Mass Effect 3

[Reverend]

So yeah, it's not just me? I suddenly feel like less of a derp.

TheGodBen wrote:

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I didn't notice it either. Frankly, I was disappointed that they only wore their alternate costume on missions, in ME2 they wore it on the ship as well. It felt like regression as ME1 had the same problem with armour (particularly noticeable on Virmire).

I didn't mind that so much. Indeed I think it would have been better if, like Shepard, most of them had "casual" outfits that the *only* wore on the Normandy or in visits to the Citadel.

What does bother me though is that they still do that thing where certain characters will wear nothing but a piddly little plastic breath mask in hard vacuum (or nothing at all in the case of Jarvik.) I mean that can't me good for you, can it?
I mean Liara wore a full helmet and armour at the start of ME2, so why not now?

Also, anyone notice that the thing in cut-scenes with the magically appearing Avenger rifle has actually gotten worse? Not only does it appear when you and/or your squad mates are not carrying Assault rifles at all, but now it will also occasionally appear even if you are carrying one of your own. I noticed the same thing with the pistol a few times too. The basic predator (?) model would show up regardless of what I had equipped.

[TheGodBen]

GameTrailers has an interesting mini documentary series about the soundtracks for all three games if anyone is interested.

Mass Effect
Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 3

Sadly, there's no interview with Clint Mansell and no discussion at all about what went on there, and Jack Wall is still saying that it was his decision not to return for ME3. I'm sceptical, but given how proud he clearly was of the Suicide Mission track maybe he really did choose to go out on a high note.

[Reverend]

Yeah, I noticed Mansell's absence too, but then looking at the soundtrack he's only credited for two tracks; 'Leaving Earth' & 'An End, Once and For All'. Makes sense though as those two basically bookend the game, but the latter has a co-credit with Hulick, so...yeah. He's more of a guest contributor really.

I noted in part two one of them mentions how the music wasn't always used as intended in ME1. I'm assuming the main culprit would be the Benezia death scene. To this day I'm not sure if that was ineptitude or just some glitch they never got around to fixing. If it's the latter I'd really like to see that scene with the intended track.

[bullethead]

Reverend wrote:

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Yeah, I noticed Mansell's absence too, but then looking at the soundtrack he's only credited for two tracks; 'Leaving Earth' & 'An End, Once and For All'. Makes sense though as those two basically bookend the game, but the latter has a co-credit with Hulick, so...yeah. He's more of a guest contributor really.

Yeah, it really irritated me that Mansell only did two tracks, given how much they hyped his participation (Crysis 2 did a similar thing with Hans Zimmer). It's even worse than what Crysis 2 pulled because Mansell's tracks are pretty much the only ones that have any sort of staying power, although Das Malefitz is a pretty catchy track.

[ATimson]

bullethead wrote:

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Yeah, it really irritated me that Mansell only did two tracks, given how much they hyped his participation (Crysis 2 did a similar thing with Hans Zimmer). It's even worse than what Crysis 2 pulled because Mansell's tracks are pretty much the only ones that have any sort of staying power, although Das Malefitz is a pretty catchy track.

At least Hans Zimmer wrote themes that the other composers ended up using. Mansell's track-and-a-half weren't picked up in the rest of the score.

(Though I would have said that his were the ones with the least staying power - I much preferred Sam Hulick's work, and the other composers at least worked in a similar style.)

[bullethead]

ATimson wrote:

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At least Hans Zimmer wrote themes that the other composers ended up using. Mansell's track-and-a-half weren't picked up in the rest of the score.

Zimmer's contribution was basically the opening credits theme, which was partially reused as the closing cutscene track. None of the other tracks in that OST used any cues from that track.

(Though I would have said that his were the ones with the least staying power - I much preferred Sam Hulick's work, and the other composers at least worked in a similar style.)

I routinely turn off the music or play my own stuff instead of listening to the games' music because how it just sounds like auditory wallpaper. There's few tracks I'd say I'd want to listen to or that can conjure up any sort of emotional response when separated from the games.

[Evil Twin]

Speaking of music, does anyone else simply leave the sound system in your quarters OFF for all of ME3? God, talk about some god-awful sounding crap from that thing. It was great in ME2 since you could choose from a number of ME1 tracks (I always set it to that epic music from when you first arrive at the Citadel) why not have it play ME2 tracks in ME3?

[ATimson]

bullethead wrote:

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Zimmer's contribution was basically the opening credits theme, which was partially reused as the closing cutscene track. None of the other tracks in that OST used any cues from that track.

I'm 95% sure that you're wrong, but I can't cite any right now - I'll give the OST another listen and get back to you tomorrow.

I routinely turn off the music or play my own stuff instead of listening to the games' music because how it just sounds like auditory wallpaper. There's few tracks I'd say I'd want to listen to or that can conjure up any sort of emotional response when separated from the games.

I think it depends on the track. The mission music in ME2 (and maybe even ME1, except Ilos, Eden Prime, and Virmire) did tend to be pretty forgettable. To the point where they reused some in ME3, my reaction was "dammit, they're reusing that from ME2, but I forget where").

But the "cutscene moments" - reveal of the Citadel, the Spectre induction, the destruction of the real Normandy, the travel through the relay, just to give a few examples - never fail to conjure an emotional response for me.

Well, different strokes for different folks, I guess.

Evil Twin wrote:

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Speaking of music, does anyone else simply leave the sound system OFF in your quarters for all of ME3? God, talk about some god-awful sounding crap from that thing. It was great in ME2 since you could choose from a number of ME1 tracks (I always set it to that epic music from when you first arrive at the Citadel) why not have it play ME2 tracks in ME3?

The ME1 tracks it reused were (IIRC) all composed by composers working on ME2. But with Jack Wall passing on ME3, and Sam Hulick a fairly late addition (at least as far as the public was concerned), the audio directors had probably already picked out stock tracks before they knew they'd have ME2 ones available for cheap/free reuse.

[bullethead]

Evil Twin wrote:

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Speaking of music, does anyone else simply leave the sound system in your quarters OFF for all of ME3? God, talk about some god-awful sounding crap from that thing. It was great in ME2 since you could choose from a number of ME1 tracks (I always set it to that epic music from when you first arrive at the Citadel) why not have it play ME2 tracks in ME3?

I certainly don't use it. I find it annoying just being in the cabin without a reason (like talking to someone).

[Reverend]

Yeah, besides the odd conversation scene, I think being able to access your armour from the launch bay took away the only real reason to go to the captain's cabin at all. It would have been better if they kept your trophies/souvenirs from ME2 and continued to add to them. I mean where is the photo of your LI? Where is the crystal shard "Eve" gives you? I'm not saying it should have turned into a flee market but it would have been nice to acquire some more personal touches. They even took away the ability to review your achievements/medals for some odd reason.

And yeah, the stock music in the cabin is pretty shite.

[ATimson]

Reverend wrote:

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They even took away the ability to review your achievements/medals for some odd reason.

Didn't that get added to the in-game pause menu (whereas in ME2 you needed to quit out to the main menu if you didn't go to your cabin)?

[TheGodBen]

Reverend wrote:

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He's more of a guest contributor really.

I guess so, but they announced his involvement at the same time they announced that Jack Wall was leaving the series, so it seemed like Mansell was going to be the lead composer. But I suppose it makes sense that EA would hire him for one song so they could make a big deal about having a famous movie composer involved.

bullethead wrote:

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Yeah, it really irritated me that Mansell only did two tracks, given how much they hyped his participation (Crysis 2 did a similar thing with Hans Zimmer). It's even worse than what Crysis 2 pulled because Mansell's tracks are pretty much the only ones that have any sort of staying power, although Das Malefitz is a pretty catchy track.

Personally, I agree with ATimson in that I preferred Hulick's work too. I was left a little iffy after the first mission, but it was the Mars mission that got me into the groove of playing a Mass Effect game once again and the music was a big part of that. I also love I Was Lost Without You and I'm Proud of You.

[Skywalker]

I really like the music on Mars. I found it very reminiscent of ME1's music.

[Camren]

Reverend wrote:

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Yeah, besides the odd conversation scene, I think being able to access your armour from the launch bay took away the only real reason to go to the captain's cabin at all. It would have been better if they kept your trophies/souvenirs from ME2 and continued to add to them. I mean where is the photo of your LI? Where is the crystal shard "Eve" gives you? I'm not saying it should have turned into a flee market but it would have been nice to acquire some more personal touches. They even took away the ability to review your achievements/medals for some odd reason.

And yeah, the stock music in the cabin is pretty shite.

Not to mention the priceless Prothean artefact I picked up after completing the god-awful Project Firewalker assignments from ME2. The Alliance stole it after grounding the Normandy, thieving bastards.

Btw for those who bought the Space Hamster, it's very much alive and kicking in ME3 and can be brought back to Shep's cabin if you know where to find it.

[Jeyl]

I always feel bummed out when they bring in big name composers to work on the big emotional moments instead of the whole game. Imagine being one of the regular composers and being told you're not going to be doing the music for the big emotional scene because the studio wants a big name composer to do that one bit. It's just disappointing that Bioware/EA didn't give a seasoned Mass Effect composer the task.