Watch Dogs 2
Hacker's hymn
Jean de La Bruyère, 17th century
Where the adventure about Aiden still focused on a thriller-like detective atmosphere and Chicago came across in a desaturated autumn palette of colors, the sequel is the exact antithesis: bright neon sprays and radically cool characters in the sunny heat of the West Coast give the game exactly the cringe factor that older people create when they try to communicate with the youth in their language. The game wasn't for me at the time, which is why I left the series behind after the first Watch Dogs.
Meanwhile, the soundtrack has also been adapted and the departure from its predecessor could not be clearer. Instead of a veteran of the soundtrack genre like Brian Reitzell in the predecessor, Ross Matthew Birchard, better known as Hudson Mohawke, was hired. The Scottish composer and DJ from Glasgow immediately delivers two OSTs that make it clear: Hacking means electro, so you get electro.
The scores are the Official Soundtrack entitled DedSec – Watch Dogs 2 (16 tracks) and the Extended Edition with 22 tracks. Extended is to be taken literally in this case, because even though five identical songs from the OST appear in this version with Balance, Citrus, Cyber Driver (Opera), Eye for an Eye (Reprise) and W4tched (Cinema) there are four additional tracks (Play’N’Go, Haum Sweet Haum, Burning Desire, Shanghaied) that simply last 20-37 minutes instead of three to four minutes.
In general, the Extended Edition contains 13 songs that are over ten minutes long - and these are not simply looped versions, but in my opinion the background music for individual missions. The highlights from these pieces were pressed onto DedSec – Watch Dogs 2 in typical OST fashion, whereas the extended score is the unabridged version.
It quickly becomes clear that a real DJ was at work here, who put his set on the record - and the result is definitely worth listening to, provided you are into this kind of music. Conversely, every listener should be aware that we are not in for a 'classic' video game composition with narrative highs and lows. We apparently get that in the extended score, but it's just one piece. And tracks such as Main Menu, Research Menu and Nudle Maps are primarily characterized by their spherical, wafting irrelevance.
However, the album does not impress with particularly moving or 'creative' sounds. As usual for the genre, the music shines where it appeals to our primitive feel-good centers and the blunt basses are, simply put, 'fun'. Personally, I like Birchard's combination of massive electro beats, strings and unconventional sounds such as organs - something that is probably rarely heard in the underground venues of this world. Not that I know any better. But the Scotsman brings to light a soundscape that fits in well with the setting and even I enjoy it.
Unlike the score for Furi, for example, the composer's music is characterized by its repetitive structure, to which new facets are constantly added over the course of the track before it reaches its climax shortly before the end. In my opinion, this works particularly well in Burning Desire, whose fairground style is broken up in the course of the track and drifts in the direction of genre cousins such as Rocket League or the Saints Row reboot.
Watch Dogs 2
No. | Title | Artist(s) | Ratings |
---|---|---|---|
01 | Shanghaied | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
02 | Burning Desire (Hacker) | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
03 | W4tched (Cinema) | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
04 | Haum Sweet Haum | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
05 | Cyber Driver | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
06 | Amethyst | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
07 | Play N Go | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
08 | Eye for an Eye (Reprise) | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
09 | Cyber Driver (Opera) | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
10 | Citrus | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
11 | Balance | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
12 | Burning Desire | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
13 | Eye for an Eye | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
14 | Robot (Finale) | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
15 | Watch Dogs Theme | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
16 | The Motherload | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] |
Watch Dogs 2 [Extended Edition]
No. | Title | Artist(s) | Ratings |
---|---|---|---|
01 | Main Menu | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
02 | Research Menu | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
03 | Nudle Maps | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
4 | Play'N'Go [Extended]* | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
05 | Cyberdriver | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
3 | Haum Sweet Haum [Extended]* | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
07 | $911 | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
08 | Hacker War | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
09 | Burning Desire [Extended]* | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
10 | Eye for Eye | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
11 | Limp Nudle | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
12 | W4tched | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
13 | Shanghaied [Extended]* | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
14 | Power to the Sheeple | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
15 | Hack Teh World | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
16 | Robot Wars | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
17 | Motherload | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
18 | Balance* | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
19 | Citrus* | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
20 | Cyber Driver (Opera)* | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
21 | Eye for an Eye (Reprise)* | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] | |
22 | W4tched (Cinema)* | Hudson Mohawke [Ross Matthew Birchard] |
*Track contained in the Original Soundtrack