Zanobard Reviews

A beloved and indeed iconic franchise began with Halo: Combat Evolved, and the music was of course a significant part of that. Join me as I experience Halo for the first time and in doing so review Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori’s magnificently memorable score where, thematically, it all began.

A couple of weeks ago, I played Halo: Combat Evolved for the very first time – and even now I am still completely awestruck by the experience. I played the campaign all the way through from start to finish, and despite the game being over twenty years old I was absolutely enthralled throughout, from the story and the level designs to the enemies and the gunplay, not to mention the sheer atmosphere of it all – it was fun and it all just felt right, and I could really see how the game had gained such a cult following over the following years as well as of course many sequels and media spinoffs. For context of my experience, Combat Evolved was originally released all the way back in 2001 for consoles but was then remastered in 2020 for PC as part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection – though the only major changes it went through were updates to its graphics and music – and it’s the latter of those that I found myself particularly enthralled by as I played through the game’s campaign on PC. And so that brings us to today, and here. Despite knowing next to nothing about the expansive musical universe of Halo I am going to attempt a soundtrack review of this first game; it won’t be one of extensive thematic knowledge or comparisons to sequel scores, so if you’re here for that you’re going to be disappointed, but what it will be is a walkthrough of the game’s score as well as a Halo newbie’s firsthand experience of it, and one that may offer some new insights and thoughts on the franchise’s iconic music as a result. So if you still want to read on – let’s dive right in.

Combat Evolved‘s remastered soundtrack begins with “Random Slipspace Trajectory”; a burst of eerie electronics opens the piece followed by ethereal vocals, before quieter, deeper vocals then solemnly introduce the iconic Halo theme. The motif is of course the first piece of music you hear when you enter the main menu for the game, and it sets such a sombre yet noble tone while also pretty much instantly capturing your attention as an eternally hummable piece of music, thanks of course to composers Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori. Solemn strings then continue where the theme fades out in this opening cue, evoking quite an otherworldly feel for much of the remainder of its four minute runtime. Tension then rapidly kicks into gear in the subsequent “Bravery, Brotherhood” with crashes of drums, bursts of thunderous brass and eerie vocals before the Halo theme moodily returns in “Installation 04”; once again the sombre motif features briefly before giving way to rapid strings, which then lead a particularly dramatic orchestral charge alongside vocals and increasingly tense percussion. For context, the action segment here features as a primary driving force at the end of the game’s final level as you desperately drive a Warthog vehicle to escape oblivion – and it certainly does its job well, as I found myself nodding enthusiastically along to the thunderous strings in my playthrough as I tensely weaved the Warthog past exploding obstacles and through hordes of Flood and Covenant to the level’s (and the game’s) finish line. To end the track, the Halo theme then fades gently and solemnly back through.

Tense action continues in “An End Of Dying” on bombastic brass for a minute or so until the music then slows and strings play a particularly sorrowful rendition of the Halo theme, before the orchestra and vocals then kick the volume back up again in the cue’s back half. Quieter but still worrisome strings then open the ninety second “Pale Rider” with the Halo theme weaving worrisomely through every so often at a brisk pace. Orchestral solemnity then occupies the next few tracks, before an electric guitar takes centre stage in “Rock In A Hard Place” leading a particularly emphatic orchestral reprisal of the action motif from “Installation 04” for eighty weighty seconds. “Suite Fall” then slows the soundtrack right down, with the music settling into a coldly unsettling ambience on high-pitched strings in its opening minute. Ominous vocals then join the strings as the track continues, echoing a few eerie notes from the Halo theme. I remember a few parts of this track from the game, it plays I think as you get close to encountering the Flood for the first time, and the sheer unnerving nature of the music here combined with those creepy visuals as you discover bodies of both humans and Covenant alike in that horrific containment facility level is certainly not to be understated. Subsequent cue “Demons And Heretics” plays at a similar time too, though it does kick up the tension a little with frenetic percussion centre stage.

The nine minute “Honest Negotiation Suite” opens enthusiastically with some very 2000s videogame-sounding bursts of brass before gentler strings then settle the tone. From about two minutes in the “Installation 04” action motif then reprises in as thunderously dramatic a manner as ever with those enthusiastic strings held high until about the four and a half minute mark, at which point ominous atmosphere once again settles over the score. For the suite’s final minute though the fist-pumping electric guitar from “Rock In A Hard Place” then returns alongside the action motif, providingly a crashingly dramatic finale to this lengthy setpiece. Subsequent track “Unless You Mean To Shoot” is then a very familiar action piece, as I recall it starts to play pretty much whenever you need to fight through a significant amount of enemies – whether it be Covenant or Flood – and so I still start to tense up whenever I hear those opening drums. Something’s coming, I feel like I need a weapon. You know? And the ominous vocals that start to play opposite the militaristic percussion towards the end of the track don’t help that feeling either (though they are very enjoyable). The action motif then features heavily once again in “Strung” before the two minute “Still, Moving” switches things up as a rather upbeat piece of electronic ambience. “Xenoarchaeology” then continues in a similarly atmospheric way but with a touch of eerie to its mood, making for quite an unnerving cue overall.

“Choreographite” is heavily percussion-focused, utilising the same frenetic rhythm of the score’s now well established action motif to propel the musical tension along. The Halo theme then plays quietly and rather worriedly on subdued vocals through the minute long “Unreliable Exploration”, with solemn strings and eerie electronics alongside. Six minute suite “Dewy Decimate” then puts a big focus on ambience, with creepy electronics and some very unnerving, distorted sound effects playing in the background. This music plays as mood setting throughout level “The Library” and given it acts as a backdrop against a heavily Flood-infested facility it’s certainly got the sinister and disturbing nature of those malevolent creatures right. It sure sent more than one shiver down my spine as I moved through that particular level, shotgun nervously in hand – I never felt like I had enough shells, and the never-ending hordes of Flood-infected Elites certainly didn’t help that. The subsequent “First Step” then leaps back into action territory with tense drums and low-pitched brass notes centre stage, but it’s “Cloaked In Blackness” where things then get quite interesting indeed; the whole track is just bathed in this absolutely classic game-sounding synthy ambience backed by electronic beats, and it’s just so relaxing to listen to particularly in the back half as vocals come into play.

With the album starting to near its close “Marathon Sprint” builds a frantic pace across its two minute runtime, with emphatic percussion leading the musical charge. “Unfortunate Discovery” then delves into full-on horror territory, with screeching electronics and eerie backing synth evoking a keen sense of dread throughout the cue. “Heliopause” then continues in a similar vein in its opening seconds before more hopeful vocals then fade in towards the end, leading into the subsequent and final album track “Didactic Principal”; the aforementioned vocals lead a subdued percussive charge throughout its two minute runtime, evoking the rhythm of the score’s action motif with notes of the main Halo theme playing at several intervals before the track – and indeed the album overall – then fade quietly out.

Overall, Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori’s dramatically atmospheric score for Halo: Combat Evolved sets a clear tone and musical direction for the franchise ahead and one can’t deny the sheer memorability of it all either, though it is perhaps a bit repetitive in its structure at times. In terms of memorability though take the Halo theme for instance; it sticks in your head pretty much immediately as those sombre yet noble vocal notes fade, and the fact that it is still used to musically represent the franchise today is absolute testament for just how fitting a main theme it is. The rest of the album too works well in this regard, with the sheer ambience of some of the cues – take the ominous “Dewy Decimate” for example, the otherworldly “Random Slipspace Trajectory” or the synth-based “Cloaked In Darkness” – bringing you rapidly back into the game world of Halo just by hearing a few notes from them. And the main action motif too – debuting in this remastered album in “Installation 04” – is so well crafted that it’s recognisable even in a simple percussive rhythm state, and it recurs not only frequently here but also apparently through many of the sequel games as well. Therein though lies the slight problem I have with this score, it’s repetitiveness – it is a bit same-y and a little draining after a while, especially with that action motif. It plays a lot. But then I suppose this is an early 2000s game score and they were all like that, and this one in particular sets an excellent thematic precedent for the franchise’s future, so who am I to judge too harshly.

All-in, it’s easy to see how such an iconic franchise began with Halo: Combat Evolved, with its music being a key element to just how damned memorable Halo is.

Score: 8/10

Standout Cue: 3. Installation 04

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