With Mass Effect 3 having been released to the masses earlier today it also means another official launch trailer which also happened to use a piece of music from the band Two Steps From Hell. BioWare used a song from this band to score their launch trailer for Mass Effect 2 two years ago. That song was “Heart of Courage” and it was a perfect choice made by the folks from BioWare.
This time around their latest pick from Two Steps From Hell to score their launch trailer for Mass Effect 3would also come from the band and is also the latest choice for “Song of the Day”.
The song is “Protectors of the Earth” and if that is not an apt and perfect choice for a game whose tagline is “Take Earth Back” then I don’t know what is. For one thing it adds a level of epic grandiosity to the trailer and the visuals chosen to help highlight the strengths of the game. What better way to usher in the installment to the Mass Effecttrilogy than with music will help inspire gamers to, as the game’s tagline has been pushing, “Take back Earth”.
I’m feeling a bit under the weather. I swear the crazy raining then sunny then raining split-personality of Bay Area weather will be the death of me. So, instead of a review of an animated film about a toothless dragon or a war zone where someone is punishing criminals I’ve decided on a new “song of the day”. This time the latest song is a short one, but what it lacks in length more than makes up for it’s epicness. It’s the Tyrion Lannister of epic music. The song I chose is from the production music company Two Steps From Hell: “Heart of Courage”.
What is a production music company?
It’s a company who makes nothing but music for trailers and tv spots for shows, film and video games. Yes, Two Steps From Hell makes trailer music. So, if you’ve ever watched a film trailer or even the latest video game trailer then you probably have heard one of their music. The fact that they make trailer music shouldn’t take away from the quality work they’ve produced through the years. The one piece of music they’ve done which have stood out for me is “Heart of Courage”.
This song begins with a bevy of strings creating an ethereal intro which suddenly transitions to the inclusion of the percussion section. The intro of the percussion section would soon be followed by the very strings themselves changing from ethereal to a martial tempo. It’s in the middle of the song where the choir joins in to complete what I consider one of the most epic-sounding pieces of music I’ve ever heard. It’s no wonder that people who make film and video game trailers often pick this song to complement the visuals they’ve spliced together to sell a product.
The song was most recently used in a fan-made trailer for the upcoming EA shooter, Battlefield 3. Watching that fan-made trailer one could see how the music added more drama and gravitas to the scenes being played out. While the trailer’s editing itself didn’t fully match every beat and crossovers in the song there were enough that did match to make the trailer become accepted and approved by the publishers of Battlefield 3. But it’s another video game which used this song that really used it best.
It was a game which came out in early 2010 and the trailer itself even premiered during the Half-Time of the Super Bowl. Some who saw the trailer thought it was a commercial for an upcoming sci-fi blockbuster. To their surprise it wasn’t but for an upcoming game instead. What convinced some that it was a film was the music. Just watch the trailer below and you’ll know why this song makes anything with drama and action very epic.
The news about Clint Mansell being brought in to compose the score for the upcoming Mass Effect 3 rpg from BioWare has me listening through the score from the previous two games in the series. To continue the jonesing I’m getting from this news I’ve chosen track 25 from the Mass Effect 2 soundtrack to be the latest “Song of the Day”.
“Suicide Mission” comes into Mass Effect 2 around the beginning of the third and final act of the game when the player has gathered and assembled his team of rogues, assassins, berserkers and all sorts of undesirables to make that final jump through the Omega 4 Mass Relay. This track brings together the main theme from the very first game with the brass heavy and hopeful sound of track 5, “Normandy Reborn”, in the second game.
I sometimes just reload the save prior to the jump through the Omega 4 just so I can listen to this particular track of the soundtrack and see the visuals accompanying it. If I don’t feel like replaying that part of the game I’d just reload right before the end credits begins and just enjoy listening to it.
“Suicide Mission” just brings an epic sound to the game and anyone who has played it knows how it brings to rise goosebumps upon hearing it. For those who haven’t played the games this piece of music just brings to mind some of the best in epic, orchestral scores.
Some major news on the video game front was reported today. One of the most critically-acclaimed video game franchises of the last five years will have an award-winning music composer creating the score for it.
The game in question is the third (most likely final entry in the current trilogy) game in BioWare’s Mass Effect rpg franchise. The composer is one Clint Mansell. He is the same Clint Mansell who has created some of the most evocative film scores for the last decade and most of it for Darren Aronofsky’s films (Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler, Black Swan).
Mass Effect 3 will be Mansell’s first foray into video game music composing. This is great news for fans of the franchise. It lends an even more cinematic flair to a series whose musical score were already great to begin with.
EA and BioWare are definitely pulling out all the stops to create a worthy finish to this trilogy. I already know that I will be getting the game and I will definitely be buying the soundtrack once it’s up for sale (I already own the first two that were composed by Jack Wall).
PS: Here’s two pieces of music so people understand why I thought the first two game had awesome scores and Mansell being brought in for the third means awesome just went up to 11.
Through the Shattered Lens 