TheRetroArcade
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Joined: Feb 2026
Eidos Montreal wanted to put its own stamp on Deus Ex after it took over the series, and that meant it wanted music from an entirely different composer.
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Deus Ex is just so damn great. I know we say that a lot around here, but you can never say it enough, so I'm saying it again: Deus Ex is great. One of the greatest ever. And one of the most distinctive elements of that greatness is its soundtrack, which like the game itself is great. It's so core to the experience, in fact, that when Eidos Montreal dropped the 2010 teaser telling the world that Deus Ex was back, it included the unforgettable opening bars of the Deus Ex theme song.
You can hear it kick in at the 40 second mark—and believe me, when that shit hit, it was like a bomb going off. I still get all a-tingly when I hear it.
(Here's the full theme song, if you're not familiar with it. Soak it in.)
When Deus Ex: Human Revolution dropped, though, Deus Ex composer Alexander Brandon was not the man behind the music. The job was handled instead by Michael McCann. In an interview with PC Gamer's Wes Fenlon, Brandon explained that Eidos Montreal, which had taken over the series, wanted to put its own stamp on it, and while he was given a shot at contributing a song to the soundtrack, it just didn't work out.
"The message from the beginning was very clear that the Montreal team was going to own Deus Ex. The franchise was theirs," Brandon said. "They consulted with people like Chris Norden, the original programmer, and Warren [Spector] and a bunch of other people. They had conversations. But it was like, this is going to be an Eidos Montreal produced and created project and series now."
Brandon said Human Revolution audio director Steve Szczepkowski gave him an opportunity to do a remake of the original Deus Ex title theme, with the idea of playing it over the end credits to tie Human Revolution, which is a prequel, to the original game. So he did compose a track and send it in—but Szczepkowski decided that what Brandon came up with wasn't "the right fit," a decision Brandon says that he agrees with in hindsight.
"If I were Steve and I had more time, I might have gone, 'Okay, let's all get on a call.' Because there's audio directors I've worked with that sit down and they go, 'Okay, here's the deal, here's the vision for this, here is how we handle instrumentation, here's some detail work with...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
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Every Thursday
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Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
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From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
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Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
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Deus Ex is just so damn great. I know we say that a lot around here, but you can never say it enough, so I'm saying it again: Deus Ex is great. One of the greatest ever. And one of the most distinctive elements of that greatness is its soundtrack, which like the game itself is great. It's so core to the experience, in fact, that when Eidos Montreal dropped the 2010 teaser telling the world that Deus Ex was back, it included the unforgettable opening bars of the Deus Ex theme song.
You can hear it kick in at the 40 second mark—and believe me, when that shit hit, it was like a bomb going off. I still get all a-tingly when I hear it.
(Here's the full theme song, if you're not familiar with it. Soak it in.)
When Deus Ex: Human Revolution dropped, though, Deus Ex composer Alexander Brandon was not the man behind the music. The job was handled instead by Michael McCann. In an interview with PC Gamer's Wes Fenlon, Brandon explained that Eidos Montreal, which had taken over the series, wanted to put its own stamp on it, and while he was given a shot at contributing a song to the soundtrack, it just didn't work out.
"The message from the beginning was very clear that the Montreal team was going to own Deus Ex. The franchise was theirs," Brandon said. "They consulted with people like Chris Norden, the original programmer, and Warren [Spector] and a bunch of other people. They had conversations. But it was like, this is going to be an Eidos Montreal produced and created project and series now."
Brandon said Human Revolution audio director Steve Szczepkowski gave him an opportunity to do a remake of the original Deus Ex title theme, with the idea of playing it over the end credits to tie Human Revolution, which is a prequel, to the original game. So he did compose a track and send it in—but Szczepkowski decided that what Brandon came up with wasn't "the right fit," a decision Brandon says that he agrees with in hindsight.
"If I were Steve and I had more time, I might have gone, 'Okay, let's all get on a call.' Because there's audio directors I've worked with that sit down and they go, 'Okay, here's the deal, here's the vision for this, here is how we handle instrumentation, here's some detail work with...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?