Paradigm Official Soundtrack (Phat Beatsies) Review

Album art for Phat Beatsies


  • Reviewed by: Mark Goninon
  • Name: Paradigm Official Soundtrack (Phat Beatsies)
  • Label: Jonas Kjellberg
  • Composer(s): Jonas Kjellberg
  • Number of Tracks: 50

Back in April I reviewed an indie point 'n' click adventure made right here in Perth, Western Australia called Paradigm. I thought it was pretty damn good and consequently it comes highly recommended if you're into point 'n' click adventures. The game's development was funded via Kickstarter which allows you to back at different tiers and whenever I back a game, I usually make a point to back the tier that comes along with the soundtrack which is what I'm reviewing now. I also have the Steam version of the soundtrack which is pretty much identical in terms of music but it doesn't come with a desktop background, album cover art, track list and a personal thank you note from Jonas Kjellberg.

There's a whopping 50 tracks on this soundtrack and not only do you get access to 320kbps MP3s but also 1411kbps WAV files (for those wanting a slightly higher bitrate). The soundtrack contains most of the music you'd hear in the game and is arranged in roughly chronological order for the first 39 tracks with the remaining 11 tracks occurring during random segments in the game including cinematics, trailers and mini-games (what am I talking about, the whole game is a random segment!) .



In terms of my favourite tracks on this album, there are too many to mention although some that stand out are "The Fridge", a choice (w)rap parody about keeping your leftovers nice and cold, the 80s synthpop, Human League-like "Buy a Head", "This is the New Lab Track" which seems to be inspired by 90s VGM from games like Star Control 2, "Take a Seat Righ Over There" with its awesome woodwind synths and its Mass Effect 2 "Suicide Mission" vibe, the triumphant and jovial "Australian Game Development Theme" (I really wish this was an anthem to Australian games development) and "Eggplant's Paradise" for those with an appreciation for beatboxing.

Like the game itself, Kjellberg has taken a lot of inspiration from the 80s and 90s when it came to the music including movies (e.g. "Blade Runner", "Terminator 2" and "Top Gun" – yes, there's a track that sounds suspiciously like Berlin's "Take My Breath Away") and games (e.g. "Streets of Rage", "Command & Conquer", even some of the futuristic sounding tracks on games like "Chris Sawyer's Locomotion" or "SimCity 3000"). There's also some 80s glam rock in there too, coz why not?



There's an eclectic mix of music on this album so you're bound to find something you like, but the only issue I have is that there's probably way too much music. My scoring system judges each track on its own merits; This is risky for OSTs with lots of tracks as the reason for this is usually lots of filler, ambient or short tracks. While thankfully there's not much in the way of filler/ambient tracks there are some such as the joke tracks "Music for Whale Relaxation" and "Live" not to mention several tracks that don't seem to go anywhere (which probably works fine in the context of the game but doesn't do anything for those listening to the soundtrack on its own).

Score – 7/10

There's a huge number of tracks on this album and it's chock full of 80s and 90s nostalgia with some genuinely funky tracks to boot. Especially recommended if you enjoyed playing the game as there are several joke tracks included as well.

If you're interested in purchasing the soundtrack, it's available for $5.99 USD on Steam or $7 USD off Bandcamp.

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