Old Composer Reacts to HALO 3 OST "Finish The Fight" Reaction and Arrangement Breakdown 

Nice. That was fun to watch. I made it all the way to the end.

Used to play these games (Halo 1,2, & 3) with my father. He battled cancer throughout my childhood. We were so excited to play halo 3 when he had to go back to the hospital. I will always remember this moment as my favorite moment of my life. We played Halo 3 together while my dad laid in his hospital bed with about 5 different tubes in him because he couldn't keep food or water in his body anymore. I remember being so scared of looking at him but always wanting to be with him. Halo 3 came out 2 weeks before my dad passed away and we beat it on normal (in the hospital) before he died. My dad always let me be player 1 because I wanted to be Master Chief, and he didn't mind. I also think he just liked using the covenant carbine and plasma rifle more then the marine weapons. Before we beat the final mission on heroic my dad was extremely tired from all the drugs they were putting into him so we stopped right before the last mission where you ride the Warthog in the Halo Ring back to the ship. For some reason I played 2nd player that day, and my Dad was first player. That last ride I was in the heavy machine gun turret while he drove, and I remember we got into so much trouble with the hospital staff because my dad kept yelling "DON'T SHOOT THE BIG DUDES THEY SPAWN MORE OF THE LITTLE ONES!" That was the most alive I had seen my father in months, and I was just so freaking happy. After making that final jump I just remember my dad being so happy and yelling with excitement as we were once again told to be more quiet. My favorite memory to this day is still playing Halo 3 with my dad just days before he passed away. This game is the world to me and I still uncontrollably sob hearing this music and playing the game. Edit: I cannot begin to thank all the nice people responding to my comment. Thank you all for your kind words, and I'm glad a lot of other people have fond memories of the game and Martin's Music.

This was the song I played on my last leg of chemo. It helped me finish the fight. It still brings tears to my eyes

Bruh not even gonna lie i almost teared up a lil hearing this... just a lil it just brought me back to my childhood man

🙏It seems that for many, this OST is an emotional call-back in our memories of "back in the day". This is what I LOVE about the power of music and how it plays such a part in our soundtrack of life. Makes me want to just buy the old consoul and at least get past the original game. Thank you all for sharing your thoughts :)🤙

I love how you tapped into Marty's "Emotional Equity". He uses motifs and arrangements to call back to a specific character, event, or faction. The light piano motif you described at the end, often plays when cortana and chief are in a scene together. Heavy Orchestra with horns is usually signifying Humanity. Funky Drums and synth usually accompanies the Alien factions. It's a pretty cool biproduct of what they pulled off with what time they had

It's hard to put into words exactly what this song means to me. Halo has defined my life. It's a long story but really when I think about it, I moved 2000 miles across the country and now live in the city I live in because of Halo (which is also where I met my wife so I'm married because of Halo in a way), I have the career I have because of Halo, I have the friends I have because of Halo. It can sound silly but really all aspects of my life stem from decisions made because of people and places I encountered all thanks to this game. This song, specifically the first half that's more emotional, immediately takes me back to spending hours playing Halo with my friends. It makes me reflect on my whole life and everything that's led up to where I am now.

“Im so over the moon, and I know it might sound like much” No, no you are correct, hearing this always makes me feel all over the moon as well. Such a great soundtrack!

So you actually listened to two separate tracks. The first low piano-driven piece is titled, "Never Forget" and plays on a loop in the main menu of the game. The second bombastic piece is titled, "Finish the Fight" and always makes me feel powerful with those heavy strings, bell, and horns.

Those are actually two different tracks. The first half was “Never Forget” and the second half was “Finish the Fight”. Both flawless.

I got a shiver when the track started. The sound track to the game is so beautiful and tragic.

I've played thousands of hours of halo and I still tear up and get goosebumps listening to Never Forget.

I know this is really subjective but Halo has the best soundtrack out of any videogame ever made. What Marty and Michael created is one of the most emotional, powerful and serine soundtracks to grace a videogame. These are timeless pieces of art that hold a very special place in my heart. How I wish I could play and listen to these amazing games/tracks again for the first time.

halo 3 music has always giving me the vibe of " we are all thats left and our goals are impossible but we will get there together... someday" its like sad hopefullness

That single note that you heard that started the second section was the note that started the music to the Halo 3 reveal trailer. That's probably where you heard it before. The music is even more impactful when backing that trailer, which is now famous in the Halo community for being generally awesome.

Another song you should check out from Halo is Deference for Darkness from Halo 3 ODST, its an amazing track

I HAVE to recommend the Mass Effect 3 soundtrack "Leaving Earth" it's so good and it invokes a lot of emotions especially when you know what's happening in the scene it's played in.

Man, I bet Marty O'Donnel would be overjoyed by your reaction. I'd love to be a fly on the wall and hear you guys discuss about the Halo orchestration as a whole (the man is so willing, I bet he'd do it just from your reaction here 😆)

That piano key gets me EVERY.... SINGLE.... TIME....

I'm still here! Love O'Donnell and Salvatori's work on these OSTs. They play a big part in elevating what could be a meat headed shooter into something atmospheric, emotional and profound. Gave me goosebumps 15 years ago and still does today!

The emotional part is called "Never Forget." I always get chills when hearing that. I don't believe it was actually in the game at any point. It was the main menu theme. Used to sit in the menu to listen to it all the time when I was a kid. Man does time fly

When I listen to Never Forget by myself it's enough to move me to tears. It's a song of remembrance for everyone who lost their lives fighting the Covenant in that nearly 30 year conflict. Some of those people we grew to know through the games, books, and other side media. Some of them we grew to love as heroes. This music reminds us of them as well as time we've spent with dear friends and family as we experienced these stories together. It was an experience quite unlike anything else that we've ever seen before and seen since. It's highly nostalgic for many including myself. Late nights on the weekends at a friend's place doing spilt screen co-op. Getting on the Xbox after school to play with friends we knew and new friends we'd met through our mutual love for the series. Days long since passed. Days we will never forget. For us, the storm has passed. The war is over. And let us never forget those who journeyed into the howling dark, and did not return. For their decision required courage beyond measure. Sacrifice, an unshakeable conviction that their fight... our fight... was elsewhere. As we start to rebuild, this hillside will remain barren, a memorial to heroes fallen. They ennobled all of us, and they shall not be forgotten. - Lord Hood, March 3rd, 2553

Gotta say, Finish the Fight and One Final Effort always makes me tear up. It's the idea that the main character, the Master Chief always fights and though the odds are so little, he always finds a way. Beautiful.

I cry when I hear Never Forget, so many emotions wrapped up in that song. Edit: The whole time Finish the Fight plays all I see in my head is the Halo 3 E3 Announcement trailer from 2006, every moment of it from start to finish, my mind fills in the words Cortana speaks with the piano keys in the beginning as well.

I get goosebumps from Halo every time. Its a magical soundtrack loaded with a ton of nostalgia. It always takes me right back

Halo music is definitely some of the most iconic video game music of all time, and for good reason. I've never even played a halo game, but it still manages to get a solid emotional reaction out of me. Would love to see you react to Proof of a Hero from the Monster Hunter franchise. An amazing orchestral piece. Bet you'd enjoy it.

I have a best friend because of this game series and he actually has a wife because we met on some random Halo 2 custom game lobby. Halo has defined a big portion of my life and my friends' lives as well. Halo's music is something that really got me into video game music, made me really pay attention to the classical orchestral music in video games. To me Halo is something very much bigger than life and its music makes me very nostalgic every time I hear it.

Hey Geebz, been watching you since your first TOOL video. Gotta say, I'm a huge fan here! Anyway, keep an eye out for Martin O' Donnel in the comments. He was the original composer all the way back to Halo 1 and he is very active in the community even to this day. Really great guy. I bet he would be willing to have a discussion with you sometime if you were ever up for it. On another note (pun intended), in the realm of Halo, you should look up the song Bits and Pieces from Halo 3: ODST, also by Martin. This to me was another phenomenal piece written by O' Donnel. All of his work is great, but this one has a much different and unexpected vibe to it. Love the work you're doing on bands like TOOL and Between the Buried and Me, both are my two favorite bands of all time. Keep doing what you're doing man, love your content!

Some games that have a large number of memorable tracks include: *Nier: Automata* - Weight of the world - A beautiful song - Amusement park - Wretched weaponry - Song of the ancients - City ruins - etc *Persona 5/Persona 5 Royal* (P5 Royal ~= definitive edition) - Life will change (with vocals) - Rivers in the desert - Wake up, get up, get out there - Beneath the mask - With stars and us - Aria of the soul - I believe - etc *Final Fantasy X* - To Zanarkand - Suteki da ne - Hymn of the fayth - Otherworld (Jecht's theme) *Kingdom Hearts* - Simple and clean (/Hikari) - Dearly beloved - Destati *Kingdom Hearts 2* - Sanctuary - etc *Kingdom Hearts 3* - Face my fears - etc *Warframe* - This is what you are - We all lift together - Sleeping in the cold below

It is some of the most memorable and perfect music. Every time I hear it, I sing along (in my head or our loud) and I get chills and goosebumps.

The amount of sheer nostalgia in this game's soundtrack is absolutely astounding.

I think that "heroic assault" from gears of war 2 or any gears of war soundtrack will be very enjoyable. Such a nice video you brought today ♥️

Now imagine how this song might feel paired with formative years, distant memories, and years of fun.

Never Forget feels victorious yet somber because it's supposed to evoke the feeling of "We've won, but at what cost?" "It's finally over. But so few of us remain." It plays during some of the final moments of the last cutscene while the UNSC honour those missing or fallen on the ARK, including the Master Chief, who was in the aft section of the Forward Unto Dawn when it was sliced in half by a closing portal. The Arbiter is transported back to Earth, in the fore section, while the MC is left behind, missing and presumed dead.

I still get mad goosebumps every time I hear this theme. And I'm gonna be honest, those 3 piano notes make me tear up every time. Just brings me back to the good old days

The soundtracks for Halo are the reason I joined middle school band, the reason I play guitar today, and still give me chills when I hear those strings kick in.

Even after all these years, that opening still gives me goosebumps

Halo raised the bar by every metric and changed gaming from entertainment into emmersive, interactive story telling. Halo CE was an artist revolution against mediocrity. I will always be grateful that I was the perfect age to experience it's genesis.

This is god tier video game music. Halo 3 is still my favorite game til this day, the music is definitely part of that

Its crazy how a single soundtrack is enough to instill so many different emotions and feelings within. Every consecutive time you listen to it, you just wish you could experience it again for the first time in the proper context

Whenever i hear this song which is not often at all, i shed a couple tears and laugh hysterically at the same time. Its just too amazing

everytime i hear this music it brings back soo many great memories, makes me cry every time. I love the music from halo.

I’ve waited so long for someone to react to "Never Forget." Thank you. This song is what made me like the three OST more than two’s. It makes me feel so nostalgic. Not to mention, this OST is meant to feel nostalgic because given it was the end of the trilogy, Marty (the composer) wanted you to have feelings of nostalgia. Kind of like you’re revisiting moments throughout the trilogy, which explains why some of the songs are repeats the previous songs, but mixed up a little.

"For us, the storm has passed, the war is over. But let us never forget those who journeyed into the howling dark and did not return, for their decision required courage beyond measure, sacrifice, and unshakeable conviction that their fight- our fight, was elsewhere. As we start to rebuild, this hillside will remain barren, a memorial to heroes fallen. They ennobled all of us, and they shall not be forgotten." I don't care that it isn't the right track, it's what I think of when I hear "Never Forget"

Gave me tears… the nostalgia and love for the first 3 halo games just hit me like a truck.

Finish the fight will never not give me chills and bring tears to my eyes. It is my childhood and it is so beautiful.

Whenever I hear the song I can just imagine the scene where it plays. The giant frigates flying overhead Lord Hood telling to fire at will as the Covenant activate the Ark portal. The scene is so intense Earth's Navy has the entire Covenant fleet in one spot and they are putting up the biggest fight they had ever put up because this time the fight was brought to Earth.

I really appreciate how you took your time expressing your thoughts, not speaking over the music, but pausing when you had something to say and restraining yourself when you said you wouldn't pause. Drove me crazy watching a younger person bubble over with excitement to the point where their gushing crowded out the music even for themselves. Of course, that style has it's place and own appeal. But it was refreshing getting this experienced perspective. Even on your own time, there's a track from Sonic Adventure 2 often just called The Last Scene which has an energy similarly powerful and bittersweet to Never Forget played here that you might appreciate. I often think of one when I hear the other. in fact imma listen to it right now😄

Closed my eyes and I could not help the tears. I came down here to ask if anyone else tears up when they hear this and I should've already known the answer. It is truly incredible how this game and soundtrack left such an impact on so many people in so many different ways. For me it has such a deep rooted connection of some amazing nights playing late into the night and often into the next morning with some incredible friends. Friends that I have not seeing in a very very long time. Some that I wont ever see again on this earth... This soundtrack is like an eternal ember that keeps these memories burning. An instant connection and portal in time.

I'm a grown ass man and this piece from the game always makes me cry like a baby. What makes me happy is that for this particular song, I have no nostalgic feelings attached to it (compared to other halo songs). It is just the composition of the music that brings something out of me. Music seldom affect me this way but it makes me happy to experience what others are experiencing with "regular" music. The orchestral version of dragonbron from skyrim has the same effect on me and I have never even played skyrim. I'll keep bingeing your videos now :) thanks for this

Those swells at the beginning literally gave me full body chills, especially knowing where Cortona and the Master Chief are at in this chapter of the story. Lovin' that your getting into game OSTs, man. I can't wait to see your reaction and hear your thoughts on the many others tracks I'm sure the gaming community will inundate you with. Much love from the main land, brother.

Ugh I’m about to cry 🤦🏽‍♂️ I miss those days. Just me and my brothers. Spartans for life. The laughs and the rage. Priceless. Halo was my first shooter game experience. Thank God for Master Chief 🙏🏽

Hey Geebz, Marty O'Donnell also composed music for the original Destiny soundtrack made by Bungie. Even Paul McCartney did some work on it! Check it out if you get the chance. Love the reactions!

Dude as soon as the music started I got goosebumps Still here

Goosebumps every single time. Takes me back to better days. I’m glad I’m not the only one who see’s a similar titanic twinge in the first part of the song. 3:21

Something that cannot ever be overstated is the incredible nostalgia the first track brings. Holy shit, almost teared up. I was suddenly 12 years old playing with my best friends after school... I could see the memory so vividly for a second... Shit...

This song truly never gets old. I had a bad day today, and this made it way better. I'm glad you could hear this amazing track. Maybe try out some Zelda music. For many, it has a similar nostalgic super power.

Like almost everyone else in this comment section I've been playing Halo for almost 20 years now. Pretty crazy to think about but I've been listening to this stuff forever now and these songs mean a lot to me. Reminds me of my childhood. Great reaction as always Geebz!! ❤

7:55 bro that piano note, I think we all got *THAT* same feeling as pure Halo enjoyers ♥

The goosebumps were real. Always good to see someone else enjoying brilliant music. You HAVE to check out the ODST stuff.

This is probably the most inspirational piece of music the last 20 something years. You don’t hear this, you feel it and it and it makes you feel like no matter what you may be dealing with. You can overcome it, you can finish the fight.

First of all, don't worry OSTs are literally world music! Second, it was great watching to react to both the instant recognition of this music from the past, and also simultaneously enjoying the powerful movements. I put Marty O'Donnell up there with Zimmer and Mansell. I think he's a genius. On a side note, I'd love to see a reaction to the Black Mesa soundtrack. Cheers!

I can't remember exactly, but I watched an interview with Marty, and the familiar melody you hear is loosely based off a beetles song as far as I know. Marty got the idea for the melody one day while driving to work

Gotta see him listen to something from cyberpunk 2077 not only gor the music itself but i can tell the production is insane like The Mikoshi theme i wanna hear what it takes to make something so iconic Also yes dude im still here at tje end of the video 🤙🏾

Never Forget will always give me goosebumps, it's just so somber and beautiful. Finish The Fight will always get me riled up to... well... finish the fight!

Now that you’ve heard Finish the Fight, I highly recommend you watch the trailer it was over. The song is a great piece on it’s own like you said but it also is a great soundtrack for the trailer.

Man...never forget... That was something that has always stayed with me...From friends come and gone and growing up in a world that places you a place and mental space of loss of control and loss of self...But in hearing that it brought me WAY back to a moment to where I and my friends felt so powerful and free... I am happy that I can remember those moments. Those times of peace and comrodery that seem so distant and empty now...something I know I can have...if I keep remembering...Maybe...more memories will come if I finish this life with a fight... Huh....

Halo 3: ODST is my fave Halo game and Halo soundtrack. Would love your thoughts on excerpts from that!

This drop at 8:53, it stuck in my head since the first time I heard it in the trailer when Echo-216 find Chief!!!

The names in Halos soundtrack are kind of confusing because the OST pieces are arranged as medleys, so they all have multiple parts/songs in them

I can close my eyes and remember a time in my life that was so much fun. Not many things can make me tear up, but this will damn near every time.

Tugs at the heart strings. I've never even played a Halo game all the way through and I still have loved the soundtracks for 15 years now.

The first Halo 3 trailer plays this music, I saw it so many times back then that I can even recite Cortana's lines verbatim on each musical cue. That trailer still gives me the goosebumps and I'm extremely glad that the game itself includes that scene from the trailer, heck, it's probably even better than the trailer itself!

This piece of music especially on the menu screen makes me feel too much nostalgia I love it

Goosebumps? I can never not hear "Never Forget" without tearing up. So many memories and emotions associated with it. Thanks for doing the awesome job of putting what I feel into words whenever I hear these songs.

Never played a single Halo game in my life, yet I still remember that E3 Finish the fight trailer from back in the day, primarily because of how the music made me feel. Good stuff.

Not only is the music itself masterful, but they way the use it in the games just amplifies everything to 100. You hear bits and pieces of Finish the Fight throughout the game, but towards the end when you hear that big bombastic part of the melody you know so well, man. It's a feeling you can never forget.

It makes me cry everytime...

The fact that finish the fight is the track that plays over the main menu of the last game in the original trilogy. Man halo was an enigma, so much careful thought and quality put into EVERY inch. Edit: ok 8:59 actually just made me start crying instantly, I did not know this about myself

2:05 Three notes and the NOSTALGIA HIT. omg.

I only recently finished these games and those piano chords are iconic, instant goosebumps

That brass at the end blaring triumphantly always gets me, brings me back to 2007! Mr. O'donnell is unmatched!!

Great tension and release throughout. Chills

Always those who have played since young or children and listen to the OST of the old halo as it is the music is very nostalgic and good, and returns us to those good moments of spending the game the first time apart from the story is great helps a lot too, the history of the halo before the first game was created is composed of many books of novels and continue to take out

Ah, its good to hear an analysis of the halo ost with the level of professionalism matching that of its' creator. Thanks for this, hope to see you cover more halo OST.

Deference for Darkness is phenomenal as well.

Halo in my humble opinion, has some of the most beautiful, somber, mystical, ancient sounding music you can find in any game ever. Some might argue from the points that Elder Scrolls has a more mystical and ancient sound to it, and I can agree to that point. But Halo, for many people has changed us as children-teens-young adults. Something about the music is so deep in Halo 3 that I think, that everyone can agree with me here. Halo 3 has some of the most gluey sound tracks in existence. So somber, such a nostalgia full experience that nothing almost compares. If you get the chance to listen to more Halo, it would make ALL our days better.

i'm so happy you listened to Never Forget that piece brings back those happy memories from 2007. Never Forget is so simple but it makes sure that the listener remembers those they've lost during their journey into the approaching storm and know that without them we wouldn't have made it threw to see the end of the fight. interpret that for what you will....

Like many others have said, the first, more emotional piece is called "Never Forget", and its a goddamn masterpiece. The title, and as you explained, its a piece about reflection, about remembering the losses and those who gave their all. Its one of remembrance, its very sombre, its heavy and deliberately emotional

I had constant goosebumps throughout the whole video.

I used to play Halo 3 with my younger brother on the 360 back in the day. We played lots of games together but Halo 3 was by far our favorite. We created about a dozen custom game modes for playing 1v1 and had a little piece of paper with a list of further self-imposed rules that the game didn't have on the settings. We spent hours in Valhalla stalking each other with sniper rifles and active camo. I miss those days, especially now that I've moved overseas for studies. I miss my family.

This, and others from this masterpiece of a game, brings me back to Christmas 2007, the day I fell in love with videogames....I had just turned 13, and my brother and I open the box to see an Xbox 360...and 2 controllers, along with Halo 3. I was ecstatic. Then, the menu started playing the themes. I didn't want to put this game down. The music is a bittersweet and melancholy void that will never need to fill in my heart again...because it just always lingers and sticks there, and shows a generation come and gone. If you're still out there fellows Spartans and Wart-Warts (Elites), I want to exchange this as a meaning for hope and reverence. The fights never end, they just change the battlefield. Continue pushing long and hard into that fight. Don't give in to fear, hate, doubt, worry, or loss. This fight is not lost, and it won't so long as we continue to push forward, back against that destroyer of hope, light, and love. For the love of mercy, and goodness...Keep. *_Finishing. Your. FIGHTS._* _"Spartans never die, they just go missing in action."_ May this be your call back to duty. You're no longer missing. You're home now. Now, get back out there, soldiers....go, and be who you were meant to be: a defender of life and love. Be safe out there, folks.

I once played the Halo 3 soundtrack whilst I was on a midnight crossing on a ferry. My grandma was very unwell at the time, me and my family were travelling back to see her once last time. So it wasn't a happy time, but looking over at a pitch black sea on a starless night, the music was pretty powerful.

Never forget gets me everytime. Everytime I hear it I remember the good old days when I played the whole night Halo 3 online. When they shutdown the Halo 3 servers I played the game one last time and after they did go offline Never forget played in the menu. While it is still part of the MCC, the original Halo 3 was over. It will never come back.

every now and then, i launch halo 3 on my xbox and i just sit there on the main menu and just sit there for hours.. get that feeling like i did when i first played it and waiting for friends and cousins to play custom games or multiplayer. loved every moment of it and miss it alot.

Halo was so much more than a videogame series. The souls of the developers were poured in there. And as the series progressed also its fanbase. It is a masterpiece in many beautiful ways

Halo 3 was the first Halo game (one of the first in the industry) to employ a real 40 piece orchestra when recording the soundtrack. In the past, Marty O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori used MIDI or layering small, individual performances (like Steve Vai absolutely nailing the guitar in Halo 2). The lifeblood of this soundtrack was so wonderfully different and alive. Check out the track "Leonidas Returns." It's a reprise of "On a Pale Horse" from the first game, and it carries so much more weight. The fanfare toward the end arrives in game during an aireal assault on some Covenant occupied Forerunner structures on ocean facing cliffs, and the music combined with the rumbling of the chainguns at 2am through a headset for the first time knocked my socks clear across the room.

Watching your face while you listen to the sounds of my childhood is a glorious thing. Your face so much describes how I feel when listening to this music. Just imagine how you felt listening, but with the addition of nostalgia and a deep immersion into a very beautiful and tragic story that took years to unfold.

Halo has been the single biggest best series in my life. I've played since childhood with my brother, amd layer into adulthood with friends. I still rerun campaigns just for the ambiance amd music

Never Forget is the soundtrack of my last memories of talking with friends after school at the Halo 3 menu. I miss that.