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Superhero epic in Avenger-style

This is the music review of
Cities & Countries (2020) | Animated Shorts (2021) | Heroes & Villains (2022)

In 2015, Blizzard surprised the gaming world: back then, the surprise was that the game was a new IP; today, we would probably be surprised because the game actually turned out to be good and, above all, without any serious flaws. The whole thing is called Overwatch and is a futuristic hero shooter, complete with cyborg ninjas, space monkeys and rocket mechs. The developers showed long before battle royale top dog Fortnite, that multiplayer shooters can both work in a brightly colored cartoon look and also have a cool lore.

Thanks to the cinematic cinematics in the usual Blizzard quality, I at least would have liked to see more of this world, e.g. in a single-player mode or even as a movie - but there wasn't one, multiplayer only. But because it was and still is very entertaining, you can overlook that. A few years, numerous new heroes, several co-op events and the announcement of a PvE-oriented successor later, I look back on the background music of the original.

The music of Overwatch was composed by Blizzard composer Neal Acree, not to be confused with Jesse McCree, the revolt-wielding cowboy from the same game, who was named after one of the developers. Trivia over. Acree, who also worked on the music for Diablo 3, StarCraft 2 and World of Warcraft, among others, has teamed up with Derek Duke to create an OST that is nothing less than the video game equivalent of the superhero epic à la Marvel's Avengers.

So here's a hint: if you don't like the superhero genre or the over-the-top heroic music bombast that goes with it, you won't have any fun with the OverwatchOST. On the other hand, if you fancy the acoustic equivalent of a Michael-Bay-explosion-accompanied-America-Fuck-Yeah-patriotism-driven Hollywood flick in Transformers-dimensions, you won't be disappointed.

As befits this, the compositions are pleasantly self-referential, which lends the overall work an inner unity and at the same time creates a sense of identity. An important quality, as can be seen in many masterpieces of music history in film and video games, be it by grand masters such as John Williams in his countless works or games such as The Legend of Zelda or Super Mario. We hear the Imperial March and we immediately know: Star Wars.

In my opinion, however, Acree can certainly afford to be compared with such genre greats thanks to the simple but wonderful main theme based on the hero stereotype. We hear it as early as the Overture wind instruments rise up and swell down again, similar to the great Nate’s Theme (Uncharted), the well-known 20th Century Fox Intro or, for me, 1503 AD from Anno 1503; the trumpets proclaim the heroic arrival of the heroes: Overwatch has arrived. Acree's stylistically confident use of the main theme is particularly evident in the cinematics, which for me are a highlight of the OST - examples of this include the aforementioned Overture, The World Could Always Use More Heroes [Cinematic Intro] as well as We Are Overwatch and …And Overwatch for All.

Here, the recurring heroic motif is elevated to ceremonial bombast by brass instruments and heralds departure, commitment and sacrifice. If this is too much pathos for you, you can also hear numerous good themes apart from the theme songs, even if the 21-track soundtrack could have been more extensive. However, this is the first version, as of 2016, which should probably be much more expanded by now due to the aforementioned events and the release of new maps - I'll check that again when the time comes.

The world could always use good themes

In my opinion, the other cornerstones of the OST are, on the one hand, the consistently implemented future vibes that resonate in every track. A successful mixture of synths and driving beats give me a sound experience that sounds like a combination of Mass Effect and Call of Duty, and convincingly conveys the futuristic image of a world in a time when talking machine gurus and moon bases with intelligent hamsters and monkeys are nothing out of the ordinary. On the other hand, the game-related tracks make a big difference, i.e. what we hear when we are waiting for the round to start (Rally the Heroes), approaching the end of the round (Situation Critical) and seeing the play-of-the-game (Victory).

The latter in particular should be a fond memory for every Overwatch-player, especially if it was their own potg. The theme uses a wide range of instruments and combines them into a worthy track for an epochal action interlude: strings provide drama, soft cellos create a sense of menace. Distant vocals elevate the initial cacophony before drums build the bridge, until finally the horns sound heroic and steer the piece in an orderly direction.

Let's just say that we have a great main theme with numerous variations, future aesthetics and gameplay tracks... what else? My review concludes with the map and location themes, which, according to my ratings, I think are worth listening to in different ways. While themes such as " Temple of Anubis (Egypt), Hollywood and Volskaya Industries (Russia) are, in my opinion, a successful interpretation of their respective cultures, Dorado with its Mexican mariachi influences falls right into the stereotype trap, but I still prefer this to the rather free approach of Nepal. Although the latter essentially takes up the Tibetan monk theme, it develops something darker through strange stylistic devices such as vocals reminiscent of the Borg collective from Star Trek and, in my opinion, places too much emphasis on the calculating nature of the mechanical prayer brothers.

King’s Row (UK), on the other hand, seems a little too generic, and Hanamura (Japan) is a little over the top for me due to the excessive use of clap. You can find my opinion on the omitted tracks in the reviews. Another positive thing I would like to emphasize is that the OST gives you the opportunity to enjoy tracks that can only be heard in excerpts in the game in their entirety, such as Rally the Heroes or Victory. Normally you only hear 15-20 seconds of these, but the actual songs often offer ten times the length of listening pleasure. That's why I recommend everyone, especially people who think they've heard everything by playing the game, to give it a listen.

Overwatch

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Ratings
01	Overture	Neal Acree	5
02	Rally the Heroes	Neal Acree	5
03	Temple of Anubis	Neal Acree	4
04	The World Could Always Use More Heroes [Cinematic Intro]	Neal Acree	4
05	King's Row	Neal Acree	3
06	Legacy	Neal Acree	4
07	Prepare to Attack	Neal Acree	4
08	Hanamura	Neal Acree	3
09	Old Soldier	Neal Acree	2
10	Watchpoint: Gibraltar	Neal Acree	3
11	Numbani	Neal Acree	3
12	Situation Critical	Neal Acree	3
13	Hollywood	Neal Acree	4
14	A Future Worth Fighting for	Neal Acree	5
15	Volskaya Industries	Neal Acree	4
16	Dorado	Neal Acree	4
17	Victory	Neal Acree	5
18	Route 66	Neal Acree	4
19	We Are Overwatch	Neal Acree	5
20	Nepal	Neal Acree	3
21	...And Overwatch for All	Neal Acree	4

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Cities & Countries

It's been a good five years since Overwatch revolutionized the hero shooter genre and is now bobbing along like a fat gameplay ham in a sea of copies. Even though it is still being patched diligently and the successor is already in the works, the Blizzard shooter orgy has already passed its zenith - all the better that it has nevertheless been honored once again. With Overwatch: Cities & Countries , the publisher released an album this summer with the music tracks of the maps that have already been released and those that have not yet been released. And there are quite a few of them: Of the 24 tracks, more than half - 14 in number - are previously unreleased pieces from locations such as Junkertown, Buson, Eichenwalde or my personal favorites Ayutthaya and Oasis.

As in the OST for the main game, the new tracks also use stereotypes and over-the-top epics, which still work really well: In Ilios the bouzouki sounds just like at the Hellenes, whereas in Paris it's the accordion. It's cheesy, uses learned tropes, but it sounds simply wonderful. Especially because they have been creatively implemented. In Lijang Tower , classical Chinese motifs meet powerful beats, in Havana Cuban salsa meets action and excitement. And then, of course, as a German, I have to mention Eichenwalde which pompously emphasizes the German crusaders akin to Reinhard from the game as lordly warriors with horns and percussion ... only to be suddenly transformed into a 90s rave by synths.

Not everyone may like that. At this point, I would also recommend reading my review of the game's original OST again, where I go into more detail about the instrumentation of the score. The Overwatch soundtrack does not provide a historically accurate depiction of the various nations as in Sid Meier’s Civilization VI. Instead, it provides an exaggerated image that trumpets "We are all different, but equal" loudly in the listener's ear. And I think that's good.

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No.	Title	Artist(s)	Ratings
01	Opening	Derek Duke; Adam Burgess	3
02	Busan	Adam Burgess	4
03	Temple of Anubis	Derek Duke; Adam Burgess	4
04	Blizzard World	Jason Hayes; Adam Burgess	4
05	Eichenwalde	Adam Burgess	4
06	Ayutthaya	Adam Burgess	5
07	Oasis	Adam Burgess	5
08	Watchpoint: Gibraltar	Derek Duke	3
09	Hollywood	Derek Duke; Adam Burgess	4
10	Hanamura	Derek Duke	3
11	Paris	Adam Burgess	4
12	Ilios	Adam Burgess	4
13	King’s Row	Derek Duke	3
14	Route 66	Derek Duke	4
15	Lijiang Tower	Derek Duke; Adam Burgess	4
16	Rialto	Adam Burgess	4
17	Dorado	Derek Duke; Adam Burgess	4
18	Nepal	Derek Duke	3
19	Chateau Guilliard	Derek Duke; Adam Burgess	5
20	Junkertown	Adam Burgess	3
21	Numbani	Derek Duke	3
22	Havana	Adam Burgess	4
23	Volskaya Industries	Derek Duke	4
24	Horizon Lunar Colony	Sam Cardon; Adam Burgess	3

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Animated Shorts

After the first players were able to enjoy the debatable Overwatch 2-beta this week, I thought it would make sense to close the bag on the predecessor and present the 3rd part of the score for the hero shooter here in a nutshell. While the original Overwatch-soundtrack deals with the actual game, Cities & Countries expanded the package to include a few missing tracks that either didn't make it into the OST or were added later. With Animated Shorts , Blizzard's music department remains true to itself and delivers exactly what the name suggests: the music from the animated short films.

In the usual Blizzard manner, they are the pinnacle of storytelling and brilliantly stage the lore surrounding the arena brawl. Dragons for example, tells the story of the brothers Hanso and Genji with top Asian flair, Honor and Glory tells the years of the young and arrogant crusader Reinhard and The Last Bastion illustrates the tragic prehistory of battle mech Bastion wordlessly and with Pixar-like elegance. There are no shortcomings here, they all fit seamlessly into the overall Overwatch experience and make you want to experience a story that you can only rarely really witness in the actual game.

The accompanying music is in no way inferior to the visuals and is consistently enjoyable, even if you only get the full experience with the accompanying videos. My only criticism here is the length of the tracks, which usually exceed my tolerance limit of 6 minutes and therefore rarely receive 5 stars from me. However, as already mentioned, this is not due to the quality, as it is on par with that of the main game and, to put it bluntly, everything is just right and just fun. So if you're in the mood for even more Overwatch or if you've been longing for certain parts of the animated films without SFX, you'll be perfectly served here.

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No.	Title	Artist(s)	Ratings
01	The Exhibit [The World Could Always Use More Heroes [Cinematic Intro]]	Neal Acree; Sam Cardon; Derek Duke; Cris Velasco	4
02	Dragons	Neal Acree	4
03	The Last Bastion	Sam Cardon; Jaroslav Beck	4
04	Honor and Glory	Neal Acree	5
05	Shooting Star	Neal Acree; Jaroslav Beck; Adam Burgess	5
06	Recall	Sam Cardon	4
07	Reunion	Sam Cardon; Adam Burgess	4
08	Alive	Jaroslav Beck; Derek Duke	5
09	Infiltration	Neal Acree	4
10	Rise and Shine	Sam Cardon; Derek Duke	4
11	Hero	Neal Acree; Jaroslav Beck	4

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Heroes & Villains

Here I was, thinking that after two soundtrack expansions for Overwatch I'd heard everything from and around the game, but then Blizzard comes around the corner again and proves me wrong. With Heroes & Villains , the last musical remnants that haven't yet made it into the score are now packed into a package that delivers exactly what we've come to expect from the hero shooter.

Included are a few beautifully dark tracks (after all, 'villains' is already in the name), such as the theme of the Talon-group, which in terms of lore is the counterpart to the Overwatch troupe and sounds correspondingly interested in world domination. Doomfist goes in a similar direction, but adds an African touch. The other hero themes also pick up on the backgrounds and ethnicities of the respective characters, while event tracks such as Uprising or Theme from Storm Rising are driving and create pleasant tension. All in all, nothing really new, but, as before, more of the same.

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No.	Title	Artist(s)	Ratings
01	Overwatch Fanfare	Sam Cardon; Cris Velasco	4
02	Wrecking Ball	Adam Burgess	4
03	Brigitte	Neal Acree	4
04	Orisa	Derek Duke; Neal Acree	4
05	Retribution	Adam Burgess	5
06	Theme from Storm Rising	Adam Burgess	4
07	Doomfist	Neal Acree	5
08	Uprising	Adam Burgess	4
09	Ashe	Adam Burgess	4
10	Ana	Derek Duke	3
11	Echo	Adam Burgess	3
12	Talon	Derek Duke; Cris Velasco; Adam Burgess	5
13	Sombra	Derek Duke	4
14	Sigma	Mark Petrie	5
15	Storm Rising Suite	Adam Burgess	4
16	Baptiste	Neal Acree	4
17	Moira	Derek Duke; Leo Kaliski	4
18	Old Soldier	Derek Duke	2
19	Are You with Us?	Neal Acree	4
20	Heroes Among Us [Bonus]	Derek Duke; Neal Acree; Adam Burgess; Sam Cardon	4
21	Anthem [Bonus]	Jaroslav Beck; Derek Duke; Sam Cardon; Adam Burgess	4
22	The Essence of Discovery [Bonus]	Sam Cardon; Adam Burgess	5
23	Summertime [Bonus]	Sam Cardon	3