Warner Music Japan printed a soundtrack for QuoVadis that was completely different from the MEM Records print in 1996. “Quo Vadis: Iverkurtz War” was released for PlayStation in 1997, and this is the soundtrack for that game, as well as (apparently) some music from the Sega Saturn sequel. It’s got different songs from a different set of composers. That’s about all the information I was able to dig up about the origins of this soundtrack. On to the review.
The music itself? Well, it’s pretty good altogether. Certain sections of the album are definitely better than other sections. For example, the “5th” and “6th” symphony sections are a bunch of militaristic marches and battle themes, and I wasn’t impressed with them. However, songs like “Ovan Rei” (the opening track), “Hilda’s Tears,” as well as the vocal ending theme, were definite ‘winners’ in my book.
The majority of the album takes the “military music” feel to the extreme, with lots of traditional Western percussion keeping time for a brass-centric orchestra. However, there are some obligatory rock-guitar tracks scattered throughout, like a seasoning, to keep the album from dulling the ears of “modern” listeners.
I have little else to say about this album. It’s a rarity, but few gamers actually know about “QuoVadis,” which was definitely an underrated game for its time. If this soundtrack review catches your attention, perhaps it’s time you look into importing, not just the soundtrack, but the game as well.
