Mass Effect 3

The end of Commander Shepard's war with the Reaper's needed music as epic in scale as the battle she faces, fortunately this soundtrack does not disappoint.
Sam Hulick & co have created an amazing score that help to create an air of tension that runs through Shepard's final conflicts, a sense of familiarly as old friends and foes are reintroduced and a sense of wonder as new worlds are unveiled.

Stand out tracks include: #6: A Future For The krogan, #10: I'm Sorry, & #18: I Was Lost Without You, though I cannot recommend each and every track enough.

*New* With the release of the Extended Cut there are new tracks and track #22 has been extended. As a gesture bioware have made the tracks available for free on there website: social.bioware.com/me3ecsoundtrack.php

Well, what can I say? I'm a huge fan of the game trilogy, and although there was much dispute over whether those dastardly endings were any good or not (without the extended cut, mostly not), you certainly can't say that the music was just as dubious. The Mass Effect 3 soundtrack is fantastic, pure and simple. In my opinion it outstrips the Mass Effect 1 and 2 soundtracks combined, which is saying something considering they too are very good compositions in their own right.

As always I love how the album follows the progression of the story in the game, as it begins with the dramatic 'The Fate Of The Galaxy', takes us through to the heart-rending and at times surprising 'Leaving Earth', and then pushes us onwards to battle on 'Mars'. 'Leaving Earth' deserves some amount of recognition in particular as it sounds as if they used the instruments to make the actual sound that the Reaper's make, something that is especially jarring (but in a good way) when you are first listening to it. Certainly for me it gave a sense of fear as I thought back to them arriving on Earth. 'A Cerberus Agent' is at times quite a funny song as I couldn't help but get over the fact that it sounds, at times, like something out of a James Bond film; suave, and dressed in a tuxedo. (EDI's body in a tuxedo!?!?!) It's great nevertheless.

There are many more great songs on this album, including some real treasures like 'The Ardat-Yakshi', 'Rannoch', 'Aralakh Company', 'Prothean Beacon', 'Reaper Chase', 'I Was Lost Without You' and 'An End, Once And For All'. The others are almost as good, but the one song that always really bugged me was 'A Future For The Krogan'. For me it never really suited the Krogan race as a whole, but considering it is probably about their desire to have children then I suppose it's not too bad. It has grown on me the more I've listened to it. Additionally, I think the credit song at the end, 'Das Malefitz', is fantastic and has gotten me into more of Faunt's music (I honestly didn't realise it was them who had done 'M4 Part II' at the end of Mass Effect 1!)

Overall it is a fitting end to the Mass Effect trilogy and something to get weepy over when we think back to our wonderful adventures through space with Shepard and his/her crew. Certainly for me it is the greatest game soundtrack that I have EVER heard. Full stop.

PS: I also reviewed Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut, which compliments this soundtrack album perfectly and includes a massively extended version of 'An End, Once And For All'.

As always with the Mass Effect series the music has been stunning, and has really helped to make the games what they are. The soundtrack to the final game in my opinion is the best, and I still listen to it while I am working.

Fantastic buy for anyone who has loved the games as much as me!