That’s one of my favourite musical moments in any game... (Destiny)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Saturday, October 14, 2017, 07:11 (2384 days ago) @ Cody Miller

... and I also happen to think it is very “Marty”-esque in its delivery.

Also when you leave the city and are following the bird… the epic music plays and plays and plays… even as seemingly nothing is happening after you kill all the enemies.

So here’s something that I’ve noticed about Marty’s music, and the way he and the team implement it; Marty is not afraid to take the bull by the horns and lead the player, through Music, to the emotional point he wants you to be in anticipation of what is going to happen next. It’s a sign of a real master. Movie soundtracks often fail to do this, and video game soundtracks pull it off even less.

Usually, soundtrack implementation in games comes down to “something sad happens, cue the sad music”. It is too often a direct reflection of what the player sees onscreen. But think back over the Halo games, and think about all the times that your feelings during a specific mission or setpiece were actually established by the music, rather than simply being reflected by the music.

My favourite example is the Silent Cartographer. When the scene fades in, we are looking at a peaceful, serene ocean. It’s quiet, and beautiful. But what is the music doing? Pounding, thunderous drums. It’s battle music, before there’s any battle. It’s brilliant, because it actually changes what the player does next. I didn’t creep out of the Pelican, and stealthily flank the enemy as if been doing all the way through the previous mission. I hit the beach running straight at the covanent and hit them with everything I had. That skirmish is always one of the most exciting and frantic in the entire game, and a huge part of that is because Marty grabs the player before the fight even starts and gets us pumped up.

Back to that moment in D2...

I think Salvatori and the rest of the team are doing the exact same thing that I described above. They’re not letting the player dictate the mood in that moment (which is exactly what happens when you have music that reacts directly to the player’s actions). In that point in the campaign, our guardians have suffered a crushing defeat. They’re traumatized, and lost. Those kinds of feelings are so overwhelming when they hit someone, they can feel all-consuming. You can’t escape them quickly or easily. So OF COURSE the music doesn’t fade out after a minute or two. Of course it doesn’t change to battle music when the dogs attack. Because even through the fight, or exploring the scenery, the loss of the city is all our guardian can think about.