Broken Age: Act 2 OST (Review)

Last year Double Fine Productions released the first act of their Kickstarter backed title Broken Age. The soundtrack for Act 1 was written by long time Double Fine collaborator Peter McConnell and released on various digital platforms. With Broken Age finally complete, the official soundtrack now has music from the game’s second half added to it. The score features performances by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, a set of smaller ensembles from the San Francisco area, and even performances by the composer himself.

Since I reviewed the music of Act 1, when the album was released last year, there are only a handful of new tracks to discuss with the now complete Broken Age soundtrack. While I could talk about the earlier released material, it would only be a repeat of what I’ve already stated in my Broken Age: Act 1 OST Review. You can find my thoughts on the music of Act 1 there. Otherwise this will mostly be a review on the new material, how it fits in with the rest of the music, and how the full soundtrack works as a whole. As with the Act 1 review, there will be potential spoilers for the game plot, especially if you haven’t completed first half of the game. So with that in mind, let’s take a look at the Broken Age OST. 

The initial release of the soundtrack contained a total of twenty-three tracks. This included music for cutscenes and music for the various areas that you explore in the game. There have been a few changes to the original tracks, with this recent re-release. The original album’s first two tracks “Broken Age” and “Vella Wakes” have been combined into one track. This is sort of odd since the former is the title screen music and the latter is Vella’s opening music. One would think that those should remain separate tracks. The track “Walk Under the Stars” has also been renamed “Out on the Hull,” I’m assuming so it matches the game plot a little more accurately. Including the new tracks of music, the full Broken Age OST contains a grand total of 30 tracks.

There is one other change from the original soundtrack release that has been puzzling me. The Act 1 soundtrack had a piece, titled “Shay’s Secret Mission,” which seems to have been omitted on the current release. From what I can gather it’s been replaced by the track “Vella’s Mission” which contains the same melodic and thematic material, but with a different arrangement of instruments. The previous track contained, among other things, electric guitars, giving it more of a Mission Impossible vibe than the replacement track. I’m not sure what the story is behind this apparent swap, but “Shay’s Secret Mission” no longer appears to be available on any of the digital download versions of the soundtrack. In any case, the newer version, “Vella’s Mission,” is an interesting variation on the material. It shies away from electronic instruments in favor of a lighter acoustic arrangement. Overall I think it fits well with the rest of the score as a result. I just wish we knew what happened to the other track.

Many of the new pieces are actually added in between the previously released tracks. This is something I’m not used to seeing on extended soundtracks. Most albums that receive expansions tend to place the newer material after the originally released tracks. I’m not sure what the reasoning behind this is, since it doesn’t seem to serve a purpose in putting the music in any type of canonical track order. My only guess can be that someone in charge felt that this specific track order worked better as a listening experience.

Only a handful of new tracks have been added for the complete Broken Age OST. This is largely due to the nature of the game’s structure (*Last chance to avoid spoilers!*). At the end of Act 1, the two main characters, Vella and Shay, enter each other’s world and swap places. Most of Act 2 is spent with the characters visiting the locations that the other character already explored. Because of this, there aren’t really any new areas and by extension any new music themes that needed to be written. So most of the areas retain the music that was being used during the first half of the game.

One place where this doesn’t happen is at the town of Shellmound. Since the Maiden’s Feast is over when Shay gets there, the upbeat “Shellmound Festival” piece from earlier is no longer playing. In its place is a more low-key track titled “Shay in Shellmound.” The new piece helps set the drastically changed mood in the fishing village. With the battle with Mog Chothra done and most of the inhabitants gone, the area is almost deserted. The music finds a good balance of creating a toned down atmosphere while evoking a sense of mystery and confusion to the new world that has opened up for Shay.

Most of the new pieces are written for the special events or cutscenes that happen at specific points in the game. Tracks like “The Factory Explosion,” “Marek Revealed,” and “The Final Battle” come at key moments to advance the story, so they are written as linear, one-shot performances, rather than being a looped piece to enhance a particular gameplay environment.

Many of these new pieces expand on the previously existing themes from Broken Age’s first half. A number of music motifs like the descending brass theme from the end of “Battle at Shellmound” can be heard in “The Factory Explosion” and “At the Gate.” This makes sense thematically, since each event involves the Mog Chothra monsters and reintroducing the music motif helps reinforce their key importance to the plot. A majority of the music material from the track “Maidens Feast” also reemerges in “Marek Revealed.” Once again, this helps to solidify the story connections, particularly tying Marek’s scheming with the truth behind the Maiden’s Feast and Mog Chothra.

My favorite entry for this version of the soundtrack is “The Final Battle.” This piece acts as the score for the game’s final cutscene. There are a number of references to other music cues from earlier in the game. This all helps reflect the convergence of the story elements and the characters paths into a satisfying conclusion. It’s also a great showcase piece for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, since they cover the larger scale pieces on the album. The brass section in particular gets some great moments in this track. I love the triumphant brass motifs around 1’17.” The low brass of course get one final restatement of the Mog Chothra descent motif at 2’29.” A great finale from the soundtrack that manages to incorporate themes from the rest of the score, while still hitting all of the important emotional highs and lows for Broken Age’s final scene.

Much like Act 1 of the soundtrack, I’ve enjoyed the new material that’s been included on this version of the Broken Age OST. While only a few tracks have been added, they are great additions that build on the previous material and work well to enhance game’s story and atmosphere. I do find the small changes from last year’s soundtrack release and track omission on the current release a little odd, but it’s a minor problem on an otherwise great album. It’s a wonderful soundtrack from Peter McConnell that’s certainly worth checking out if you haven’t already. You can find the complete Broken Age OST on Bandcamp, Sumthing Music, iTunes, and Amazon.