Flint: Treasure of Oblivion is the latest pirate game to take to the high seas with a unique mix of real-time exploration and turn-based combat. While I have yet to play the game, I did have a chance to listen to the recently released soundtrack with music by Winifred Phillips, and I have to say, I was very impressed with her take on the genre. After 100+ hours of playing Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag and half that much in Ragnarock (Vikings are kinda pirates…right?) I have a pretty good handle on what makes a compelling soundtrack to a pirate themed game.
Things started off fairly typical with Beastly Buccaneers, a robust theme full of pirate energy, deep percussion, with a generous helping of strings to create something I would expect from a Michael Bay pirate movie. Dead Men Tell No Tales was quite adventuresome and had me envisioning crusty pirates hacking their way through a jungle in search of buried treasure. The Pirates Curse track was the first to make my ears twitch, with this almost subliminal chanting underlying the rhythmic beats of what you’d expect from a witchdoctor dancing around a bonfire. Breakout the bagpipes for Treasure of Oblivion, a unique tune that comes dangerously close to being heavy metal…or a drinking song at a Scottish pub.
And those are just the first few songs. The rest of the tracks are all equally as diverse with fantastic use of wind, strings, and percussion instruments that fit the pirate genre. Sea Wolves was another standout track for me, as it was one of the few songs I could see being universally swapped into just about any tension-filled action sequence. The Lookout was another favorite with some great wind instruments mixed with acoustical guitar that had me waiting for lyrics…but they never came.
The best thing about an awesome soundtrack is that you can still enjoy it even if you don’t care about the source material. I checked out Flint: Treasure of Oblivion, and honestly, it’s not a game for me, but I sure would have been disappointed to miss this fantastic assortment of adventuresome music perfect for all sorts of other adventures. There is so much energy and originality to every song on this album; this is one soundtrack you will truly treasure.
The album is now on Bandcamp, Apple Music, Amazon, Spotify, and wherever albums are available.
Eye patch and pegleg sold separately.