The Sound and Vision Magazine website have published an interview with Rob Blake, the Audio Lead on Bioware’s upcoming Mass Effect 3. The interview discusses the musical direction of the Mass Effect series, the story behind the credits song of the original Mass Effect, effective control of the dynamic range in order to fully realise the sound design and emotional content, the salarian singing voice and what defines ‘Mass Effect’ sound design
What makes a Mass Effect game sound like a Mass Effect game compared to other games? What are the key things that set the series apart from other games?
You touched on it earlier: the soundtrack is quite identifiable. It’s an iconic mix between orchestral and synthesizer stuff. That’s something we felt strongly about and made sure stood out in the franchise. Sound effect–wise we have some great stuff. The weapons, for example, have these very interesting elements of different types of technology. The foley sounds have a sort of pneumatic and mechanical quality to them, so they sound unique.
Read the entire two page interview on the Sound and Vision Magazine website here
THIS IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT! The sound effects are absolutely amazing (mostly the lasers from the alien ships) like..holy crap amazingness in a game.