Sam Hulick has scored the leaked trailer for the canceled role-playing game with new music. The soundtrack was intended to blend retro synthesizers and orchestral elements.
Mass Effect composer Sam Hulick has kept his promise and set the leaked trailer for Mass Effect 5—aka Mass Effect: Universe—to new music.
In doing so, he delivers his own “musical vision” for the game, which was most recently canceled following the closure of the legendary studio BioWare.
Below, you can see and hear Hulick’s work for yourself:
A Tribute to the Trilogy and New Territory: Hulick’s Vision for the Mass Effect Universe
In an interview with PC Gamer, the composer reveals that his music selection for this video represents a “balancing act between paying homage to the original trilogy and exploring new territory”—while essentially drawing inspiration from the first three games.
Throughout the clip, the music undergoes stylistic shifts, through which Hulick aims to showcase various facets of ambient, film, and combat music.
According to him, the development studio approached him to work on an internal demo for the new Mass Effect. Although there was no firm commitment to a job as a composer, he seized the opportunity: “It was a great opportunity to write music together with the team and brainstorm about the new direction,” he explains. Ultimately, however, not much came of it—when he learned of BioWare’s closure, he was just beginning to “build a sound palette.”
Synthwave meets orchestra: Why Hulick Chose Real Songs and Analog Synths
“I would have loved to incorporate real songs with vocals to amplify emotional moments in the game—whatever form they might have taken,” he adds. “Fans loved Faunts’ end-credits song in ME1 so much. So why not bring back more of that and integrate it directly into the game? If I’d been hired for Mass Effect Universe, I would have liked to lean more heavily into powerful analog synthesizers combined with synthwave elements. But it probably wouldn’t have been 100 percent electronic. If you were to remove all orchestral elements from the Mass Effect universe, it would noticeably dampen some of the emotional highlights of the story.”
“Of course, that’s not to say that synthesizer music can’t move people. But elements like solo pianos and orchestral arrangements have been part of the soul of the Mass Effect soundtrack from day one. Without them, I don’t know if the music would really feel complete.”
Pitch by Austin Wintory and N7 Day protest: The Fight for Mass Effect Continues
Meanwhile, award-winning composer Austin Wintory has also composed and recently released a pitch track for the project.
On yesterday’s N7 Day, fans and numerous voice actors from the series once again rallied to save the studio and the franchise.
