Christopher Tin is quickly becoming my top favorite game music composer. His score for Offworld Trading Company is no exception. Very synth-y start, vaguely reminiscent of some good old Vangelis. The soundtrack starts off strong with Red Planet Nocturne, which has a melody that I’m sure I’ve heard before but can’t identify it.
There’s an underlying clockwork beat to everything that gives a vague sense of urgency and tension (for instance, Martian Glassworks at 45:00).
The horns are sometimes a bit strident, especially the deep, resonant klaxons, but overall this is a very focused soundtrack, something that encourages continuous attention through its clockwork/high frequency beat. I’ve been doing a lot of writing to these tracks. I’d definitely recommend this as a background track for non-violent tense gaming sessions.
Although actual gaming is postponed to whenever, my players still came up with a space station themed campaign about politics and intrigue, so this may very well end up very useful. Thanks a lot for sharing, and also for UW in general.