: IT'S A GAME! Uhm... sorry. It's a game, the music isn't on the ships, it's in
: YOUR speakers. It sets a mood, it's cool.
: This is like asking why the Imperial March was always blaring trough the
: Death Star's speakers.
THIS! I have to agree with ukimalefu on this one. I also agree that Seropian's statement about music blaring on the Marathon was meant as a joke. I don't think there is a reason to assume the music is actually playing on the ship or even in the security officer's head... in other Bungie games which have included music, no one has questioned where the music is physically coming from in the game, right? I think music sets the mood, and is part of the ambiance.
All that said, I think music is extremely powerful and while reading this thread I remembered a personal story about my first time playing through Marathon...
I really started to feel strongly about the Marathon music while playing the level Welcome to the Revolution (pretty late in the game). I remember the door opening to one of the first rooms, which had a walkway elevated above lava and in the distance I could see newly freed S'pht fighting against the Pfhor. I sat there and watched for a bit to watch the S'pht fight, listened to the music (Swirls) and reflected on the story. It was a bit odd because part of me expected a more happy tune to play while I got to blast away the Pfhor with my new S'pht allies. But instead it is this sad, slow, melancholy song playing as I watched the slaves fight their former masters. Why was Swirls chosen for this level? While staring at the rebellion unfolding before me and listening to the slow droning of the music I decided that the S'pht, although now free, have just endured thousands of years of enslavement at the hands of the Pfhor and that whatever freedom they won had obviously come at a great cost. The S'pht were happy to be free but saddened by their centuries of enslavement... they were, perhaps, not taking any joy in their destruction of the Pfhor but instead just wanted to leave, to be free. I didn't get that message from an in-game terminal, but from the music.
--Craig
