Year: 2014
Type: Gamerip
Composer(s): Joseph Hodorowicz
Number of tracks: 15

★★★★★

Middle class Middle Ages

Behind the simple name Banished hides a tough building and economic simulation in which we manage the fortunes of a feudal village and have to constantly weigh up whether the inhabitants have nothing to eat in winter or rather freeze to death. In other words, a survival simulation like Frostpunk , in which the fun factor lies in establishing precise commodity cycles and distributing labor in such a way as to maximize efficiency.

As someone who has cheated in every round of Rome: Total War to raise the Circus Maximus in every little barbarian village and has the strategic foresight of a Labrador who discovers an overturned bag of food in front of him, I have consequently banished Banished from my PC after a short test round. There may be people who have worked out every island and every transport route in an Anno down to the smallest detail - but I'm not one of them. Conversely, they probably wouldn't sit down and write a review of the game's music either, so who am I to judge?

So let me now pass judgment on the gamerip, which consists of 15 nameless tracks and was composed by the brother of the one-man developer, Joseph Hodorowicz. Now I do actually prepare for these reviews, checking the internet for info, official and unofficial iterations as well as opinions from players and critics. The YouTube video accompanying the score is full of praise from fans, and I even read somewhere that it's the best soundtrack ever written for a game. Of course, only the hardcore fans hang out there, but I was still surprised at how much love the music received.

Whether it's due to my high expectations or my lack of enthusiasm for the game, I find the score for Banished rather mediocre. Why? Well, mainly because of the repetition. The first three tracks already sound very similar in terms of structure: a simple, repetitive sequence of notes on the guitar, which is complemented by a piano or vice versa. The simplicity fulfills the trope of the feudal and at times evokes memories of Age of Empires, but generally too little happens here.

There are hardly any melodies let alone melodic development and it seems as if someone has discovered the dominant sounds of guitar, piano and later strings in the music maker and clicked around wildly in the timeline until it sounds 'somehow good'. Of course I would do exactly the same, after all I didn't study music, but it's not remotely good enough for the praise I've read.

Meanwhile, Hodorowicz also tries to strike other notes. The fourth track sounds more energetic and more royal with its harpsichord vibe, while in the sixth a distant flute adds a relaxing and almost meditative facet. And song number nine drifts into the spherical through the use of synths, reminiscent of games like SimCity, The Elder Scrolls: Arena / Daggerfall or even Minecraft, but it lacks uniqueness. Track 10 comes closest to the concept of a motivic song, but due to the constant repetition, it remains merely average. Presumably, people who have to start again from the beginning at the slightest mistake are simply differently wired than I am to like this (musical) repetition. But it's not for me.

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Ratings
01	Banished 01	Joseph Hodorowicz	3
02	Banished 02	Joseph Hodorowicz	3
03	Banished 03	Joseph Hodorowicz	3
04	Banished 04	Joseph Hodorowicz	3
5	Banished 05	Joseph Hodorowicz	3
06	Banished 06	Joseph Hodorowicz	4
7	Banished 07	Joseph Hodorowicz	3
08	Banished 08	Joseph Hodorowicz	3
09	Banished 09	Joseph Hodorowicz	1
10	Banished 10	Joseph Hodorowicz	5
11	Banished 11	Joseph Hodorowicz	4
12	Banished 12	Joseph Hodorowicz	2
13	Banished 13	Joseph Hodorowicz	3
14	Banished 14	Joseph Hodorowicz	2
15	Banished 15	Joseph Hodorowicz	3