Mankind Divided's OST is so incredible and overall an achievement in crafting Cyberpunk sounds

[Dreamboum]

Human Revolution was up there in crafting a great soundtrack but Mankind Divided pushes it to new heights. I'm genuinely stunned at the amount of polish there is in this soundtrack and I discover something new every day. The official soundtrack isn't even a fraction of what the game offers!

I loved the game and even I am ashamed at how little I noticed in my playthrough. It's a huge game.

The action phase music is much more high-impact. That track goes HARD


But the ambient sounds of Mankind Divided is as lovely as it gets, just listen to this. It happens after the meetign with ARC leader on your way to be extracted, it really sells the shock after a critical event happened



The Atrium of the Palisade Blade is so incredible too. This is the calm before the storm as you explore this small hub from the System Rift DLC on your way to infiltrate the Blade. Honestly one of my fav moments in the game, System Rift is a marvel of level design for me


The whole playlist is a pleasure to listen to and will carry you far https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYFEK0EdxB0rAdRAoBPODAdhX14Gwibq8

 

[Kard8p3]

Damn, this is like the 3rd Mankind Divided topic in the last week, I really need to get around to finishing it, I've only ever played past the intro section.

 

[Arklite]

I loved the game and even I am ashamed at how little I noticed in my playthrough. It's a huge game.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, it sounds like quality alone, but how good of a soundtrack is it if it's barely noticeable in game. It's kind of an odd thing where I'm not sure if it's a mixing issue or the OST is just too tame.

 

[AWizardDidIt]

I liked Human Revolution's soundtrack just a tad more than Mankind Divided but they're both two of my favorite modern day game soundtracks. I put an ambient mix of both games on whenever I need to chill out at work and get stuff done.

 

[Jawmuncher]

The Icarus Main Theme from the first game is one of the best. I know this thread is about the second game, but it's just so good.

 

[fieldafar]

I don't buy music on CDs anymore, but my last two purchases were the physical copies of Human Revolution and Mankind Divided. I absolutely love both soundtracks and still regularly listen to them both.

 

[Fiery Phoenix]

I still listen to it from time to time. Just never seems to get old.

 

[Jubern]

I'm loving all the Deus Ex threads of late.

Such a shame what happened with sales :(

 

[hob982]

Finish the fight, Eidos :(
Yup MD soundtrack is ace. Could listen for hours the various hub themes and Adam's apartment BGMs.

 

[Staf]

Incredible soundtrack for an incredible game. Shame the ending is meh.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

Absolutely love the ending theme too. Helps that I'm a big fan of his work with Periphery.

 

[Korigama]

I don't really remember any particular tracks from Mankind Divided, which disappointed me after how much I enjoyed Human Revolution's OST.

 

[Uzzy]

Gotta love a great cyberpunk soundtrack.

 

[Shark]

Definitely thread worthy.

My favorite track by far:



Gives Mass Effect's Galaxy Map theme a run for its money,

 

[ev0]

But tell me you wouldnt rather spotify the Blade Runner soundtrack over this instead

Spoiler: spoiler

/s love this and Human Revolution OST

 

[Crazymoogle]

Well I worked on the game, but pretty much when I see these threads I have to point out we did Breach (the online component) with the music scored by Ed Harrison (@00edit) of NeoTokyo fame...and it's all on soundcloud (or I suppose youtube if thats your jam). The music is awesome.

 

[Deleted member 1656]

If this is a Michael McCann appreciation thread I'd like to share my love of his XCOM: EU/EW music. As a drummer, I absolutely love the use of big fat drums throughout its entirety. A lot of people think it sounds a lot like Deus Ex's music—too much maybe, which it does, but for me the war drums easily distinguish it.





The music of EU captures every aspect of XCOM: the mystery, the creepy, the desperation, the death, and the heroism. It sounds like struggle and battle. XCOM 2's music emphasizes sounds of heroism and triumph way too often for my liking, which I feel is especially off because the game escalates the direness and desperation (and cyberpunk) of the situation so much. It should be a much darker score than EU's if anything, but at times it sounds more like a superhero blockbuster.

 

[HK-47]

I really should make time to play this

 

[Unknown837]

Definitely thread worthy.

My favorite track by far:



Gives Mass Effect's Galaxy Map theme a run for its money,

Click to shrink...

Came to post this, made me want to stay in the area. Incredible game.

 

[Famassu]

Wasn't the guy who did the amazing Neotokyo OST also working on Deus Ex:MD's OST? It's no wonder it turned out so good.

 

[Cyn]

I loved Human Revolution so much but I could barely stomach a couple of hours in Mankind Divided, so I didn't get to experience these tracks.

It's tempting to give it another go just because of what's in this thread, but I bounced off it so hard initially. I've no idea why because HR was one of my top games of the decade. A shame we probably won't get the full story.

 

[thenexus6]

The Deus Ex soundtracks (HR and MD) are incredible. Michael McCann is easily one of the best game composers for me.

I love the way he does ambient, stress, combat and other variations that seamlessly blend in / out depending on the players actions. I know this is more of an audio editing thing than score.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Wasn't the guy who did the amazing Neotokyo OST also working on Deus Ex:MD's OST? It's no wonder it turned out so good.

Click to shrink...

Already mentioned above, he did work for Breach. Soundcloud is above but here's an example

 

[NemesisTheory]

Fantastic games, fantastic soundtracks.
Even Deus Ex 1's OST is amazing to this day.

Here's hoping Eidos Montréal returns to this series sooner rather than later.

 

[jtb]

I like Human Revolution's soundtrack more (much more DX vibes), but MD's ambient music is fantastic. It's a pity that none of the great tracks other than TF29 (the debate ambient music in particular) made the soundtrack release, but I'm glad they're all back on Spotify.

If this is a Michael McCann appreciation thread I'd like to share my love of his XCOM: EU/EW music. As a drummer, I absolutely love the use of big fat drums throughout its entirety. A lot of people think it sounds a lot like Deus Ex's music—too much maybe, which it does, but for me the war drums easily distinguish it.





The music of EU captures every aspect of XCOM: the mystery, the creepy, the desperation, the death, and the heroism. It sounds like struggle and battle. XCOM 2's music emphasizes sounds of heroism and triumph way too often for my liking, which I feel is especially off because the game escalates the direness and desperation (and cyberpunk) of the situation so much. It should be a much darker score than EU's if anything, but at times it sounds more like a superhero blockbuster.

Click to shrink...

Wow, I forgot how much better EU/EW OST was over Xcom 2's. I'll have do a replay of XCOM 2 with the legacy soundtrack playing lol

 

[J-Skee]

I've been wanting to jump into the Deus Ex games, but we're getting so close to Cyberpunk 2077. Thinking I should just wait it out.

 

[Lukar]

I've been wanting to jump into the Deus Ex games, but we're getting so close to Cyberpunk 2077. Thinking I should just wait it out.

Click to shrink...

Whether you play them now or later, definitely play them and don't skip out on them. HR and MD are two of the best games from the past decade.

 

[Pargon]

I recommend seeking out the VladlenCry remix album for Mankind Divided - particularly if you want extended ambient tracks.
There are individual tracks on YouTube, but I haven't seen a playlist with them all. The whole album is something like 10 hours long.

I've been wanting to jump into the Deus Ex games, but we're getting so close to Cyberpunk 2077. Thinking I should just wait it out.

Click to shrink...

Cyberpunk 2077 is nine months away.
The Deus Ex games are around 15-40 hours long depending on your play-style. There is plenty of time to play all of them to completion and take a long break before Cyberpunk 2077 is released.

 

[Paul]

Yeah the OST is amazing!

So sad this series has been put on ice in favour of fucking Marvel of all things

I do not want to wish for Avengers to bomb but...but...if they suceed, Eidos Montreal will be busy with those for years and years

Thank god at least CDP is making Cyberpunk game.

 

[Truant]

I stopped playing midways into the second hub, I think it was during some library mission? I remember the AA solution on PC was pretty bad, and people complaining that the ending was shit soured me on the game.

Should I restart it?

EDIT: For reference, Human Revolution is one of my top 20 games of all time. Something about MD felt so limiting.

 

[SmittyWerbenManJensen]

Question. Why is it that I can never remember any of the music in MOST of these AAA non-japanes games? I don't understand. I mean, when I play Nier Automata, I remember all of the music (same with Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Castlevania, Souls, etc.).

I played this game for 20 hours and cannot remember any music (even while I was playing the game).

Indie games do a fantastic job with their soundtracks, too, such as Celeste and Hollow Knight and Axiom Verge.

Why is this?

 

[J-Skee]

I recommend seeking out the VladlenCry remix album for Mankind Divided - particularly if you want extended ambient tracks.
There are individual tracks on YouTube, but I haven't seen a playlist with them all. The whole album is something like 10 hours long.


Cyberpunk 2077 is nine months away.
The Deus Ex games are around 15-40 hours long depending on your play-style. There is plenty of time to play all of them to completion and take a long break before Cyberpunk 2077 is released.

Click to shrink...

That's exactly why I said I would rather wait. These days, it takes me over a year to complete a game that's about 30 hours long or more. I just can't invest in it like I used to. I would cheat myself & the devs of Deus Ex if I did that. I still hate myself for taking a year & a half to finish Nier Automata.

 

[LabRat]

great soundtrack but i think i enjoyed human revolutions ost a little bit more. mankind divided felt a little bit like a slightly worse imitation of human revolutions ost, but it was still great of course

 

[Pargon]

I stopped playing midways into the second hub, I think it was during some library mission? I remember the AA solution on PC was pretty bad, and people complaining that the ending was shit soured me on the game.
Should I restart it?
EDIT: For reference, Human Revolution is one of my top 20 games of all time. Something about MD felt so limiting.

Click to shrink...

It's absolutely worth playing. There was a topic about the game recently that you might want to read:

https://www.resetera.com/threads/so-what’s-up-with-deus-ex-mankind-divided.131446/

As for the anti-aliasing, enable TAA but disable tessellation as that conflicts with it.
TAA blurs the image somewhat, but you can either use the game's own sharpening (very aggressive) or ReShade to fine-tune the post-TAA sharpening to your taste.
I think one of the things people were complaining about is that MSAA doesn't do a lot, while incurring a significant performance hit. That's just how it is in deferred rendering; nothing specific to DXMD.

That's exactly why I said I would rather wait. These days, it takes me over a year to complete a game that's about 30 hours long or more. I just can't invest in it like I used to. I would cheat myself & the devs of Deus Ex if I did that. I still hate myself for taking a year & a half to finish Nier Automata.

Click to shrink...

That's still enough time to finish one of them, but it must be rough to only have 30 minutes a week for games.

Question. Why is it that I can never remember any of the music in MOST of these AAA non-japanes games? I don't understand. I mean, when I play Nier Automata, I remember all of the music (same with Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Castlevania, Souls, etc.).
I played this game for 20 hours and cannot remember any music (even while I was playing the game).
Indie games do a fantastic job with their soundtracks, too, such as Celeste and Hollow Knight and Axiom Verge.
Why is this?

Click to shrink...

"Catchy" tunes vs more cinematic/ambient music I suppose.
I wouldn't put NieR:Automata under the heading of "catchy" but it's certainly more "present" and quite unique - so it stands out.

 

[Deleted member 1656]

Wow, I forgot how much better EU/EW OST was over Xcom 2's. I'll have do a replay of XCOM 2 with the legacy soundtrack playing lol

Click to shrink...

That's how I play it! With the EU or UFO Defense/Legacy set.

 

[J-Skee]

That's still enough time to finish one of them, but it must be rough to only have 30 minutes a week for games.

Click to shrink...

It's various things that get in the way. However, if a game actually grabs me, I will find a way to complete in time. The fear for me with Deus Ex is that I might not be hooked by it when I start & I'll slowly drop off. But if you & everyone else in this thread is telling me that is worth it, then that'll encourage me to stick with it.

 

[Pargon]

It's various things that get in the way. However, if a game actually grabs me, I will find a way to complete in time. The fear for me with Deus Ex is that I might not be hooked by it when I start & I'll slowly drop off. But if you & everyone else in this thread is telling me that is worth it, then that'll encourage me to stick with it.

Click to shrink...

Human Revolution is probably the best starting point in that case.

 

[HK-47]

Question. Why is it that I can never remember any of the music in MOST of these AAA non-japanes games? I don't understand. I mean, when I play Nier Automata, I remember all of the music (same with Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Castlevania, Souls, etc.).

I played this game for 20 hours and cannot remember any music (even while I was playing the game).

Indie games do a fantastic job with their soundtracks, too, such as Celeste and Hollow Knight and Axiom Verge.

Why is this?

Click to shrink...

You have no appreciation for atmospheric or ambient tracks?

 

[Chopchop]

I really like the composer's stuff. I think his name was McCann?

He also did the music for the new X-Com.

I stopped playing midways into the second hub, I think it was during some library mission? I remember the AA solution on PC was pretty bad, and people complaining that the ending was shit soured me on the game.

Should I restart it?

EDIT: For reference, Human Revolution is one of my top 20 games of all time. Something about MD felt so limiting.

Click to shrink...

Story-wise, the ending is pretty bleh because there's basically no payoff to any of the overarching narrative threads of the main story.

But the final mission is fucking awesome and I highly recommend it.

The game also has amazing sidequests, to the point where IMO the game is worth it for the sidequests alone.

 

[Dark_Chris]

Palaside Blade atrium theme is the best cyberpunk piece out there. So good.

 

[BossAttack]

Surprised no one has posted some of my favorites:

 

[SmittyWerbenManJensen]

You have no appreciation for atmospheric or ambient tracks?

Click to shrink...

What? I definitely do. I am a huge fan of game music and non-game ambient stuff (Aphex, Boards of Canada, Global Communication, etc.), but I find it odd that I rarely remember any music from the vast vast majority of these western AAA games. I love ambient/atmospheric music. Believe me. It's what got me through all of my studying in veterinary school.

 

[-Tetsuo-]

I played this game finally last year or so and it really was fantastic. I actually ended up liking it more than Human Revolution. Very underrated/overlooked I feel.

 

[Pragmatist]

Yes sir, Michael McCann absolutely hit a grandslam with the Mankind Divided soundtrack. The Utulek theme alone, with all of it's variations as it seamlessly weaves throughout, is legendary and fits the mood and theme of the level perfectly. Now I have to reinstall and play again.

 

[Eggiem]

I wish there would be more games like that.

Story and character focus. Small open city. Beautiful art direction, graphics and soundtrack.