I haven't had chance to mess with the game yet (will do today though) so this is all out of context and everything is being judged without the associations that the game would give (which can make a huge difference).
A classic - Generic but pleasant. Cigar outside a ballroom vibe
Absolute - Real cool buildup, love the discordant bits and wish it had more of them, suspenseful, sense of loss towards the end, outro is kinda nice but too long
Alarm - Hell yes, A++, had a massive grin on my face, prime chilling out with a joint music, sinister, wish it was at least twice as long, the standout track imo
Coming home - Epic, bridge goes on a bit too long but worth the wait, loads going on but somehow doesn't devolve into a mess, joy mixed with apprehension, reminds me of landing in dollet in FF VIII for some reason
Coronation - Awesome powerful intro, grand, name fits perfectly, 2:38 onwards is bliss. Kinda wish you skipped all/most of the middle section 1:10-1:32.
Depths - I adore this, plain and simple
Destiny - Does very little for me, but I've never liked this style much anyway. Inoffensive ambient fluff.
Faster - Very reminiscent of jrpg battle music, good stuff
Hidden - Not much to say baout this one, but I do rather like it
In sight - Sweet floaty tune, I dig it, final section is cool but way too loud
Paying Respects - See Destiny, but I do vaguely like this one
The start of something - heh fitting title, feels like it's building up to something and then ends, i like it but it's very short
The struggle - Brilliant, although I'd suggest making the snare a little more prominent
Until the end - Echoes of Donnie Darko and Immortal Technique (never thought I'd compare those two things), it's beautiful
Visions of mine - One of the weaker tracks imo, pleasant enough but it seems as though it's mainly there to provide middle ground between some of the more contrasting tracks
A few filler tracks, a few absolutely excellent tracks, mostly pretty good. I'll buy it (
please make it AAC rather than mp3, lossless formats would be even better).
This may be an unpopular suggestion, but you should increase the price. Going off Steam, the Bastion soundtrack is half the price of the game, whereas Hotline Miami's is the full price again. I'm not suggesting you go to those lengths, but maybe $5 ($1.50 to the composer, $1 to the concept artist, $0.50 for costs, $2 for charity) if the game's still going for $15. Maybe include high resolution concept art that people could print out for posters if they wanted. State explicitly where the money is going and it'll sell more. "I'm not paying $5, I'm paying $3 and giving $2 to charity." I'd also suggest making it possible to upgrade to the 'deluxe edition' at a later date for the same price difference. Also, if you were to post the soundtrack to youtube yourself (obviously at a lower quality) (it'll end up on there anyway) it'll garner goodwill and likely drive sales a bit. It worked wonders for the bastion folk and Austin Wintory.
As for the charity, why not make it thematic? To be cynical, it'll likely garner a little press and appease those who (like me, to be honest) find the game's concept a little troubling. I'd go a step further and suggest that choosing a group like Doctors Without Borders or War Child might be less problematic (for instance, less likely to bring accusations of jingoism from the Kotaku crowd and my more rabid liberal brethren) and do more good than one focusing on veterans. No offence intended, it's just a thought
some special art/versions of vehicles for your game.
Please don't! Making the game art itself any different for those who buy this would be verging on horse armour territory. Mechanics would be positively EA-like. Besides, what if I buy the special edition and actually prefer the standard art?