Nothing new in the West

Rarely has a game title predicted the basic musical direction of a soundtrack more accurately than Hard West 2. Or does the music actually conform to the game? Don't know, doesn't matter. The score for the recently released Wild West turn-based strategy game does exactly what it promises. The spaghetti western-style guitar riffs sound suitably badass, and fans of old Clint Eastwood films, the Borderlands- series or Bastion will generally get their money's worth musically.

However, since Hard West 2 is about the supernatural too, Jason Graves also introduces instruments that are atypical of the genre such as strings (Not a Generic GunfightJason Graves3) for the sake of drama, builds up a creepy atmosphere with wind-like whistling in Oregon ChillsJason Graves2 and slips into primitive realms with the tribal-like Shadow DanceJason Graves5 , which he already visited in Far Cry Primal bespielt hat.

Insgesamt macht der Score vieles richtig: Die überschaubare Anzahl an Tracks verfügt über eine durchschnittliche Dauer von fünf Minuten und unterhält mehr, als dass sie langweilt. Tracks wie das an Bonanza erinnernde Ghost TrainJason Graves4 machen Spaß und zwischen dem Tropeneinheitsbrei können durchaus ein paar Perlen glänzen. Sicherlich nicht eine von Graves besten Kompositionen, allerdings auch nichts zum Naserümpfen.