For years now, to love Deus Ex has been to love two things – stealth and bittersweet disappointment. In 2000, the original game raised the bar in video games for immersion, player choice, and all-too-prescient storytelling when you look at the world today. It’s a benchmark that’s still referenced constantly in gaming circles, but things began to wobble for the series with its polarizing sequel, 2003’s Invisible War. Due to a console-forward development, signature mechanics were altered, and fans got something simpler than expected even if it scored well with critics.
For years, many thought that was actually the end of Deus Ex as an IP, with cries of abandonment ringing out across a quickly developing internet. Fuel was added to that fire when Crystal Dynamics scrapped the bones of the next Deus Ex project to turn it into Snowblind, but years later we finally got the second / prequel iteration of the series, starting with Human Revolution in 2011.
Fans old and new resonated with the new direction, and depending who you ask, many would say even now that it’s the best game in the series. It was a brief moment of hope, celebration, and conspiracy, but things inevitably wobbled again with the release of 2014’s Mankind Divided, which was technically excellent, but shorter, and ended on a such legendary flat note that it couldn’t help but denote a pattern of ‘one step forward, two steps back’ for the franchise. For the second time, and now with twice as many fans, gamers all over the world were once again asking “is this really it?”
_
Thus began the cruelest decade by far for Deus Ex fanatics – we strained for news of any kind, only getting rumors or tentative ideas that would never materialize all the way up to 2019. By 2020, the iconic Adam Jensen voice actor Elias Toufexis, consistently quoted as wanting to reprise the role as soon as possible, was asked by Eidos Montreal to refrain from mentions Jensen in interviews. This unfortunate stab at controlling the narrative kicked up more dust than anticipated, and though it was allegedly meant to shift focus towards the company’s publicly unveiled projects, it ended up having the opposite effect. As far as the people could tell, Eidos Montreal and Square Enix had washed their hands of the series for good.
For better or worse (worse, for sure), development had begun in 2022 for a new Deus Ex, but sadly it was cancelled in 2024 due to layoffs courtesy of Embracer Group. So these days, generations of fans feed on rumors that Eidos Montreal was pitching a sequel to publishers as recently as April 2025, and in August Sonic Mayhem released unused pieces from Mankind Divided’s soundtrack which was exciting (check it out here), but overall there’s little resolve on the table… assuming you don’t count the AI-upscaling remaster announced for February from Aspyr Games. It’s almost ironic that we’re living on the precipice of a world the series predicted, and if you’re here and you’re looking for a positive update all we can do is shrug, but we can help you augment your holiday malaise with a fittingly cold set of soundtracks to lose yourself in.
Yep, you guessed it. We’re at it again with the ol’ noggin buster. For some, it’s a ridiculous question, but to us it’s a necessary one: which Deus Ex soundtrack has the most math rock? Is there any? And if so, do we have a single fact to back that up? We know, we know – you never asked for this. Still. Take your pick below:
Deus Ex – 2000
The music of the first Deus Ex game is peak Y2K nostalgia, but also so much more thanks to composer Alexander Brandon’s impeccable flair for IDM and rave music. He worked with Michiel van den Bos and Dan Gardopee here of course but remember, Brandon also worked on the legendary Unreal and Unreal Tournament OST’s. Of course the guy’s going to impart some kind of pulse here, but together the trio created a great sense of drama where needed. When it doesn’t sound like a lost track from Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin, or even Oneohtrix Point Never towards the end, it sounds appropriately calculated, tense, and militaristic. But it rarely entertains odd time signatures.
_
Some areas in the game have cool shifts between the territories mentioned above on tracks like “Enemy from Within (UNATCO Escape),” “The Synapse,” and “Luckey Money Club #1,” but there’s a consistency gridded undertone no matter where you look. Even on “Luckey Money Club #2,” which lasts a solid twenty seconds, uses a 4/4 hit pattern with an offset delay, so it doesn’t really count as cool as it sounds. That being said, it’s to the game’s benefit even if it’s to the mathematicians disappointment. One could make an argument that “To The Naval Base” or “Chǎteau Conversation” are in 3/4 or 6/8, it’s kind of standard to see waltz stuff in games dealing with military and government, so we’ll leave it up to you. For us, the first Deus Ex OST is iconic and everlasting. Just not math rock.
Deus Ex: Invisible War – 2003
Invisible War was actually our entry point to the series, as we’d seen the console port on PS2 get a lot of attention but for whatever reason it was never available. But we did have an Xbox when the the sequel to Deus Ex came out, and honestly, it made a huge impression on us. It was frustrating at times, but we’d never played anything like that outside of maybe Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty which laps this game in many ways, but still, it was endlessly intriguing. But we could not, for the life of us, remember this soundtrack. We did remember that it was heavily atmospheric as opposed to feeling busy or melodic, and that the vibes changed depending what part of the world you were in, but that was about it. So when we finally came back after all these years, we were actually surprised – there’s a lot going on here, it’s just not always easy to hear.
The mix for Invisible War feels much more cinematic in the way we understand that word today, and less reminiscent of the late 90’s / early 2000’s electro mania that defined so much of the first. Funnily enough, the OST does seem to be fascinated with a genre that’s fairly adjacent in the form of ambient trip-hop. More than Aphex Twin or Boards of Canada, think Portishead and Sneaker Pimps. In fact, Brandon teams up with kidneythieves on tracks like “Seattle: Club Vox” and “Cairo: NG Resonance Kiosk” both of which deserve a lot more attention than they got, but overall the OST feels a lot like the game, in that it was meant to be a conscious contrast from it in every way possible.
_
Invisible War’s soundtrack cranks the atmosphere to stifling degrees at times, but there are some interesting points to explore when you know how to find them. Much of Seattle’s music feels inspired by Vangelis‘ score for Blade Runner, especially when you get in elevators or find yourself near coffee shop radios. The more you explore, the more you find layers of jazz, alt-rock, and industrial thrown on top, and against all odds it ends up creating something organic and natural to the world, like a genuine result of the culture. But if there’s any hope for math in Invisible War, it’s in Cairo’s myriad walls of percussion. The Trier and Antarctica sections are almost entirely comprised of ambient swells, so in comparison, Cairo’s sounds border on transcendental psychedelia. Tracks like “Arcology” and “Nassif Greenhouse,” where Alexander Brandon unveils sides of his personality we weren’t able to appreciate with the cyberpunk pacing of the original. Still, there’s less math here than there is in the first one, so… damn, is this strike two?
Deus Ex: Human Revolution – 2011
Eidos Montreal wanted to try something different with their take on series, and credit where credit’s due, they delivered in multiple ways. They introduced a new set of characters, a new design aesthetic that felt bold but still made sense, and in a way, a fresh start as far as the series’ plot is concerned. The developers even injected popular mechanics of the time like a cover system and cinematic takedowns. Though these changes caused an inevitable fuss with apprehensive fans, nine times out of ten they were pleasantly surprised when they tried it. Michael McCann’s soundtrack for the game was no small part of that.
Human Revolution (and its companion mobile title The Fall) were essentially prequels to Deus Ex and Invisible War, so it’s important to know when you’re playing as Jensen, there’s no denying you’re headed for the raw and rugged reality witnessed by Denton and his brother in the original. But whatever the game struggles to iterate in terms of the narrative arc while the player is mucking about, the music says loudly. Tracks like “Icarus” and “Detroit City Ambient 1” absolutely nail the intimate loneliness that stems from the struggles of the individual, and how that pain bleeds into collectives and eventually society itself.
_
Human Revolution’s OST pairs absurdly well with the visual direction of the game as well, often portraying these simple, raw emotions and contrasting with them with the more opulent aspects of societal decay. Even when it’s being gritty on tracks like “The Hive” you can hear a rich-ness in some of the synth parts and percussion that hints at the upper echelons of society and the Illuminati. Speaking of both, they make this feel natural to the world by cleverly incorporating some of the first game’s club-bangers into radios throughout the game, many of which also contain legendary Alex Jones impressions.
As far as soundtrack math goes, it’s actually still ambiguous in the Eidos Montreal iterations. In fact the instrumentation is far more present than it was on Invisible War, but it actually harkens back to the gridded feelings of the original. They don’t sound the same of course, with Human Revolution bringing more contrast to the Deus Ex sound than any of the games before it, and again, they use that grid to tell one hell of a story, so we’ll go easy on HR. Not math-y, but still thrilling and creative. You can’t always have both.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided – 2014
Mankind Divided, as polarizing as it is due to the continuity of the series, remains a truly remarkable experience to this day. We probably play through it once every couple of years, and we always appreciate something new about, but one thing we noticed from launch was the absolute majesty of the OST. The game saw multiple composers working on the soundtrack for the first time since the original, with McCann joined by Sascha Dikiciyan and Ed Harrison, and there’s a similar sense of synergy here that’s almost inescapable.
If there’s any more updated electronic influences in therms of the Deus Ex sound this time around, Burial and Technical Itch come to mind, but not just because of their IDM palettes. It’s their progressive sense of vision. The composers went all in with Mankind Divided, with each having their own set of personal highlights:
_
McCann has “Embrace What You Have Become” and “UTULEK Complex: Golden City,” both of which contain multiple mood shifts and fluctuations to time and tempo. Dikiciyan introduces polyrhythmic sections where it feels like a tempo change or an odd time, but as evidenced in the outstanding, “G.A.R.M.,” it’s actually very distinct, and very juxtaposed rhythms happening simultaneously. All that being said, Ed Harrison actually saves Mankind Divided’s OST in terms of math – there’s a surprise 6/8 section in “Rippers” and some unwieldy 9/8 heaviness throughout “Breaching the Veil” that finally brings to mind math rock connections like in Luo, Alarmist, or Three Trapped Tigers. It’s not much, and it’s all in the second half, but it’s more than enough.
THE VERDICT:
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided takes the cake by a micron, coming devilishly close to a 50/50 split with the original. The first one had about 5% where the composers veered out of common time, and MD weighs in closer to 7% or 8%, and we genuinely thought there would be more. Maybe there was some sort of mandate against odd-time signatures in the development of the series, maybe it’s just part of the philosophical point they’re trying to make by illustrating what kind of limits exist when letting hardware and machines lead the way. but wither way, we’re happy we did it, because at least now it’s no longer a conspiracy.
(Thanks for reading! If you’re looking for more music, check out our Bandcamp compilations here. If you like us, or possibly even love us, donations are always appreciated at the Buy Me A Coffee page here, but if you’re in a generous mood you can also donate to folks like Doctors Without Borders, the PCRF, Charity Water, Kindness Ranch, One Tail at A Time, Canopy Cat Rescue, or Best Friends Animal Sanctuary that could probably use it more – click on their names above to check ‘em out if you’re so inclined. Thanks again!)