the best songs in terms of variance. It’s 11mins 27secs, and it touches on every “theme” that is Halo.
Filed under: Music | Tagged: Halo, Music, soundtracks, Video Games
