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[kittens]

How is it a weird fit?

Find me a song he's made that you think would be a good fit.

Has he ever composed music for games or film before?

 

[The Albatross]

It's the composer....

 

[scytheavatar]

Not really, but I think some questioned whether the game's soundtrack would suffer.

Suffer to the extent that the game should be boycotted?

 

[BeamImpact]

now bungie go out and hire uematsu and we can all be happy

 

[Pristine_Condition]

The idea of Paul McCartney making music for a sci-fi FPS is pretty strange.

Not really. He's a fan of sci-fi, for one. He even got Azimov to write a sci-fi movie treatment for him once. And musically, he's actually VERY diverse, and his compositions quite good. He's not really the "doodoodoo...yeah, yeah, yeah" people discount him as at all.

Consider just one idea for a moment...Set this picture in your head:

The Hunter class has been described as influenced by the spirit of the Wild West bounty hunter/gunslinger. "Hunters were once outlaws who roamed the wastelands and wilderness making their own luck, and their heritage has led to their characteristic traits of bending the rules, combining daring and ingenuity. Hunters serve as trailblazers amongst Guardian classes, scouting hostile and dangerous areas."

Now picture yourself, as a lone Hunter, scouting a barren landscape, like a Sergio Leone film, and hearing this music as you step out to brave the unknown:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=vH5sucZ6FKI#t=11

I think that'd be pretty epic. (Thats from his score of the movie Honorary Consul, BTW)

...

Now consider also that in the same guy, you also get a dude who has made stuff as diverse as the Vanilla Sky Soundtrack, or can smash out something like "Live and Let Die" too...

And one should really consider the music for the 2011 ballet "Ocean's Kingdom." The ballet sucked and bombed, but the music was praised. I think you can get a good idea of some divergent movements in the four clips presented here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzUeYT5LMy0

And hell, even if Bungie just hired him to come in and sing that one line From Venus and Mars/Rock Show -- "Venus and Mars are alright tonight..." and have that guitar hit, It's make for a pretty cool moment in the game.

Find me a song he's made that you think would be a good fit.

Has he ever composed music for games or film before?

The above should answer that question, but...Yes. Quite a few films actually. Including at least one nomination for an Oscar for the score of Vanilla Sky.

 

[Shrennin]

Not really, but I think some questioned whether the game's soundtrack would suffer.

I never really thought they would cut Marty's music out of the game, and I assumed the soundtrack should be near completion by now, but I do think future Destiny sequels may feel weird without Marty -- especially if he creates an iconic theme for Destiny like he did with Halo.

 

[soldat7]

It's the composer....

It's Marty O'Donnell

 

[tokyo slim]

especially if he creates an iconic theme for Destiny like he did with Halo.

...and why would they stop using it?

 

[kittens]

-snip-

Welp, I'm convinced. Great post.

 

[Shrennin]

...and why would they stop using it?

They wouldn't, but anything else created from it may not feel like it's from the same style of composer. That was more or less my point - not that they would stop using it. This is a franchise they want to work on for 10 years, after all. Much more music will be made, and seemingly without Marty this time. Marty was the composer (and maybe sound designer as well?) for the first Destiny whereas he won't be having any influence in future installments so there's obviously going to be a different feel in the music. Also, while I'm not sure of the quality of Destiny's music yet, Marty's music in Halo is one of the only video game soundtracks where I could easily listen to it outside of playing the actual games. There's not many video games composers like that for me (I can name maybe two others but Marty tops both of those for me).

Also, it's pretty telling when the most famous person at Bungie was likely the composer -- Marty O'Donnell. There's also not many composers that have that kind of fame within a studio. Also, as a caveat, that's not meant to be insulting to anyone at Bungie (far from it), but rather how popular Marty is as a composer in the midst of some of the best video game developers in the industry (I would consider Bungie a top tier developer, anyway).

 

[Pristine_Condition]

Welp, I'm convinced. Great post.

Yeah. If your conception of McCartney's music begins and ends with the "Love Love Me Do"-era Beatles, I could understand your skepticism. Glad you came in with an open mind and a willing ear to listen.

This game's soundtrack should be quite awesome.

 

[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

You hear about companies poaching top level talent all the time (like game designers or programmers) but you never really hear about a company poaching lots of super talented composers at once.

 

[kittens]

Yeah. If your conception of McCartney's music begins and ends with the "Love Love Me Do"-era Beatles, I could understand your skepticism. Glad you came in with an open mind and a willing ear to listen.

I know him from the Beatles, from Wings, and from the worst Christmas song ever. I didn't know he's done work with film before (which I admittedly should have researched myself), so now his involvement makes a lot more sense to me.