Year: 2023
Type: Original Soundtrack (OST)
Composer(s): Markus Zierhofer
Number of tracks: 16

★★★★★

Ste Borrow from the successful...

It seems to be fashionable at the moment to tear literary figures out of their usual history books and press them into new settings. This was recently the case in the soul-like Lies of Pi, in which puppet boy and Olaf Scholz's face double Pinocchio is transported from the famous children's story into a horror-like steampunk dystopia.

The appearance of lower-class hero Robin Hood in Gangs of Sherwood is not quite so alien: even if a steampunk version of Victorian England is used as a backdrop instead of a medieval one, this is an action adventure game that can be played with up to four players in co-op.

Sounds pretty cool at first and looks good according to the trailers, but the reviews are mixed. A shame really, because the idea of setting off as a gang consisting of Brother Tuck, Little John, Maid Marian and the famous archer sounds pretty exciting. But looking at the reviews, I'll probably take my money and give it to my bank account ... another saving.

Of course, I didn't skip the soundtrack (oh my god, he did it again) - why else would I do this review? Let's quickly nibble through the obligatory stuff: there are 16 tracks, each lasting 2-3 minutes. The composer is Markus Zierhofer, and Jeremy Froböse also contributed two tracks. I haven't encountered either of them before, as they have been involved in smaller projects so far. Only the trailer for Ghost of Tsushima, in which Zierhofer was involved musically, exudes some mainstream air.

However, the steam of the OST also smells of mainstream here and there (this guy, how does he do it?). But it's just a taste of mainstream, mind you, because it is well-made one. In general, Zierhofer rarely draws the shallow tones in his album, preferring instead to storm straight through the castle gate like the stockinged hero troop. As a result, we can expect primitive sounds for the most part, such as in Brothers at Arms or The Sheriff of Nottingham, which brings back memories of For Honor or Assassin’s Creed Valhalla , not least because of the similar instrumentation.

Meanwhile, the fact that we are in a fictional version of history is primarily evident through contrasts. While tracks such as Let the Show Begin! and Alan-A-Dale Showtime tend towards light-hearted village celebrations, other tracks such as Our Shelter and Mission Recap are dominated by heavy / gloomy tones, giving Gangs of Sherwood the air of a medieval Modern Warfare.

Musically, however, it is not quite as depressing as the Plague Tale-games, and there are no futuristic sounds either. In fact, Streets of Locksley even has a bit of barrel organ in it, which is set to be invented around the same time as the story of Robin Hood. Logically, however, you shouldn't expect historical accuracy, as the composer takes great pleasure in orchestral bombast to underpin the action-packed gameplay - and so do I.

This is particularly impressive in my two favorites, namely the theme song Gangs of Sherwood as well as Lord Gisborne’s Attack. Both tracks have this, as already mentioned above, mainstream quality and to a certain extent even arbitrariness, but are pleasing to my ears. Perhaps this is also due to my associations with the other scores that might have been borrowed from acoustically, but that doesn't make the product any worse.

For example, Gangs of Sherwood sounds to me a bit like something adapted from the later seasons of Game of Thrones or League of Legends , whereas Lord Gisborne’s Attack sounds like a kind of Destiny in Vamypr-guise. I just like this uncompromisingly epochal sound that blows towards us here. This also happens to some extent in the other songs, but less well there. So we are left with a score that is easy to listen to and leaves no time for niceties or respite. Gangs of Sherwood demands our attention with as much bang and smoke as possible, and it succeeds - at least musically.

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Ratings
01	Gangs of Sherwood	Markus Zierhofer	5
02	Our Shelter	Markus Zierhofer	4
03	Let the Show Begin!	Markus Zierhofer	3
04	Brothers at Arms	Markus Zierhofer	4
05	Lord Gisborne’s Attack	Markus Zierhofer	5
06	Enemy Ground	Jeremy Froböse	3
07	The Sheriff of Nottingham	Markus Zierhofer	4
08	Sherwood Forrest	Markus Zierhofer	3
09	Spider Tank	Jeremy Froböse	3
10	Escape from Chesterfield	Markus Zierhofer	3
11	Resistance Fighters	Markus Zierhofer	3
12	Streets of Locksley	Markus Zierhofer	3
13	Mission Recap	Markus Zierhofer	3
14	The End Has No Fear	Markus Zierhofer	4
15	Alan-A-Dale Showtime	Markus Zierhofer	3
16	The Tavern Gang	Markus Zierhofer	4