Sony Music release the original score for the Playstation game Death Stranding with music by Ludvig Forssell. The action adventure game, from legendary game creator Hideo Kojima, is set in a dystopian future. After the collapse of civilisation, Sam Bridges must journey across the ravaged landscape, crawling with otherworldly threats, to save mankind from the brink of extinction. In the near future, mysterious explosions have rocked the planet, setting off a series of supernatural events known as the Death Stranding. With spectral creatures plaguing the landscape, and the planet on the verge of a mass extinction, it's up to Bridges to journey across its ravaged wasteland and save mankind from impending annihilation...

As immersive and engaging soundtracks go... they don't come much more interesting than Ludvig Forssell's work on Death Stranding. It's atmospheric, has some memorable themes, and ticks along at a steady pace... However, and of course there had to be a "however", as a standalone project the music doesn't work quite so well without the ingame graphics.

On balance there's a little too much atmospheric background music (something that is fine ingame) that goes nowhere fast. Now all of this is perfect for building suspense and tension in the game, but somehow feels flat listened to on its own merits.

The album contains 29 tracks (1 hr, 46 min) and will only really be of interest to those that have played the game and really enjoyed the music. Casual game score collectors may find this a little too dull.

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Darren Rea