Posted on: January 8, 2025
Furiat
Verified ownerGames: 517 Reviews: 10
We ain't in Benson, Arizona anymore...
NOTE: This is only a SOUNDTRACK review. For game reviews - go to the game's store page. TL;DR: Songs are silly lyrically and well made musically. Ambient tracks are mostly very good. You can take this one on a drive and be satisfied. ---- For those who have a decent grasp on popular culture, it should be no surprise why I mention "Benson, Arizona" as a sort of benchmark for this soundtrack - they both stem from the same notion that whenever space travel becomes mundane, it will have a similar culture and vibe to it, as good ol' American Roadtrips. While the songs here do live up to that theme, they unfortunately do not reach the absolute pinnacle of Space Country, that Carpenter-Taylor-Yager managed. The reason being, that "Benson" was at least one step deeper than the surface level, had a wistful aftertaste, was more of a sci-fi romp clad in a country aesthetic than the other way around. And the other way around is what we have here - here the songs are simply goofy. And it is absolutely fine as a spoof in a lighthearted game. The showing is quite diverse and mostly lands (though Pilgrim Peterson didn't for me) and I am confident that you can take this listing on a night drive on the bi-lanes and get into the "driving through space" mood. But that's about it. The real meat is the ambient tracks. They obviously aren't as diverse as the songs, but the instrumentals manage to land the breadth necessary for having an "outer space lonesome experience" far better. It is a crying shame that in game you have to pick either mostly silent with occasional ambient or constant radio songs and can't mix them without using mods. It is also a shame that the ambients are so short. All in all - it seems like the whole soundtrack is all over the place, but once you take your picks and compile them yourself to your liking - you will land with something worth listening to outside the game. If you sank more than 20 hrs into the game - there is no reason not to buy this as well.
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