25 Greatest Musical Tracks From The Halo Series

10. Asphalt And Ablution - Halo 3: ODST

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=SSg01hgD1PQ Back to the ODST side of things, we start off #10 with the middle half of the iceberg where "The Rookie" was considered to be only the tip. The middle portion, "Asphalt And Ablution", is at an even higher height of drama thanks to its more ingrained sound into the game's atmosphere. "Asphalt And Ablution" explains ODST's theme by fully thrusting the player into its infamous detective scenarios and giving them the notion that things are way more less subtle than they originally were. The music literally snatches away the very fiber of the original trilogy's action anthems and leaves behind a haunting, often chilling version of what it would be like when one man, alone, must search by himself in a city that has just about as many dead ends as it does enemies. Adding to the fact that he isn't a fully trained marine (but behaves like one for gameplay reasons) only makes the music define that theme of isolation even more. "Asphalt And Ablution" is what I like to define as a song you listen to while chasing ghosts in the moonlight. The first part of the track is a brisk piano on playback that supplies that feeling of chasing something you know is not there but needs to be found. The second half is an arousal of drums that that supplement the track with a bit of fast-paced, on-foot action that can be portrayed as that bit of danger lurking around the city corners. And rest of the track is back to this jazzy upbeat that builds back into the detective feel while adding an aura to the player's surroundings. I often think of Halo 3: ODST's jazzy inspiration as an homage to the half-baked human environment that got little game time in Halo 2. Seeing as how ODST takes place during the events of Halo 2 right before Regret's ship causes major damage to the city after making a Slipspace jump, it made sense for Bungie to go back and make Earth seem important instead of a visiting site that was just there to be destroyed in the end. While ODST may stand as one of the Halo series' most underrated titles, it holds perhaps the most boldest soundtrack out of all of them. Things are pushed further with the main body of the iceberg coming up shortly in the list, but enough can't be said about how Halo 3: ODST's soundtrack breaks the limits of how a video game score should be composed.