Whatever gamers may think of Halo as a series, one thing is agreed by most. The soundtracks have always been awesome. Martin O’Donnell’s stirring scores combine orchestral, electronic and electric instruments to great effect. Halo: Reach is no exception. Which is why music junkies will be delighted to hear that the soundtrack of the new game will be available very soon.
“Mike [Salvatori] and I are pleased to be able to release the Soundtrack to Reach,” said O’Donnell. “We’ve been composing and producing music for Bungie’s Halo universe since 1999 and this soundtrack represents the culmination of our efforts. Once again we were able to work with other composers C Paul Johnson and Stan LePard, along with recording much of the music at Studio X in Seattle with the Northwest Sinfonia and Choir.”
As technology has improved, games have grown in complexity. And along with that complexity comes a growth in the amount of work put into presentation. Whereas many years ago a chiptune rendition of a popular classical piece was sufficient, now gamers expect movie-like production values. And, given that many games are considerably longer than the average movie, it’s a lot of work for the audio team.
“This is about 2 hours’ worth of music,” said O’Donnell, referring to the upcoming 2 CD set that makes up the Reach soundtrack. “[It’s] culled from the more than 5 hours of music actually produced for the game itself. We hope everyone enjoys listening.”
The soundtrack will be available from a variety of places. It’ll be available as the aforementioned 2 CD set via retail outlets and Sumthing Else Music Works. This physical copy will be available from September 28. It’ll also be available digitally via Sumthing Digital and iTunes from September 14.
Sumthing Else Music Works have become one of the best places to get hold of video game soundtracks over the years. This is thanks to their partnerships with many of the top developers in the world. Soundtracks from BioWare, Bungie, Capcom, Epic, Gearbox, Sega and many others are available through them both physically and digitally. This is great news for video game soundtrack collectors. Particularly in territories where soundtracks are traditionally harder to get hold of.
So thanks to the soundtrack, fans of the series will be able to take the Halo ambience with them wherever they go. Will certainly lend an air of the epic to the morning commute if nothing else.
Halo: Reach is out tomorrow, along with its soundtrack. Kombo’s own Mike Rougeau took an in-depth look at the game in our review. Spoiler: he rather liked it.
