Clint Mansell composing Mass Effect 3!!

I don't think it's fair to say that ME2 was a Michael Bay "devolution" at all. What makes you say that? It may have had a few more intense action-packed moments, but the game was still full of a sense of depth and thoughtfulness that few games, if any, reach these days. Or are you one of those people that viewed the removal of the pointless inventory system of ME1 as some kind of "dumbing down"?

+1 totally agree.

ME2 if anything was a more compete game over its predecessor. The unessential excess of the original removed, (tedious basic inventory and waffling conversational arch to name but two) improved the game immensely. I haven't played a game with such a compelling story, that was as superbly realised and told with clarity in many a year. Sometimes less is more, I applaud Bioware for a brave new direction. Devolution more like evolution.

Hopefully the transition will pay dividends once again with the imminent release of DA2.
 
+1 totally agree.

ME2 if anything was a more compete game over its predecessor. The unessential excess of the original removed, (tedious basic inventory and waffling conversational arch to name but two) improved the game immensely. I haven't played a game with such a compelling story, that was as superbly realised and told with clarity in many a year. Sometimes less is more, I applaud Bioware for a brave new direction. Devolution more like evolution.

Hopefully the transition will pay dividends once again with the imminent release of DA2.

I was specifically referencing the music, not the gameplay/mechanics or story which I thought was a step above ME1. ME2's music steered away from the cool minimalistic subtility of the first game and leaned more towards the bombastic. There were points where the music made me feel like an East German interogator was standing over my shoulder screaming "you v'ill laugh, cry now!" -- something some people pay good money for in certain "lifestyle" clubs, I know, but not something I'm really looking for in a PC game.
 

Interesting.

My main question right now is whether Mansell will incorporate the basic themes that Wall set out, like Vigil for example, or the primary theme (Shepard's theme I guess) that plays in several of the tracks like Spectre Induction.

I guess I'm OK with a new composer doing ME3, but if he totally did away with all of the "groundwork" that Wall came up with, I'd be extremely disappointed.
 
Interesting.

My main question right now is whether Mansell will incorporate the basic themes that Wall set out, like Vigil for example, or the primary theme (Shepard's theme I guess) that plays in several of the tracks like Spectre Induction.

I guess I'm OK with a new composer doing ME3, but if he totally did away with all of the "groundwork" that Wall came up with, I'd be extremely disappointed.

Agreed, Shepards theme and a few others need to remain intact.. in some form or another. Its part of that techno sci fi feel you get with ME but Clint should be able to give a sense of despair, dread and resolution that Wall probably couldn't if he tried his hardest.

Jack Wall will be missed, but he's being replaced by one of the best composers in the movie biz. Hardly a turn of bad events, in fact I would argue the opposite. Either way, best of luck to Jack in the future.
 
Imagine if Jerry Goldsmith were still alive and well and he took a crack at this. ;)
 
I thought he was only composing the final mission of the game?
 
I thought he was only composing the final mission of the game?

Not according to the article. I think what people did is misread the part where it says "He will be composing the final chapter of the Mass Effect trilogy", meaning Mass Effect 3. Not the last chapter of Mass Effect 3. Besides, someone already posted an article where Jack Wall talked about leaving the project.
 
Not according to the article. I think what people did is misread the part where it says "He will be composing the final chapter of the Mass Effect trilogy", meaning Mass Effect 3. Not the last chapter of Mass Effect 3. Besides, someone already posted an article where Jack Wall talked about leaving the project.

I think you're right.
 
Zimmer is a different beast, more action.. and you named on some of this latest films. He dates back to the awesomes like Top Gun, Days of Thunder and the like. Jack Wall was AWESOME in ME1 but in this article they say Clint is only doing the ending score of the game...

... we know what that means. Pure, raw unadulterated emotion.
I named what I consider some of his best works. Top Gun, Days of Thunder don't make that list, IMO. I agree HZ may not be the best fit for the ME universe, though. I'd love to hear how John Williams or James Horner would score ME. :D
 
I absolutely loved the sound score for ME and ME2, but it is damn hard to be pessimistic with this guy involved now. I hope they don´t try to reinvent the ME universe sound style and atmosphere, they really had this so beautifully integrated with the visuals, that it leaves me very curious as to why they would stop working with Wall?

Was a ME3 proposal from Wall not up to par? Did he run out of ME creative juice? Did he indeed ever sumbit new work to Bioware, or did they just stop cooperating with him and felt something new was necessary? In any case it´s a surprising decision by Bioware, regardless of how good Mansell is.

I would hate seeing, hearing rather, the ME universe move to a completely different audio universe. Mansell better get some electronic music going as well and not keep it strictly symphonic (and that is coming from someone who loves classical music).
 
I named what I consider some of his best works. Top Gun, Days of Thunder don't make that list, IMO. I agree HZ may not be the best fit for the ME universe, though. I'd love to hear how John Williams or James Horner would score ME. :D

Any of these guys would be awesome, I think Clint taking on projects like this is a step in the right direction. :cool:
 
Listening to Blade Runner soundtrack and wondered to myself what Vangelis would do.

That'd be something.


I don't mean this in a disrespectful way but thus far CM's work has never personally blown me away or stood out to me so I can't say I'm cartwheeling in excitement but I'm sure he'll do a good job on this.
 
Wall's work on ME 1 & 2 will be reused for ME3 surely. A major departure in the musical direction will not go down well will fans of the series. I'm expecting Mansell to add some new themes but not a total overhaul. I hope so anyway, I think Wall's work has been outstanding on Mass Effect.
 
Is it strange that I never played ME1/2 (I have ME1 only) yet I'm excited about this game now?
 
I don't care who does the soundtrack, just as long as "Vigil" is heard SOMEWHERE in the game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7bE3hUwylQ
:)

Don't know what to say but it seem you guy are a bit behind the times.
If you like atmospheric, polymorphic, ambient music like this what you are hearing is what use to be called "space music". Like from the radio show Hearts Of Space.
Check out artists like Steve Roach, Tim Story, Micheal Stearns, Brian Braheny, Robert Rich.
 
That'd be something.


I don't mean this in a disrespectful way but thus far CM's work has never personally blown me away or stood out to me so I can't say I'm cartwheeling in excitement but I'm sure he'll do a good job on this.
This is my opinion as well. I'm cautiously optimistic, but I've never been a big fan of Mansell. His stuff is okay, but I don't like the possible loss of continuity that we could get in the 3rd.
 
The Fountain is pretty much the best soundtrack of all time. I'm a bit disappointed that his talents are being wasted on a video game but hopefully he'll make something wonderful out of it and it will get a decent release outside of the game itself.
 
Wasted on a video game? From the tone of your post you seem to feel that movies are a kind of higher art than games are, and I'm going to have to disagree with you there. Different kinds of art yes, but one being better than the other, no. Music in a video game can potentially have a much greater emotional impact as you are generally directly involved in the game versus being a spectator. Who doesn't love great boss fight music? Or the sweeping score at the end of Mass Effect 1 as you climb from the rubble. A dozen posters could list a hundred scores from games that they love.
 
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Wasted on a video game? From the tone of your post you seem to feel that movies are a kind of higher art than games are, and I'm going to have to disagree with you there. Different kinds of art yes, but one being better than the other, no. Music in a video game can potentially have a much greater emotional impact as you are generally directly involved in the game versus being a spectator. Who doesn't love great boss fight music? Or the sweeping score at the end of Mass Effect 1 as you climb from the rubble. A dozen posters could list a hundred scores from games that they love.

Not to mention, the gap between film and games continues to close, and Clint Mansell composing for ME3 is one example of how the thought and work that gets put into modern games is beginning to equal that of major films.
 
sorry, that was poor wording on my part. I meant wasted in that (unless i'm mistaken) video game soundtracks aren't usually released as stand alone discs of music whereas film soundtracks often are. I don't care what medium the music was composed for (and think it's great that he's branching out) but it should be given the chance to exist outside it's original incarnation. It would be a waste if the only way you could experience the music was by playing the game.
 
I think the Mass Effect series has always had a soundtrack for sale. Most developers that put real effort into their music scores tend to release soundtracks: Mass Effect, Super Meat Boy, The Witcher, World of Goo... heck, I remember Quake1 coming with a soundtrack built into the game CD. Just pop it into your CD player and you'll get some Trent Reznor out of it :)
 
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