The Music of Mass Effect 3 on Top Score

Sam Hulick Sam Hulick

It's difficult to explain Mass Effect to someone who's unfamiliar with the series. The story contains levels of depth and emotion rarely found in games, spanning numerous alien races, planets and galaxies.

Fans of the game call it the "Mass Effect universe."

The protagonist is Commander Shepard, and as a player, your Shepard can be male or female (endearingly referred to by fans as FemShep).

Commander Shepard's mission is to save intelligent organic life from extinction from a race of sentient machines called Reapers. That's a simple as the story can get.

As compelling (and ground-breaking) as the characters and stories are in the Mass Effect universe, they would not be nearly as compelling without the wonderful soundtrack.

Composer duo Cris Velasco and Sascha Dikiciyan wrote the majority (more than an hour and a half) of the music for Mass Effect 3.

Sam's been with the Mass Effect team since the first game; Sascha and Cris joined toward the end of the second.

All three Mass Effect scores blend live instruments with electronic sounds — much like the overall Mass Effect motif of a synthesis between organic and synthetic.

The fusion is distinct and will be referenced for decades to come.

Listen to our conversation with Cris, Sascha and Sam on the new episode of Top Score from Classical MPR, also available on iTunes.

Playlist:

1. INTRO "The Fate of the Galaxy" - Sam Hulick

2. "Mars" - Sam Hulick

3. "An End Once and For All" - Sam Hulick

4. "The Scientists" - Cris Velasco & Sascha Dikiciyan

5. "Sovereign's Theme" - Sam Hulick (ME1)

6. "Love on a Real Train" - Tangerine Dream (from Risky Business)

7. "Uncharted Worlds" - Sam Hulick (ME1)

8. "Victory" - Sam Hulick (ME1)

9. "Rannoch" - Cris Velasco & Sascha Dikiciyan

10. "Aralakh Company" - Cris Velasco & Sascha Dikiciyan

11. "The Fate of the Galaxy" - Sam Hulick

12. "Prothean Beacon" - Cris Velasco & Sascha Dikiciyan

13. "Aralakh Company" - Cris Velasco & Sascha Dikiciyan

14. "I Was Lost Without You" - Sam Hulick

15. "Reaper Chase" - Cris Velasco & Sascha Dikiciyan

16. "Creation" - Cris Velasco & Sascha Dikiciyan

17. "We Face Our Enemy Together" - Sam Hulick

18. "I'm Sorry" - Cris Velasco & Sascha Dikiciyan

19. "A Cerberus Agent" - Sam Hulick

20. "Uncharted Worlds" - Sam Hulick